Bella Bella to Hartly Bay – 14 days, 302km, 1 trillion rain drops and two smelly house guests.

A very excited, cold and damp Jess and Kat arrive at the docks of Hartley Bay, a small Gitgaat Tsimshian community situated on an island. There are approximately 130 residents.

While I am not a prolific world traveler, I have lived in Australia, explored New Zealand, climbed in Colombia and ate a lot of pastries in France. However, this trip up the far north coast of B.C. remains one of my most treasured travel experiences to date. My friend Kay and I spent two weeks on the ocean, sea kayaking in some of the most inclimate weather I have ever felt. This experience reaffirmed my independence, confidence and appreciation of the resilient spirit of women. Kat and I finished our toiling in the small First Nation’s village of Hartley Bay where we were greeted with warmth. We were quickly invited into the home of a Gitk’a’ata elder, where we listened to stories of an abundant abalone harvest and the wonders of life growing up in Hartley Bay. They were kind enough not to mention the stink of us after 14 soggy days. The generosity extended to us in Hartley Bay will not be something I soon forget.



This is a screenshot taken from Native-land.ca. It shows the many overlapping territories which we traveled through.
 Heiltsuk , La̱xyuubm Ts’msyen (Tsimshian),  Gitxaała,  Gitga’at Lax Yuup, Gitga’at 

Please click through to the following page to read more about my experiential learning.

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