Tlell Bay Farm

The plants are growing. After three weeks of tending to the garden in all sorts of weather, the days have become noticeably warmer and sunnier. The garden has certainly responded as expected and the greenery that we have in the ground is shooting up.

Today we finally have finished prepping the garden beds for the summer with a little help from the most dedicated worked I have ever met. His name is Sylvan and he is four-years-old. Sylvan recently arrived from Ontario with his mother, Leanne, and they are living on the property in between Ross' bus and Sabrina's cabin. Sylvan is probably my favourite four-year-old I have ever met. His energy is very relaxed, he is extremely social but not hyperactive, he always wants to work and he talks very matter-of-factly. For instance, while we were gardening, he asked me what I had in my ears. I explained that they were earphones and that I listen to music from them. He asked for a listen, so I gave him one of the ear-buds. At the time I was listening to Audioslave, which isn't exactly four-year-old music in my mind, but I asked him if he liked the music. He said, "Yes. I love it." He makes me very happy.

So throughout the day Sylvan was my sidekick. He turned the soil with tools that are far bigger than he, he pulled the weeds out and shook off the soil as directed, he filled our bucket with grasses and went to feed the chickens religiously, and he even came to visit the goats, though I think he was a little bit afraid since he asked to hold my hand.

In the kitchen later that day, Sylvan also asked me if he could help me cook dinner, which I thought was very kind of him. So I had him bring over a chair so he could reach the cooking pots and pans. He managed to cook our noodles, to bread my buttered casserole dish, and when I had ran out of jobs for him, he kindly crushed all the eggshells under the sink for the garden. And then while listening to Dolly Parton, we danced.


Sylvan is an absolute pleasure and I already know I am going to miss him when we leave in a few days. Bonnie thinks we have a funny relationship - she knows I like him because he is the a productive child with a positive attitude. Sylvan always wants to be involved, and I let him, so we get along very well.

The dynamic on the farm is fairly complex because there are so many people who live here and contribute to the running in different ways. First there is farmer Elizabeth. Elizabeth has lived on the island for something like 40 years. She has a deep love of horses and Africa, has had a very successful career in public education and has had some fantastic life experiences. When she was younger, for example, she was part owner of a gold mine in the Yukon and for two summers cleaned gold and cooked for the miners. Elizabeth is the centre of the activities on Tlell Bay Farm. She is knowledgeable and resourceful about the happenings and people on the island, and also very involved in the community. Unfortunately, her health prevents her from being able to do much of the manual components on the farm, which is where the support team come in including us WWOOFers. Nonetheless, she milks the goats twice daily with much skill, prepares the eggs for sale, keeps the endless supply of dishes clean and cooks some pretty good meals too! Her primary focus in the house though is her dog Kazy who never leaves Elizabeth's side.




Elizabeth's first helper is husband Bill. Bill is originally from the States, but has lived here for some time as well. Bill has a number of health problems (and still hasn't quit smoking), and has a unique diet consisting primarily of Corn Pops, white bread and coffee. I will always remember Bill for being wrapped around Sasha, Kiki and Didi's little paws - these are Bill's cats. Didi is the biggest princess I have ever met and never leaves Bill's side. She calls him for cookies, for milk, for food from the table and to be picked up. You will often hear Bill say, "Didi I'd like to help you out, I really would, but I just can't give you any milk right now." The cats are very affectionate to Bill in return for his devotion to them. As evidence I have discovered Didi licking Bill's arm as he reads his paper to show she cares.

Brian lives in the basement apartment of the house. He came to Haida Gwaii five years ago to WWOOF for Elizabeth and decided to stay. Brian is originally from Toronto, but the city life burned him out. Now he makes cheese for sale at the Crowsnest where he also works on weekend, bakes delicious sugar free goodies (because he is diabetic), and helps keep Elizabeth and Bill's de-cluttered and clean. Brian's apartment is extremely organized and tidy. Brian too has a couple of cats. Puddin' and Pie have as much character as any of the other animals on this farm. Puddin' is an old rescue cat with fairly advanced arthritis in her hips. The arthritis causes her to stomp around the house at a slow but deliberate way. She spends most of her days sleeping on the chair and seems particularly frail and delicate. However, she has the most gorgeous eyes with the most life I have ever witnessed in a cat. Pie on the other hand is a bully. He is cross-eyed and fat too. If there is activity going on anywhere on the farm, you can guarantee that Pie will be there without delay. Pie, however obnoxious though, is Bonnie's favourite cat.


Ross lives in a blue school bus. As I understand it, Ross was living on the street for a while when he was a teenager, but ended up being taken in by Elizabeth and Bill. Ross reminds me of Snoopy some days and the pied piper on others. Ross' character is certainly mysterious but a little bit silly at the same time. Whenever you see Ross he will be wearing a sweater and his distinctive red hat. Some days he will appear playing his flute. We are greeted by Ross every morning when he arrives at the house for his coffee where we often hear him talk about his failed marriage with his still wife who lives in Vancouver. Today, Ross has taken Bonnie to town to go for some Belgian waffles, and tomorrow he starts a new job. Ross is a plumber by trade.

Ross' bus, despite all expectation, is quite comfortable.

Behind the bus you will arrive at Sabrina's cabin. Sabrina is Elizabeth and Bill's daughter. An ex-boyfriend of hers is the one who bought the bus. When he left, Sabrina moved in for a two year period. Then, when her German shepherd puppy started to grow, it got a little bit cramped, so she bought five acres of her mother's land and moved into the house. While here, we have also helped Sabrina with a few projects including setting up a greenhouse and levelling and weeding her garden area. Sabrina and Jack show up twice a day to pick up Elizabeth and Kazy for a walk around the property. During the day time, Sabrina works as a massage therapist. She has turned one of the other cabin's on the property into her clinic so she doesn't have to travel very far for work.

Last we have Leanne. Sylvan's mother has recently returned to the Tlell Bay Farm. She originally came to the island when she was 25 and pregnant with Sylvan to find an accepting and nurturing community. After being convinced to return to Ontario by her parents - they drove out here to come get her - she realized how much she missed the energy of the island. She has returned, though is uncertain of her decision and still trying to figure out where home is going to be for her and her son. Her ambition is to record a number of albums she has within her and to share her passion for music with others.

To round out the day I spent the afternoon tilling and planting a potato field with Dave and Matthew, a couple of locals that Elizabeth has rented part of her land to for the summer. It was hard work, but I think we planted at least four or five sacs of potatoes by the end of the day. I learned that I had to pack down the soil over the potatoes when I covered them in order for the soil to maintain a proper moisture level. However, when I asked why it was I had to pack down the soil, the initial response I received alluded to the fact that it was purely for superstition's sake. It is curious that so many component tasks we must do to effectively grow crops become routine without really knowing the reason behind them. I was glad that I received an answer in the end.

We have four more days on Tlell Bay Farm. I believe I will need to start packing again very soon.

Easter Egg Thievery

So here is an Easter egg story. This morning I spent 3 hours dying, painting and colouring 24 hard boiled Easter eggs. I had pink eggs, green eggs, blue eggs and yellow eggs. There were easter bunnies on eggs, flowers on eggs, humpty dumpty eggs and even tie dye retro eggs. They were fun, they were colourful and they were the perfect size for children to find. At least so we thought.

We waited until 4.00 pm to go out into the forest to hide the eggs since the children were arriving at 5.00 pm for the hunt. In hand we had the 24 finely crafted hard boiled eggs as well as six Kinder Surprise eggs. They looked great in the forest. Bonnie and I hid eggs under tree roots, in tree branches, and in the moss. I made special nests for the Kinder Surprise eggs, one for each child to find. I was so pleased with our preparations, I was dissapointed I didn't have a camera to capture the moment. But, I figured, I could get a picture of the eggs, the forest and happy kids once they had found the eggs! We were excited for that moment to arrive - unfortunately, it never did.

At 5.15 pm I was duly informed that no eggs could be found. I was in disbelief. I didn't think I had hidden the eggs too difficultly, though it was a possibility since I have been well trained in the art of Easter egg hiding and hunting. (When I was 10 years old I wond third prize in an Easter Egg hunt at Mont Tremblant ski resort. I was a competitive child.) However since the hockey game was on, Bonnie was kind enough to go out to help the children at least find the eggs she had hidden. No luck. All that could be found were the Kinder Surprise nests sans eggs. So I got dressed up to confirm the reports and show these kids where their search had go arye.

But....NO EGGS WERE FOUND! All my hiding places had been robbed without one single sign of a broken egg shell or any other kind of evidence. It certainly appeared that someone had stolen all the eggs and with it all of my Easter cheer.

The locals have tried to convince me that an animal must have collected the eggs in our absence, however I cannot imagine a busy body squirrel, raccoon or raven going around the forest assembling 30 full-sized, full-weight eggs to store in a hidden stash. I am in disbelief. I am more likely to believe that someone came along, found the stash and decided to help themselves.

But, what can you do? At least the children had a great time looking for the eggs that they would never find.

On top of it all, the Canucks lost their third game in a row tonight.

Happy Easter I guess....

Wwoof!

I have yet to explain how it is that I ended up at Tlell Bay Farm in Tlell, British Columbia. Bonnie and I are members of an organization known as WWOOF Canada - Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (in Canada). The organization was originally started in England under the name Working Weekends on Organic Farms to provide Londoners the opportunity to escape to the country side with free accomodation and board in exchange for a few hours of work on the farms they would visit. As the movement progressed to allow volunteers to stay for more than weekends, the organization became known as Willing Workers On Organic Farms. Now the movement is a global one. Every country runs its own organization listing and membership database. Essentially, hosts (the farmers) need to subscribe and pay a membership fee to their national organization in order to have their information listed. Wwoofers (volunteers) then have to subscribe and pay their fee to have access to this information.

In Canada, the opportunities are plenty. You can search for farms based on a number of criteria including the location where you would like to live or the type of farming you would like to undertake. Usually the hosts are quite detailed in the accomodation they have to offer, the conditions in which you will be working and the type of work commitment they expect from you in exchange for your work. They accepted norm is 20 - 25 hrs of work a week, however some hosts do require you work 8-10 hrs per day. Ideally, you need to be able to express what you are looking for and your expectations of a certain host in an adequate fashion, as well as request the same of them so that your WWOOFing experience is not a poor one.(For instance, is cell phone service or internet an important consideration for you? Is your host able to accomodate a vegetarian or vegan diet? Is smoking allowed onsite?)

Though the WWOOF movement is a global one, 'WWOOFing' is still not a term that is immediately recognized in most circles. However, on Haida Gwaii, I have learned that it is a common term for the locals - so common that when Bonnie and I have met new people on the island, we are either introduced as WWOOFers by our hosts or people will ask us if we are here as WWOOFers. Apparently we do not give the impression yet of being locals.

I found Tlell Bay Farm in November 2010 on the WWOOF Canada website. I was looking for a place that could take both Bonnie and I in April and that was not too isolated since we wanted to have the opportunity to explore Haida Gwaii. There are many many farms on Haida Gwaii that accept WWOOFers, and we were actually turned away by a few to which we sent emails of interest. I did a little dance when I got the news to my Blackberry that we would be welcomed in Tlell come April.

I do not know why we were turned away from the other farms, but I do get the impression thtt certain hosts are very popular because of their location or what they have to offer in terms of learning or recreation. Nevertheless, I have also learned that the biggest difficulty with volunteers is the fact that they don't show up! Farmer Elizabeth has even said that she only really believes someone is coming once they have landed at the airport or ferry terminal on Haida Gwaii.

I can see how changing plans on a host can be difficult, however I also empathize with individuals who just don't know where they are going to be in 1-, 2- or 3-months time. For instance, currently I am talking with a woman in Tuscany who owns an olive farm to see if I could work for her during the harvest season starting in November. Olive oil is probably my all time favourite food product, so much so that my parents and good friends are constantly bringing me bottles of olive oil from their travels around the world. It is a dream of mine to be a part of the harvest and participate in the oil production. Though the Tuscan farm is happy to take me, I cannot at this time say that I am 100% committed because I am unsure how my life will have developed in the next six months. Maybe I will have fallen in love with life in Cawston, BC, and want to stay there for another year? Or maybe I will be very ready to get away from the life I had lead for the last six months and go abroad? Both sound like realistic options at this time.

One of our neighbouring farms currently has a WWOOFer from Germany. Stef is 25 and studied agriculture at university. While Bonnie and I know that we are leaving on May 2, 2011 to our next destination, if you ask Stef, she doesn't know when she is leaving or where she is going next. It is great to be able to find hosts that have the flexibility to keep you for an indefinite amount of time, but this also means that she will be limited in her next destination because she will only be able to provide a limited amount of notice to her arrival. There are pros and cons to each approach, but as a planner at heart, I would recommend that you look for the best farms that meet the most of your criteria and commit to these individuals well in advance (4 - 6 months if possible).

So what has my life as a WWOOFer been like so far? Honestly great! I feel like I am on a vacation for the most part. I am able to wake up each day, look at the weather, see what the other people in our house are up to for the day, and evaluate how I can most effectively use my time - is it best to go for a hike first or maybe garden for a few hours and then take off? Farmer Elizabeth gave Bonnie and I an orientation on day one and then typed up a list of projects that she would like us to complete during our stay. While here I have met a few hosts who disagree with this approach and believe that it is better to be working with your volunteers in order to show that 'you are in the trenches too', but I disagree with this belief. With a list, Bonnie and I are able to manage our time, choose our projects in the order we desire and we are not being micro-managed which could easily make the work we are doing lose its element of fun very quickly. Knowing the number of hours we need to contribute to the farm a week, we are also able to get away for a few days knowing that we can just work harder in advance or after our getaway. That being said, I have heard of some hosts that do treat their WWOOFers a little bit like 'free labor' in its purest sense and have very unusual requests of their volunteers. WWOOFing to me involves a certain amount of agricultural activity. If you are being asked to act as a cleaning person for the majority of your time, you are not being given the opportunity to be a WWOOFer.

There are already a number of experiences I have had as a WWOOFer that are new to me. First, I have learned about a number of new gardening tools and their uses, about composting, fertilizing and mulching, about how to set up a green house, about different seeding methods, and about chickens and their care. Plus it is so nice to be sitting outside under the sun, listening to some good music and working with your hands while you imagine what you would still be doing if you had not quit your job. Really it is a fantastic feeling.

If you are interested in WWOOFing in Canada, start your search at www.wwoof.ca. It is worth spending getting a membership to browse the opportunities and start making some connections. At the very least, you will be supporting a great movement. WWOOF!

Gwaii Haanas National Park

I feel alive. When coming to Haida Gwaii, Bonnie and I were committed to doing everything possible to get to Gwaii Haanas National Park. It was our indulgence for ourselves but well worth the money spent. The park is world renowned as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and for the most part the landscape is out-of-this-world!

It turns out that the park is not even open in April because it is still so early in the tourist season, nevertheless, we were able to find a local outfitter that would take us if we had at least four participants for a two day trip. Bonnie and I started canvassing the new people we met and before we knew it we had two young German travelors eager to join us on our exploration of Gwaii Haanas. One of the benefits of visiting the park so early in the season is that we did not have to pay the $20.00 per day fee to be in the park, nor did we have to worry about bumping into other tourists at some of the more popular sites.

So, we started our trip getting all dressed up in our rain proof Helly Hanson gear that we would be wearing for the next two days. Once we had waddled over to the zodiac, we were ready to go.

There were a number of highlights from the time that followed.

First we went to visit an old logging village that was active from around 1920 to 1960. This logging site was unique because it was the only one that used trains on the island to move the logs directly onto the ships. It is hard to imagine that the decaying wood that now supports the remains of what use to be an active loading dock could even hold a train and all the supporting equipment that went along with such a production. The sitka spruce that were harvested from the area were used during the second world war to build mosquito planes. A design was developed for the wood planes when metal became too scare or pricy due to its other uses, and the benefit of a wood plane was that it wasn't trackable on radar.

As we ventured into the long abandoned village, we saw other remains including old cars from the 1950s left in place and a giant oil tank. Bonnie and I crawled through the small opening in the oil tank into darkness. It turns out that a local choir group used the tank for a number of performances because the acoustics within the cylinder are most unique.

Back on the boat, we went to explore some of the intertidal life. Right now it is very close to the full moon, so the difference between the high and low tide is currently 21ft. This means that you have to be very careful where you leave your life jacket and gear on the beach when you go exploring in the forest.This also means that there is a lot of really fascinating intertidal life to observe!
First we picked up some giant kelp on the way to shore. The giant kelp is edible raw (it has a crunchy texture with a slightly salty and slimy after taste) and it can also be pickled. In optimal conditions, the kelp can grow up to a meter a day.

On shore, we saw a number of creatures. Favourites included the multicoloured bat starfish, the 18-legged sunflower starfish, leather starfish, anemones, massive sea oysters, a handful of very rare abelone and sea urchins. We fished out a red sea urchin, cut it up in our boat and ate the gonads from the still moving urchin! It was neat to try, but I wouldn't eat it again.

Our guide had been told by a friend that she had found a dead whale carcass on the shore of one of the islands on a recent hike. So we set out to find the dead whale. I spotted it on the shore almost in perfect condition. Once closer, we could see a number of bones that had separated from the carcass during its decomposition - I made a point of collecting them and returning them to the skeleton. Anyway, the dead whale was quite a sight! It was not very large, maybe 18 ft, but it was obviously large by sea creature standards. The birds had done their best with the body, but there was still some soft matter that had to be worn away. In short what this means is the body smelled putrid.

As a consolation, our next exploration was to go seek out some live whales. April is the month when the humpbacks are migrating through Haida Gwaii to Alaska for the summer. They hang out in the islands to feed, so we certaintly saw a lot of activity. From the afternoon of day one until midday day two, we were constantly able to see humpbacks in the channels we were visiting.

Luckily we did not have to return to Sandspit for the night, but instead got to stay in a floating cabin just north of the park boundary overnight. The two story cabin was very homely, though a little cold because the fireplace had broken the day before. Still, we had a personal chef for the evening and we were quite warm once we had stuffed our bellies full!

I was just in awe of the environment in which we were able to stay - I was living in a wood cabin floating on the pacific ocean surrounded by snow covered mountains and massive pacific northwest trees. Beautiful!

On day two, the sun was shinging and the water was calm though the air was crisp. As I sat in the zodiac as we raced over the sea, I couldn't help but feel lucky. British Columbia is beautiful. The mountains that emerge majestically from the depths of the ocean are incomparable to any other landscape I have witnessed on this earth. This is my paradise.

The first creatures we came across were some sun tanning sealions. They had their fins raised high into the air to soak up the warmth of the sun while their bodies floated in the cold salt water. We on the other hand were heading to the hot springs. We sat in the 40 degree hot spring pools under the warm spring time sun and it almost felt tropical. The sky was spattered with a few clouds, but for the most part we were able to use our lookout to eye the humpbacks in the distance and birds in the sky.

Now the absolute highlight of the trip to Gwaii Haanas - the trees! My favourite moments were being able to come face-to-face with hundred- or even thousand-year-old trees. These magnificent organisms are so unique, each one seems to have a character of its own. I learned that some trees have such large canopies that it is though they have their own miniature ecosystems thriving among their branches. The trees that we were witnessing definitely have interesting histories. The first was an alder, and it is the second largest alder recorded in the world. Next we visited some cedar trees, many of which have been culturally modified. Cultural modification implies that in the last 150 years the trees have been cut, proded or burned for a variety of reasons and you are able to see the scars of these modifications on the trees today. Last we visited the site where the battle was waged out between logging protestors and the loggers in teh 1980s. Here I got to stand at the base of a thousand-year-old sitka spruce. I hope that I have been able to capture some of its magnificence here in my photos. It makes me sad to think of these trees coming to their end, but so honoured to be in their presence while they are still alive.

Of course, no visit to Gwaii Haanas would be complete without visiting some of the Haida remains. We went to two villages to see totem poles, motuary poles and where the houses were built. Obviously, when everything is made of wood and abandoned in a forest, the environment reclaims the village at quite a rapid rate. We could still observe what the various artifacts were or represented with instruction from our guide, but I fear that these remains will soon be lost to the wilderness that surrounds them and the Haida artifacts will be best seen in museums. I am glad I got a chance to see it now!

One of the most interesting revelations that came from the trip was the fact that the Haida culture as we know it only developed after first contact when they experienced an artistic boom. The art and the totem poles are a direct result of the metal tools that were all of a sudden provided to the First Nationas group by traders that allowed the Haida more time in their day to day and the ability to create more precise forms. Also, the totem poles were a demonstration of wealth. The Haida are knows as a waring people and werew constantly trying to outmatch the other - this could be achieved by the tallest totem pole for one, or extravagant potlatches. The Haida also had slaves and were prone to fighting for territory. Not always what one thinks of the Haida. It is easy to see though how the death of close to 7,000 (from 10,000 to 3,000) Haida from smallpox in a short time can overshadow the fact that the 'conquered' group were also human.

All in all, the trip was a success. I can now leave this place feeling that I have accomplished what I set out to do on this part of my adventure - experience the awe-inspiring beauty of British Columbia.

P.S. Check out the full photo album on Facebook.

Fashion Break

For a few years now I have really enjoyed reading fashion blogs for ideas and inspiration for my own personal style - I promise that I do sometimes look stylish if you are one of the few who have yet to witness it.

Since I have now moved from the city to the country, from a behind-the-desk job to an out-in-the-field or outdoor job, my wadrobe and fashion preferences have changed. Previously, I really enjoyed delicate fabrics, nicely cut dresses and clothes primarily for their aesthetic value. Now however, clothing is valuable based on its utility. Bonnie likes to call such clothing technical clothing. So what kind of fashion options exist for this kind of lifestyle?

Some people might argue that fashion should not even be a consideration for the travelor, the outdoor enthusiast or the farmer, but I believe that fashion is valuable to any lifestyle. Fashion helps a person better define their character and mood on any given day. In my opinion, the ability to external represent yourself is what makes clothing so much fun! So here are some of the style words that immediately come to my mind for outdoor lifestyles - ski bum, gortex, hippie, tomboy, cowboy, cyclist, the North Face, retro, wool, hunter, safari, boots, hats, work gloves. As you can imagine, though it is quite easy to find a number of blogs related to urban fashion, whether it be street fashion, high fashion, business fashion or party fashion, there is little to my knowledge that is available for people that need both function and fashion together. The hunt is on.

So far I have been impressed with tomboystyle.blogspot.com though it's focus is still quite urban.

Feral Cows and Unmanagable Deer

There are feral cows living in Naikoon Park.

Sometime in the history of the island, cows escaped from their owners and began to live in the wild. Today there are approximately 30 cows living in the park and their exisitence is one of a number of loopholes within governental regulation that evades policy or protection.

The islanders have different perspectives on the cows. Some believe that they should be hunted and shot for consumption purposes. If this were to be the fate of the cows however, this begs the question as to who will 'have' and then who will 'have not' since the number of cows to be hunted are so limited. Others want the cows to be removed because their existence as an introduced species to the island affects the local ecosystem. And of course there are those that hear about or see the wild cows and are filled with joy at the thought of their existence. (It is fascinating how unusual juxtapositions, in this case 'cows' and 'the wild', grab our fascination and affection so easily.)

If the cows are to be kept, then what kind of protections should exist? What kind of management programs should be instated? Bonnie and I went to see a presentation by a UBC student who did her term project on this issue late last week. Her project evaluated two case studies, one with bison in the US and another with horses in Canada. She basically wanted to look into what other communitities are doing to address the issue of feral animals in their environment and what precautions should be considered. Bonnie and I spotted four cows the other day - three adults and a new born. They made me smile.

There are also black tailed vermin - also read deer - that live on Haida Gwaii and need to be culled or better yet annihilated. I am now among the population of this island that is of the opinion that all the deer need to be shot, poisoned or removed by whatever means possible. To put these statements into perspective, let me explain a little about how the deer came to be here and the problems that they cause.

The deer were introduced by 'the white man' as a means to provide protein to the new residents of the island. Unfortunately, Haida Gwaii doesn't have any significant predators for the deer, and its rich forests have allowed the deer to thrive. There are now thousands of deer on the island and they can be considered nothing lest than an invasive pest. For instance, the deer are devastating the Haida Gwaii underbrush which is especially concerning because of the many native medicinal plants that once flourished as well as the potential to grow many berries or agro-products once possible. Driving to a party in Masset this weekend around dusk, we saw 50 deer along the road over a 75 km distance.

I personally dislike the deer. When I expressed this opinion with a couple of locals, I learned that a Haida Gwaii resident is allowed to shoot 30 deer a year! The problem is these deer replicate like rabbits, and what is a person supposed to do with that much meat? Throughout Canada, you are not allowed to sell hunted meat, and consequently, you or your friends and family would be responsible for eating the entire lot that you bring in. Tough situation if you ask me.

Farm-time Memories

This is a picture of my pet goat Princess and I when I was very young at our farm in Quebec. Princess remains one of those memories from my early childhood that I will always remember. I used to lead her around on her leash, feed her milk out of a beer bottle and teach he to jump up and give you a kiss upon command. (Kuesschen Princess Kuesschen!) Thanks Mum for sending this picture along. I love it!

Shipwrecks

Our first hike into the Naikoon Provincial Park which covers the north eastern part of Graham Island in Haida Gwaii was to the Pesuta Shipwreck. In 1928 the ship went aground and people have been hiking out to visit it ever since. I have been told that farmer Elizabeth used to be able to walk through the cabins of the shipwreck back in the day. Unfortunately every consecutive winter, windstorm and high tide has had its toll on the wreckage and only portions remain, though still impressive in my opinion.

The hike through the forest was calm and green. About halfway on the 5km hike out you meet up with the Tlell River and follow that to the beach. The ocean and the scenery are exactly what I live for - wind blowing in your face fresh with hints of the ocean, the sound of the waves, the feel of earth and rocks beneath your feet and seeing the horizon where the land and the ocean meet the sky. Beautiful.

We saw exactly three other hikers along the way. Some long time residents and other newbies to the island including Michael from Masset who we hope to run into again when we finally venture up to the top of the island.

Goats and Milk; Compost and Manure; Chicken and Eggs; Seeds and Weeds

Life on our modest homestead has been quite relaxed so far. Our hosts have allowed us a very flexible schedule as long as we get our chores and jobs done in a reasonable time. As many of you know, Bonnie and I work very well together, so our jobs are getting done in no time at all! Nonetheless, I do enjoy every minute of our time working and can't wait until my job at Klippers Organics begins and my farm life becomes a full time gig. In the interim, I will continue to play at Elizabeth's Tlell Bay Farm.

Goats and Milk

We have three goats on the farm - Molly, Sanga and Busa. Only Molly and Sanga are producing milk right now, but man do they produce a lot of milk. The goats are milked twice a day at 9.00am and 9.00 pm (Elizabeth is retired and likes to sleep in so she has trained the goats to work on her schedule since she was on their 5.00am schedule for many years). The goats have a little pasture beside the house where they eat the bottoms of the trees and then also have access to their barn which was especially designed for them. The barn is quite novel with a swinging door that during the day time locks away the milking station and food, and in the evening will swing around and lock the goats into their pen where they get their food and have water.

As I said, right now only Molly and Sanga are being milked, but this still produces about 4 - 5 litres of milk a day. That is a ton of milk and quickly takes over all the fridge space. So, the tennant living in the basement, Brian, has been using it to make cheese. Now for those of you who have never met my friend Bonnie, there are two things in this world for which she is crazy - cheese and cats. For this reason, Bonnie has slaved herself to Brian to learn and make as much and as many different types of cheese or milk products during her stay here. If Brian calls, I know that Bonnie will be out of commission for some hours.

The first night we arrived I did partake in the fun. Bonnie made yogurt and I made quark (mainly found in Germany and could be described as a medium between yogurt and goats cheese). The quark was easy to make and a success too! However, not all of the cheese ventures this week have been so. Bonnie and Brian undertook the challenge of making mozzarella three days ago, and on hour 7 of 8, a cheese failure happened. Cheese making is a very labour intensive and time consuming process. You have to babysit the cheese throughout its transformation from milk to cheese and ensure that the temperatures stay or rise at exactly the right amount in exactly the right amount of time otherwise, failure. This is where the mozarella went wrong. However, the next day Bonnie was right back at it and was pleased to report after 8 hrs that she had succeeded at producing the cheese.

Bonnie is already trying to figure out how she will be able to make cheese in Toronto. Here it is fairly easy because we have raw milk, lots of it and it is essentially free. Not only do we have the goats milk, but our neighbours have a cow which is also producing a ton of milk for us to use. I have told Bonnie that she should take up guerilla cheese making - where you break into cow pastures (or sheep or goats) to milk the animals and take their milk for the purpose of making homemade cheese. I think it would be a hilarious undertaking.

Compost and Manure

One of the jobs that Bonnie and I had to take care of was reorganizing the compost bins. We have six compost bins onsite all in different stages of maturity. Two were essentially empty from being spread on the garden plots, two are almost ripe and the last two we were told had died - this means that they no longer were composting. Our job was to move the to move the two dead piles into the almost empty bins thereby breathing new life into the stagnate process of decomposition, and then fill the bins they had occupied with the manure pile and bedding from the goat barn. This was a big project. First of all, the dead piles really did look and smell dead on the surface, but once we got the first layer off, we realized that they were as alive as ever! The bins were saturated with wriggling worms just munching away at the goodies that had been sitting there undisturbed.

Now I have always had a big fascination with worms - by that I mean I am captivated by them for some reason. In Vancouver, whenever I were to see a worm on the sidewalk I would without fail bend down to pick it up and move it out of harms way. One of my favourite parts about the rain in Vancouver is actually that it brings all the worms to the surface. Only a few times have I been lucky enough to be walking late at night and stumble upon hundreds of worms that have come to the surface to escape the rain that I imagine was drowning them in the soil and see them all recoil into the ground once they felt my presence. It might seem like an obscure experience to enjoy, but everytime I felt like it was a special moment. It could also be a scene from a horror pic, but I'd prefer to call it special.

Well it turns out that the chickens also share my fascination with worms, except for very different reasons. The chickens were going insane with envy that we were stomping around in bins teaming with worms, while they were stuck on the other side of a very thin fence. I took pity on them and did toss them a shovel of 'the good stuff' here and there for them to devour.

Since the compost was not dead in the end, we decided not to mix the goat manure and hay with it. Instead we started two, which turned into three, brand new piles for the goat barns waste. Bonnie and I made a good team throughout the project, but about a third of the way into the goats she was called to make cheese - so I decided to finish the project on my own. There is something therapeutic for sure about shoveling, using a wheelbarrel and seeing the results of your labour. Plus I knew the goats would be really happy they had a clean barn to sleep in that night. Still the smell was putrid especially because there was not way to allow for a cross breeze in the small barn. Of course I got used to the smell, but you have to wonder if it is at all toxic to your health. Hope not!

Chicken and Eggs

We currently have 24 chickens including two roosters. Almost all the chickens lay an egg every day which means, as we were quickly told upon our arrival, that we can "eat as many eggs as we can stuff into our mouths." We also package up dozens of eggs a week to sell at the local store about a five minute walk from here - we get $4.00 a dozen and the store sells them for $5.00. Food on the island is not cheap. There are a few special things about the chickens. First, we have one chicken that lays blue eggs. It is quite unusual and Elizabeth the farmer is hoping to be able to hatch some of this specific chicken's eggs in an incubator so that we can have more. To date no luck. Next, everytime I see the roosters, I want to kill them. Not for the reason you might imagine, which would be the loud crowing in the morning, instead because I want to make earings from their feathers. When in Whistler, I was captivated by these beautiful rooster feather earrings made by a local girl. I learned she got her feathers from a farm in Quebec. At first, I thought I would be able to get the feathers without killing the birds, but learned that that would inflict too much pain. So instead I want them dead - not really, but I am on the lookout now for anyone hoping to have some chicken for dinner and can pass me the feathers when they are done. Until then, I will see walking earrings everytime the roosters pass by.

Seeds and Weeds

The majority of our work this month will be getting the garden plots ready for seeding. This means a lot of weeding, adding peat and compost, testing soils to see if they need to have their ph adjusted, and reorganizing the spaces between the beds to facilitate the garden management in the summer. The soil is very sandy in Tlell because we are so close to the beach I imagine. So on day one, we started by getting the greenhouse beds ready. First we soaked and turned the soil already there twice. Then we filled the beds with peat moss and a layer of organic fertilizer then soaked and turned the entire mixture twice again. Last, we scatter seeded the beds - one with mesclun that I had brought with me an the second with arugula. We should see results very soon!

Beachcombing

Beachcombing is one of those things that I can do obsessively for hours on end. The prospect that I can find more or that there is something better out there for me to find allows me to continue on despite fatigue or the boredom that might come with doing the same thing repetitively. The reason we are beachcombing is we are looking for japanese glass fishing floats.

These floats would have been separated from their nets and sent adrift in the Pacific to hopefully find their way to our beaches. So far no luck, but we are instead making an effort to collect the multitude of plastic bottles and plastics that litter the beach. Who knows, maybe good karma will pay out. Either way I know this, we will find something. At the very least, there is a ton of debris heading our way as a result of the tsunamis that have recently occured in Asia. Exciting prospects!

April 2nd - 4th, 2011 - The Journey North

The trip to Haida Gwaii started at 7 am on Saturday April 2, 2011. Somehow Bonnie and I were able to fit everything into my car in a neat and organized fashion. Bonnie and I definitely have a different approach to packing and preparing for a trip, so I had been concerned that I might have had to abandon some of my items in the last moment, which I was relieved I did not have to do. As we took off from Vancouver, I could feel my stress levels decrease the further and further I got from the city. I was finally leaving the life I have known for many years behind and starting the life I have been dreaming and planning for months. After saying all my goodbyes I knew I had to recognize that some people I will never see again, while others will indeed be a part of my life forever. Though this is always a sad realization, a friend of mine did share with me that this is the life of a travelor - you must leave people behind to open up the doors to new people and new experiences. As a consolation, I do have the best companion a person can ask for in my passenger seat, so I really can't complain.

Our first stop was in Hope. There we learned that highway 1 up to Cache Creek was closed because of a slide, so we had to take the Coquahalla highway up to Merritt and then the 97c back through the countryside to Cache Creek to join up with 97N. Bonnie and I made a point of switching the responsibility of driving every two hours. Honestly, on day 1 we drove through every weather condition imaginable while trekking through BC - we saw sun and rain, clouds and fog, and snow and wind.

I am really glad we had to do the detour on 97c because that part of the trip was probably my favourite. On that highway I saw true cowboys herding their cattle, something I hope to be able to do one day, and we also drove along an open face copper mine for many miles. I am always impressed and surprised at the vastness of the destruction that is caused by mining and logging in our province. Everytime I drive away from the lower mainland for any significant number of hours, I have come accross the reality of our natural resource industry. I always feel sadness seeing a landscape completely torn up. The copper mine looked alien. The trucks and machines you could see driving across the mines were tiny in comparison to the mountains of mine debris that had been carefully piled, and the air was filled with the stench of industry waste.

We drove 1100 km on day one from Delta, BC to Burns Lake, BC. Most of the drive is through small towns in BC that each have their own character - or a lack of character for which Bonnie and I would deam that town 'a hole'.

At the end of the day we were racing against the sun to make it to a hotel before we were stuck on the highway of tears in the dark. Driving west, we got to see our first 'freedom sunset' and it was glorious. The warmth in the sky always brings a warmth to my heart.

In Burns Lake, we stayed at the Lakeland Inn. Right in the heart of town, the inn had excellent service. We asked for a room with two beds if possible, so they gave us two separate rooms with a connecting door for the price of one room. We ordered some take-out, sat on my bed in front of the TV and enjoyed our feast with some beer and wine. We had also saved a special reward for our long day of travels. Two of our good friends, Danielle and Sara, had prepared a going away treasure box for our travels. One was titled the Scroll of Fun and the second came with a warning only to be opened by those prepared for extreme adventure. I must say the contents of both were outstanding! The Scroll of Fun was a detailed map leading us from Vancouver to Haida Gwaii with all the destinations and highlights we should make a point of seeing and those we should try to avoid - plus some additional 'insider information' given out two friends are both from Northern Britihs Columbia. The treasure box was filled with homemade gifts and other treasures to be used on our trip. Danielle and Sara you are the treasures and I am so glad that you were able to put small pieces of yourselves in that box. We will take it with us everywhere and know that we are loved. Thank you girls for making our night and this trip start so special.

The next morning we slept in as we were already 2/3rds of the way to our destination. En route, though we were able to make some pitstops in Smithers and Prince Rupert. In Smithers, we learned of Shames mountain - a mountain that is currently for sale and a group of people are trying to start a coop to buy the mountain. For $299.00 you can have a share in the coop and help buy the mountain. Bonnie and I are very excited at the prospect of owning our own mountain and are seriously contemplating becoming coop members. We reason that we have wasted $300.00 on things much less cool than owning a mountain, so even if this investment leads to nothing, we will have lost little. But if it works out, I can foresee very good longterm returns in happiness!

Prince Rupert was stormy when we drove in to town. We went to find some dinner before heading to the ferry which left at 11.00pm. The area where we had dinner is called Cow Bay and we have heard many good tales about Cowpuccinos, though it was closed when we arrived. Prince Rupert is a lot bigger than I had anticipated in size, though I was informed that the population is steadily decreasing since the fishing industry has come to a halt. Still there were tankers in the bay, float plane terminals, and ferries to Alaska and BC - you know when you can grab a ferry to Alaska that you are pretty far north.

We loaded the ferry at 10.00pm. Departure was scheduled for 11.00pm. I had paid for a berth since it was a overnight ferry and the channel is apparently the third worst crossing in the world (the first is the Drake Passage from Argentina to Antarctica which I had the pleasure of doing when I was 13). Bonnie on the other hand had opted not to pay the extra money and to sit up for the night. In the end I was in a berth on my own with four beds and a private bathroom. Bonnie could have easily stayed with me, however she decided she wanted to stay up top for the night to see if it was really that bad for future reference. It turns out she was not the only one with this idea as when she arrived up top a lot of people had laid out their sleeping bags and pillow on the ground and were getting ready to close it in. It helps that not a lot of people travel to Haida Gwaii and the boat is fairly large for all the vehicle traffic.

In the end I was happy I had a berth because the seas were pretty rough that night. We were scheduled to arrive at 6.00am but docked just before 9.00 am instead. So our total ferry time was almost 11.00 hrs! But we had made it. We drove to our new home at the Tlell Bay Farm and met our new family for the next four weeks. We had really arrived.

Whistler - Synopsis

Whistler is a fabulous place! But, the time has for Bonnie and I to pack up and head north to Haida Gwaii. The time in Whistler has been filled with friends both new and old, renewed inspiration about lifestyle possibilities and of course lots of time outside. Here I will share some of my favourite memories of this month, though the entire experience and all the people will always stay with me.

On day one, I got up to Whistler early, unpacked my belongings, changed my car insurance and still had time to get on the mountain in the afternoon. I plugged in my earphones and was ready to hit the slopes. Prepared to spend the afternoon on my own, on my first chair ride up, another skier actually started chatting me up. Turns out he was from Australia and was in Whistler for a week long vacation. After finding out he was skiing alone as well (and checking out his awesome gear) I suggested we do a run together. I quickly realized that we would have fun skiing together and made a day of it which led into Alex and I preparing dinner together – a perfect start to a new friendship. I hope that Alex will be the first of many new friends I make on this journey. I always feel fortunate and inspired when I meet other people that share a similar outlook on life to I, that enjoy being outdoors and active, and that are young and ambitious.

The benefit of meeting people from elsewhere in the world is you get to learn so much about your differences as well. For instance, even though Alex is Australian and young, I had a really tough time understanding what he was saying more that I would like to admit. This is not a result of his accent, but rather than the idioms and words that he uses to express himself. For instance, Alex says to me, “I can’t be asked.” Right away I wonder, asked (because of the pronunciation in this case) about what? Turns out that “I can’t be assed” or “I can’t be stuffed” both mean “I can’t be bothered”. I don’t speak Australian. On a similar note, later in the month I met a British guy who says he faced a similar situation when he first moved to Canada where he would go around asking people how they are doing. The problem was that in Britain he was used to saying, “Hi. Are you ok?” I explained that people would think he was a nut if he went around asking if everyone was ok all the time.

The beginning of the month I was also lucky enough to be visited by my Mum and Dad from Montreal. Their visit was filled with lots of skiing and good food and wine. During this time my Dad introduced me to a new special activity – heliskiing! Never having been in a helicopter or skied in back-country conditions before, I was both very nervous as well as very excited about the experience. I have this irrational fear of anything which contains a motor – that they will spontaneously explode. I also get motion sickness. For these reasons, it took a lot for me to feel comfortable in the helicopter, but the skiing was well worth it. The snow was light, deep and untouched; the mountain tops were sublime and the stillness in the trees was meditative. On top of the awe-inspiring surroundings, skiing in powder is such a unique sensation that I can’t wait to go back!

My Mum doesn’t ski, so my Dad and I made a point of doing some non-ski activities during their visit. One of these activities was alpine snowmobiling. (Again, I had to face my fear of motor-driven-machines.) The Callaghan Valley mountain tops and views are beautiful, and it was neat to be on the top of a mountain in a different capacity than skiing, hiking or snowshoeing. I also am able to boast that I was the only one on the tour that didn’t get their ‘sled’ stuck in the snow.

Bonnie also spent a lot of time up at Whistler in the beginning. A novice skier, Bonnie only took up the sport last year well into her adulthood. Nevertheless, she is a rock star! My Dad and I invited Bonnie to come skiing with us one day and she quickly went from only having been on green runs on the lower mountain to black runs in the alpine. Bonnie has fabulous control on her skies, but the best part is that she has a lot of trust. Though intimidated, Bonnie knows that we would never tell her that she can do something if we didn’t believe it. My Dad quickly took over the role of Bonnie’s personal ski coach. We focused on pole planting for the day and Bonnie says she will forever hear my Dad’s booming voice shouting “pole! pole! pole!” as he slowly makes turns down the mountain with Bonnie following closely behind. It was quite an amusing site for me. Now to give a bit of insight into this experience, all parties involved were concerned about the outcome before we even got started. For one, my Dad and I are very much alike – he is very impatient, doesn’t like to be held back and feels he needs to have accomplished something at the end of every day. Bonnie knows this all too well and so she was concerned that the differences in our ski level would cause problems (as did my Dad). However, in the end it was such a pleasant day and I am so proud of Bonnie for being such a brave beginner!

My friend Alex came to visit me mid-month. Given that Alex and I really enjoy going to see music together and generally seeing what is going on, we made a point of going out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Also to my delight, Alex convinced his colleague Bob to come up and celebrate with us as well. Now the story is that both Alex and Bob are Conservation Officers for the province of British Columbia. Bob had to come straight from work, so arrived at my place in his full uniform – bullet proof vest, gun and badge. Unfortunately Alex forgot to let Bob know that I live in the downstairs of my house so Bob went to the front door where my 80-year-old Bulgarian landlords were a little taken aback that a corrections officer was asking for me. I can only imagine what they were thinking.

Later that evening, we started our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with a trivia night at the Brewhouse Pub. I love trivia!! Though we didn’t win, I would certainly go back. Here are some of the questions for your enjoyment:
Q: What is a dried-out water bed that fills with water called in Australia?
Q: What Star Trek species is the only species to have cloaking capabilities?
Q: Which animal’s eyes are bigger than it’s brain?
Q: What word can be spelled by rearranging this phrase: cry met loco

Soon thereafter, my friend Marco came to visit me after his three month long stint house sitting a ranch near Burns Lake, BC. Marco and I decided to dog sledding one afternoon because Marco doesn’t ski. I have always wanted to go dog sledding, but was disappointed with the experience. The run was only about 8km long which took maybe 30 minutes. On top of that, the dogs were misbehaving and weren’t running properly. In all fairness, the guide said it was probably the worst tour he had ever run and was extremely embarrassed and apologetic. As a consolation, he invited Marco and I to go snowshoeing the next day for free at his other workplace. The guide gave us a 30 minute guided snowshoe tour on which he taught us many fun facts about the outdoors including the fact that woodpeckers wrap their tongues around their brain when they are not searching for insects. This helps cushion the brain when they are doing all the pecking. We also learned to identify bear markings on trees, various indigenous plants and their medicinal/culinary uses. At one point we popped the sap blisters of a type of pine tree to taste – it tasted like tree.

On the snowshoe tour, our guide has also let us know that he lived in a hidden cabin between the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains at one point in his life in Whistler. He invited us to go check it out if we were interested and that the lock was in the door. As soon as I heard the words hidden cabin, I knew that I had to find this place. To that end, when my friend Adam came to hang out with me towards the end of the month, we set out to find this hidden gem. The guide had given me loose clues on how to get to the place – hike up this trail, take 100 steps past this marker and turn left into the woods to find a rope which would be used to rappel down the mountain side to the cabin that was very well camouflaged. We were successful with all the clues except finding the rope. After almost half an hour of searching, Adam decided that is would be best just to rappel down the mountain to the creek bed below by hanging on trees. The climb was doable, but definitely not for everyone. We were very muddy by the time we got to the bottom and back out. But, the hidden cabin was worth it! Built seven years ago, it is essentially a room on stilts well insulated. The furniture consists of two shelving units and a cot. There are books and miscellaneous items around the room. Definitely reminiscent of Into the Wild, but with the housing prices the way they are at Whistler, it is understandable that someone would prefer to live in the great outdoors in a rudimentary cabin and spend their cash in other ways.

The last weekend in March, I actually took a little hiatus from my time up in Whistler and went on my company retreat on Pender Island. This was the perfect occasion for me to relax with my coworkers and say my final goodbyes. However the weekend also served an alternative purpose – challenging me to think of what business opportunities I would like to pursue in the next few years. We started the weekend with a visit to a winery on the island. I must admit, with every visit to a new agricultural operation, I always imagine myself running the show and what I would do differently to make it better. After talking with my coworkers about my future, I definitely am considering the option to start my own business and am eager to see what kind of opportunities exist. That being said, my time on the mountain has also exposed me to many new professions including guiding, outdoor education, outdoor gear and equipment production and outdoor events – all of which I find fascinating and about which I hope to learn more.

I could continue to tell stories for many more pages, but I believe you have a pretty good sense of it all. I got to live a dream and feel exceedingly fortunate about this fact. Now onto the next adventure where the agricultural part of my journey will finally begin. I am off to Haida Gwaii!