This is going to be hard. Hard because I'm trying to cast my mind back to three weeks ago and remember clearly how awesome the Queen Charlotte islands were. It doesn't sound like long but three weeks is a long time when you're travelling. It's like a whole year in normal working life! Sorry to rub it in.....
We spent most of our time WWOOFing at a place called Moresby Explorers (Morex). They run boat tours into the big national park that makes up about half of the islands. About 10 people live in the house, mostly the tour guides, then the owners and the office staff. Laura and Heron own the business which is fairly wicked cause they're both under thirty... and there's a lot of stuff that needs looking after! Big expensive boats, half-dozen vehicles, a whole workshop with mechanical equipment, food to feed guests and staff... it's quite an operation.
The Queen Charlottes, or Haida Gwaii, is like this fabled place for many Canadians. There's only about 5000 people on the islands, 100km from the mainland. And they're beautiful. The place is bursting with life. Bald eagles everywhere, amazing tidal pools filled with starfish and anemones... everything you can think of, and can't. The Haida are the native people from the island and they're tough fuckers. Absolute warriors, who got decimated by smallpox when white man came... the population went from 20,000 to around 500! They somewhat recovered, and the islands are now partly governed by the Haida and everyone seems to coexist really well. The people are really friendly, outdoor, adventure types... or are here because of the logging industry that's recently taken a bit of a dive. You can hitch anywhere pretty easy and everyone's up for a chat.. or something similar. One day while we were waiting for a ferry Nic and a burly, harmonica-playing ESSO fuel truck driver had a blues jam session, just cause life is sweet. That's the kind of place it is.
One of the first people we got to know well on the islands was Luke, an amazing fella who grew up in rural BC and has just been to Australia, cycling round the place. He moved to the Charlottes about a month before we arrived with his girlfriend, and was doing some WWOOFing at Morex. Being a practical Canadian type like we've been telling you about he was building a little cabin out the back there. We helped him on our first day there and it was great! I used a nail gun! Although petrified at first, I got in the swing of things. And it was cool to see how a little house actually comes together, Nic and I really loved it. We managed to get a ride with Luke up to the northern tip of the islands the following day, and that was great fun. We picked up his girlfriend's friend Nancy and cruised around seeing the beautiful big beaches... then went back to his house and had burgers and met his lovely girlfriend Chandel. Again, we were in the company of amazing people who would do anything to make us feel at home.
So we worked a bit more, then we got to go on a tour! It was two days into the park, which was just beautiful. It was us and just two other people - a father and his 40 year old daughter from California who were lots of fun and of course our fearless tour leader Max.
We saw lots of Haida villages and the old totem poles, some beautiful hot springs... and the most exciting: Whales!! We stumbled upon a mother and calf in this big bay and watched them for a while, just swimming along not really doing much. Then they disappeared for a bit so we decided to motor around the other side of where they'd been. A bit after we'd taken off, the calf came barrelling out of the water like a torpedo. Pecheeeeeeew---- SPLASH!!! It was amazing, I can't explain that feeling when you see something like that... you feel so little. And it just kept doing it. Its whole body got out of the water twice... we could see its tail and all while we whooped and cheered for more. We did get one photo in amongst the excitement but it's out of focus and looks more like a salmon than a whale. But trust us, it was really cool.
We went back to Morex headquarters and worked some more after that, getting to know all the characters in the house a bit better. Oh, and of course, how could I forget, looking after Bob. Bob is a gull we rescued while we were out on our tour (well, Max spearheaded the effort) and we brought back to Morex to recover. He walked everywhere around the place, shat everywhere and was generally very freaked out and tried to bite us. He really liked going in the bath though. Hopefully his wing is better now and he can go back to where he's happier.
One night we went camping out on the west coast of the north island, where we met up with Luke and Chandel and their friends. It was a great night, playing "dirty" charades. We learnt a lot that night. Nic also spent half an hour trying to portray a "vaginal fort" which he had no idea about - nor did we. Turns out it was "vaginal fart". He just read it wrong. The next day of exploring was great... then we returned to do a couple more days of work before we left.
On our final night at Morex we were joined by Laura and Viv's parents. Laura part owns the company, and Viv her sister is a guide. They grew up on a tiny private island on the Charlottes where they could run amok and be one with nature. Their parents, George and Cecile, are quite an amazing couple. George came to the Charlottes as a doctor but ended up quitting to lead a more organic, stress free life. When they had the kids they sent them to the local school, but it wasn't that great, so instead of whinging, they started their own school with some friends. Some 15 years on it still continues, although they no longer teach. Cecile now runs the natural food store on the islands, while George grows tomatoes. His babies grow in three largish green houses on his island. They spout from seed in the dead of winter by the fire and as they grow they're moved outside where they're on a computerized watering hook up. George supplies much of the Charlottes with these glorious tasting treats. Actual REAL tomatoes. So red they look spray painted... and the taste! Sweet, juicy, fresh. Seems a crime to call what we normally get from the supermarkets tomatoes really...
So we got chatting to George the night before we left, and told him we were heading to Smithers on Friday night, an overnight ferry and four hours drive from the Charlottes.
"Smithers hey? So today's Wednesday... Thursday, Friday... that means you'll be there on Saturday morning?"
"Yeah, I guess it does" we said.
"Mm.. for the farmers market. That's very interesting, How about you guys take some tomatoes for me and sell them in Smithers?"
"Oh? Wow... I guess we could..."
"I take two-thirds, you take the rest of the money"
" Well sure! That sounds great!"
Hence began Nic and my life as tomato merchants. The next day we met Cecile in town and boated out to their island. The operation is just amazing. The island is just amazing! They have geese and are growing their own wheat which they're using to make bread. There's a decent sized vegetable garden, then the big tomato green houses... and a beautiful little cabin for guests.
It was a great afternoon. Nic chopping some wood, me making up tomato boxes while George carefully shined up each one and placed it lovingly in the box. Over tea and halva we asked George and Cecile a million questions about their amazing lives out here. Later that night after dinner George took us back into town, where we got his truck and picked up the tomatoes that we would be selling. Whoa. There were twelve big boxes, about 250 pounds. We drove to the ferry and loaded up our goodies, some plastic bags and some old kitchen scales with "not to be used for commercial purposes" on written clearly on the side. We said good bye to George ... and I've got to say I was very sad to leave him. Funny how you can become attached to people and places so quickly.
The next day we drove out to Smithers and hooked up everything for the farmers market the next day. We knew where we had to be, what time, etc. But I was nervous! I always get a bit nervous before I start a new job and this was the same. We had about $1000 worth of tomatoes in our car which had about a week before they fell apart, what happened if we didn't sell them? I tried to console myself with George's parting words to us : "If you don't sell them, just remember: they're only tomatoes. Why do you think I got out of medicine!"
The next morning we got out to the market. People had tents and tables and fancy signs. We had the boot of The Fridge open, and the boxes stacked in front with a little make shift sign created by Nic.
We were a little worried. At $4 a pound they weren't cheap. Would people want them?? Bloody oath they did.
At times we had big lines, people exclaiming in shock "oh my god, they just look amazing." We met so many people that morning - from the German baker in the tent next to us, to an Aussie who lived in Smithers now, to the locals that ran the show. It was brilliant, and all of them gave us good tips about where to head on our way north.
By the end of the market... we'd sold all 250 pounds. A woman who'd come first thing in the morning even came back again because the she'd had some for lunch and nearly peed her pants they tasted so good. It was great. We went and had a coffee to celebrate only to be asked by the guy at the table next to us "Hey, aren't you the tomato people??" Yes, yes we are.
That afternoon we headed 10km west of Smithers to a beautiful little town named Telkwa, so we could drop the empty tomato boxes at George and Cecile's friends house. In true west coast fashion, Pete, Linda and their daughter Jenn invited us for dinner, which again was awesome. They gave us a great tip about a walk to do in Smithers so the next day before we rolled out of town.
That's right. Life isn't too bad, is it??
Be well.
Jess
