The Trip That Started Our Wanderlust

A moment lived in Canada by Wanderlust Vegans, travelers from Canada

We got word of a trip kayaking from Telegraph Cove to Hanson Island. A family we met does this kayaking trip every year as a family holiday. Lucky for us they invite others to come along. We did a little researching and thought it sounded like something we would like to join in on. (Funny side note though, when we researched ‘Hanson Island’ the first article that came up on Google was ‘Murderer lose on Hanson Island’ … Turns out there was a guy in Eastern Canada who murdered his multiple wives, fled to Western Canada and hid on Hanson Island. He was caught a couple years before we went on our trip.) Phew!
And with that, we set off…
It was a 6.5-hour drive from our hour to Telegraph Cove, so we split up the drive and stayed the night somewhere halfway.
The drive felt pretty epic as it was getting dark out and the highway kept going and going. It felt like it was never ending. Pretty soon we were the only car on the road aside from the massive logging trucks that kept speeding by. There was only one radio station up there which was CBC radio. We got to listen to some talk radio on CBC including an interview with Kevin Spacey about his show on Netflix, House of Cards.
We ended up getting to the camp site super late so instead of setting up our tent we slept in the car. We weren’t able to find any of our friends we were meeting, which worried us a bit. There were no other campers awake when we arrived and we had no idea what vehicles they were driving. It was pitch black outside and our phone signal was nonexistent.
We woke up pretty early and found our group right away. Turns out most of them got into the campsite even later than we did, so all was good.
We headed to the water where our kayak rental was waiting and got our kayak loaded up.  We had to pack everything we needed for 3 days of camping on Hanson Island.
We got all suited up and then made the crossing to Hanson Island. We paddled all the way from Telegraph Cove to Hanson Island. Our guide led the whole group and we arrived at our campsite in an hour or so. We had to avoid different currents and wind so sometimes the paddling was easy and other times it felt like we were paddling against the current.
We arrived on Hanson Island and brought our kayaks to shore to unload all our gear.
The island was picturesque and no one lives on the island. It is used by the Kwakiutl people as a fishing and carving site. We searched for a place to put our tents. A few of us ended up taking the easy option and camping on the wooden platform that was already set up.
We had a great time hanging out on the island. We went kayaking to find grey whales, humpback whales, and Orcas. We also hiked around the island and ate the great food we packed while getting to know our fellow campers. We did see some Orcas and other whales which was amazing.
We had made a ton of vegan stew with lots of veggies, potatoes, and “beefless tips” which we froze in portions to heat up on our butane stove. Then we packed lots of snacks, and stuff for breakfast and lunch like fruit, nuts and vegetables.
It was a lot of fun hanging out on the island with everyone. We couldn’t have asked for better weather while we were there. Everything was just amazing. We hung out around the campfire and all got to know each other a little better.
The last night there was a bit of a storm and the tide came up pretty high to the point that we almost lost some of our kayaks and some of our equipment was hit with the water such as the GPS. It was pretty foggy as well so in order to get back to Telegraph Cove we had to cross while blowing our whistles to let boats know where we were and use our compass and map. We could hear the big ships crossing and everyone’s fog horns. Eventually, we made it through the fog. It was a bit scary making the crossing and not being sure when we were going to see land again. We couldn’t see much farther than immediately in front of us.
We decided to have a little celebratory drink after we finished the crossing. We also said farewell to our new friends. We began our long drive back home, completely high on life. This was the trip that made the decision in our lives that we need to be more adventurous. We need to jump at more opportunities, and that we need to say yes more. We got home and started pondering an adventure to the United Kingdom.

These travelers have a blog: Wanderlust Vegans