“Dude, Take My Car”
Upon our return to McLoughlin Bay, the ferry terminal outside of Bella Bella, home to 1,400 Heiltsuk people, we had a six-hour wait before the ferry departed. While the tiny waiting room offered free tea and coffee, after 12 days of going without, I wanted a diet coke and chips. As Bella Bella is only accessible by water (or air), and because we were able to launch our canoe right beside where the ferry docked, we had left the car at the ferry terminal in Port Hardy, a town at the northern tip of Vancouver Island. So, I casually asked a staff member how long it would take to walk to town. His answer was stunning. “Dude, just take my car.” And that’s how I got my pop and chips.

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