After departing from the dining room full from an amazing meal of lamb curry and an abundance of laughter and good conversation we all headed to our cabins for a couple hours of rest before the infamous midnight paddle; half of us able to close our eyes, the other half waiting in anticipation for the bioluminescence twinkling under the light of the bright orange sliver of BC moon.
The stars were shining as the moon disappeared behind the mountains; creating a map through Christie Passage for the Humpbacks we’ve seen every day crossing by our beds at God’s Pocket. At 11:45 pm our beloved guides came to the rooms knocking softly, whispering adventure awaits – head to the dock to board our vessels for the night.
Quietly we all put on our gear and tip-toed down the hand crafted wooden decks, leading to other wooden decks, leading down to the dock of this magical bay. As we boarded our kayaks in the mystical darkness we spoke words of beauty and amazement at the wilderness around us. Smoothly, we slid into our boats and drifted away from the dock into the dark waters of British Columbia. Our paddles touched the water and instantly became magic wands painting arches of bioluminescent art! The microorganisms lighting up only by our touch, glittered and leaped like tiny fairies in the water; all of us in awe of this amazing natural phenomena connecting human and marine life with the moon, the stars and the earth around us.
The wind was quiet, the water was still, we heard sounds of sea lions breathing at our backs... Always hopeful to hear a humpback blowing a special good night to us from across the channel. We paddled down the passage into a bay gliding effortlessly between each other with our graceful kayaks leaving trails of light behind us. Overwhelmed by the greatness of this mystical moment in time. Entranced by the sparkling water of life, we noticed the reflection of the stars, and, for the first time since we got on the water, took our eyes off of the underwater magic.
We rested our paddles across our laps, laid back and looked up at the sky. We were greeted by billions of stars, shimmering in infinite space. The Milky Way was out to say hello, the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, the North Star and all of the other constellations. As we turned our heads north we all gasped at the sight in the sky. Half of our world was lit up by the most beautiful turquoise color… streaking bolts of electric blues and whites… we were witness to the unusual happening of the Aurora Borealis on exhibit like an enormous ever-changing canvas on the horizon.
We sat there, floating atop bioluminescent beams of light while staring at the most energetic display of beauty in nature that one could ask for. Nobody spoke but you could feel radiating waves of love and gratitude for our beautiful planet and the gifts it gave us on that glorious July day.
We sat drifting together… connected by nature… all in awe of the magic around us… in eternal gratitude for the memory of today.
