Hornby

By: Raina Hagel

As the ferry docks, I am jolted forward slightly from the impact. I sit in my car with the window cracked, listening to the loud hum from the boat and seagulls squawking. The salty, ocean air wafts into my car. I watch as the vehicles beside me unload, a clank every time another vehicle goes up the ramp.

Each person has come to the island for their own reason: a local coming home, visiting a friend or family, a relaxing beach day, a mountain bike trip– people coming for the day, a weekend, or home. I think about why I’ve come back. All the memories.

It has been years since I’ve visited with my family. The last time I was here, we came for a weekend just after my 11th birthday. It was the start of summer and we rented a little cottage with our family friends. We spent the mornings mountain biking and the afternoons at the beach. It was nice. Simple, island life: everything a short bike ride away, spending the days outside in the sun, and the nights by a fire. Life has gotten so busy that I haven’t really had a chance to come back since then.

Hornby is a small island off of Denman Island, which is just off Buckley Bay. With the two short ferry rides, it takes about an hour to get to Hornby from Comox, my hometown, depending if you’ve timed the ferries right. It isn’t some huge trip to get there, but I never really have a reason to go, so the idea always gets pushed off for another time and it just never ended up happening. So this year, I’m home from university and decided that I will get back to Hornby this summer. So here I am. And once again, I think of the reason why I have come here today.

Finally, it is my turn to unload, so I turn my car on and put it into drive. The radio comes on and blasts a random ad before I can connect to Bluetooth. I drive onto the ramp, and there is a soft rumble as I roll over the metal grates.

Finally, I reach pavement, driving past all the cars lined up to take the ferry back to Denman. My music connects and Stubborn Love starts playing from my summer playlist. I drive up the hill from the ferry, towards the town square. The windows are down, wind blowing my hair and providing a nice breeze in the hot car as I pass all the homes. I pass properties filled with trees and wild grass, many with horses and goats. I pass flower stands, local art galleries, the small elementary school and community hall; everything is so wholesome and naturally beautiful. Finally, I reach the far end of the island where the local grocery store, gas station and some small shops are. I turn into the gravel parking lot and park my car. It’s 12:18, so I will buy some lunch before the long day ahead of me. I decide on a fresh pepperoni pizza and I sit in the shop square.

It isn’t very busy on this Wednesday in June. As I eat my slice of pizza, there are only a few people who walk by. The square is simple: a few picnic tables, some games that people can play, and a nice garden, all in the middle of the shops. I finish my pizza and walk around the square for a minute before heading back to the car. Now that I have eaten, I can focus on my mission– the reason I’ve been wanting to come back to Hornby for so long, the reason I’m here today.

The first place I decide to explore is Tribune Bay, which is a quick walk from the town square. With white sand, crystal clear water, and moon-like rocks, it’s a nice place to escape to. Hornby is known for this beach, it’s often called “Little Hawa’ii” and is super busy during the summer.

Today, only one corner of the beach has a couple young families playing catch, and an older couple walking their dog. I walk along the beach by the edge of the water, towards a quiet edge by the moon rocks. As I’m walk, I listen to the rhythmic sound of waves crashing on the shoreline. This corner is a bit more secluded from the main part of the beach. It has a great view of the bay and I can sit right by the water, but it isn’t the most peaceful spot. The people from the beach’s voices echo across the water. We are half the beach away from each other, but I can still hear what they are saying, word for word, as if they were right next to me.

Although this beach is beautiful, it’s not the place I have come to find. The spot I remember was quiet. Somewhere you can sit for hours and feel totally alone, just me and the nature around me. It had this incredible view at the edge of a forest, overlooking the water.

I walk back to my car, and head to the next location: Helliwell Park. It’s about a 5-minute drive from Tribune Bay, down a skinny road with overgrown grass on the sides and trees hanging over the road making a tunnel. I drive up a steep hill and pull into a dirt parking lot basically in the middle of a forest. It is a lot busier than I expected in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. I slip my sweater on and jump out of the car, heading for the trail entrance. I walk along a wide trail, passing a few locals and tourists. I come to a fork in the trail with a beautiful totem pole, I admire the work for a moment before choosing to take the trail to the right.

I walk along the forested trail for a few more minutes before the trees completely clear to an open field overlooking the water. As I walk towards the ocean view, the steep drop-off of a cliff becomes clear. I look around the open space and see quite a few people wandering the space, some just heading out, some coming back, and some doing some photography; all walking in different directions. I pick a small deer trail in the grass that doesn’t look to have anyone on it. The small dirt trail is right by the cliff’s edge, it has a great view of the water and Denman Island across the channel.

As I continue to explore, a small beach at the bottom of the cliff comes into view, it looks really peaceful; not a person down there, a line of driftwood perfect to sit on, and some light waves crashing on the shoreline. I venture towards the small bay, trying to find a way down. I walk along the cliffs edge to where the small bay ends, but I can’t find a way down.

I continue on the trail till it basically ends at the edge of some trees and shrubs. I turn back and head towards the parking lot. This place has an amazing view, but it’s too busy and there isn’t a good place to just sit and look out at the water. There is still one more place I have in mind to check out, I passed it on the way in, so I’ll stop there before I need to get back to the ferry.

               —————————————————————————–

I pull into the small, empty parking lot. There’s a small cemetery at the edge of the forest. I hop out of the car and check out the cemetery from the parking lot, before starting on the trail.

I find a map of the forest, finding a good lookout point and deciding my path. I decide to follow a fairly easy trail called “Northwind” that is supposed to lead to a nice view.

The walk takes about half an hour to get to the spot, there were some big hills to get here, but the lush path with the sounds of birds all around were very peaceful, and the view was worth it.

This is an amazing look out, but it still doesn’t seem like the place I’m looking for; it is right off a trail that people walk and mountain bike, and there isn’t a good spot to just sit and zone out while looking at the view. This is a spot you can stop for a moment, catch your breath, maybe take a photo or two, then continue on your way.

I head back down the trail. By the time I reach the parking lot, there is roughly an hour before the last ferry leaves, back for Denman for the night. I have a bit of time before I need to get there, but not lots, and I’ve explored all the places I had in mind. I don’t know where else I could go and I don’t have enough time to explore the island randomly. So I pull out of the parking lot and turn left towards the ferry. The drive along the quiet country road is peaceful, the sun is beginning to set and it is right at that bright, golden hour lighting. My summer playlist is playing in the background as I enjoy all the scenery passing by with the wind in hair. As I take the final bend just before the ferry, I spot something I recognize. A small side street, the sign labeled Mount RD partially covered by leaves from an overhanging tree branch.

I contemplate checking it out; I am just around the corner from the ferry, I check my car’s clock and there’s a little bit of time to kill, otherwise I’ll just be sitting in the terminal for 45 minutes. Quickly, I check my surroundings and make a sharp U-turn on the skinny road. I turn onto Mount Road and drive through a neighbourhood. As I continue up the road, the concrete ends and a steep, gravel road continues. I drive up into a cul-de-sac and spot a hidden trail entrance.

I park the car out of the way, and rush onto the trail. I only have a short moment to explore this area before the ferry comes. A hundred feet into the trail, there’s a warning sign for a cliff drop off.

I continue with a fast pace towards a small clearing in the trees. As I get closer, I see it opens up into an incredible view of the channel and Denman. There’s a bench just off the trail, I sit and take in the view.

This is the spot. The bench, the lookout, the quietness. Flashes of memories come back from when I was 11; all the frustration I had from being around all the chaos of my family and our friends for 48 hours straight. Long days, late nights, and little rest between activities. I came here to escape. Here, I finally got a moment to breath, to just sit in the calmness of nature, listening to the birds sing and admire the view. I sat there for an hour or two, completely losing track of time while I watched all the boats pass through the channel and the birds and butterflies fly around me, the sun setting behind the mountains beyond. I get the same sense of peace now as I did back then; I’m so happy I found this place again.

I check my watch and realize there is only 15 minutes before the ferry is supposed to leave. I need to go now, otherwise I’ll have to spend the night on Hornby in my car. I jog back to the cul-de-sac and waste no time starting up my car and heading back down the steep, gravel road. It only takes 5 minutes to get into the ferry line-up and there’s only a handful of cars in the terminal. I park my car and watch a few kids play soccer in the empty space in the lot. As I sit in my car, waiting for the ferry on this beautiful evening, I think about the reason I made this trip today. I’m so happy I finally came back to Hornby and got to explore all the amazing spots on this island. And I completed my mission! The reason that motivated me to follow through with this plan. I found the spot I have continuously been thinking about for 9 years. Anytime I felt overwhelmed or just wanted to escape and be by myself for a little bit, my thoughts would always bring me back to this lookout. I tried to find a spot similar in Comox, then in Victoria when I went to university, but nothing ever compared. And when I finally made it back to this special place today, it brought back that same feeling of complete serenity I’ve been searching for since I was 11. At last.

The End.

(once again, I can’t seem to put the voice recordings I took on my phone into this post. I am able to share the file and download it to my computer but when I try to add the audio into my post on WordPress, it says “This type of file cannot be imported” and I don’t know how to fix this. I have tried many times to change the file type and with different audios, but it still won’t work. I’m not able to get any different recordings now with a different app/ method, as I won’t be back to Hornby soon enough. I hope the audios from the videos will work well enough! My apologies)

Proof…