And we visit Village Island, and the abandoned M Mkwanlis Village where a colourful raft of kayaks is already lined up on the white midden beach. After lunch and an afternoon paddle past old burial islands we clamber back on the Columbia to sprawl on the decks in the late afternoon sun as we head across Knight Inlet, through Spring, Retreat, Arrow and Spiller Passages into the Broughton Archipelago. The scenery is stunning. The colour green is thick everywhere. It spills from the trees into the water.
Magnificent mountains loom against the horizon.
Mariana brings out a bottle of scotch and, glasses in hand, we sit and let the surroundings absorb us in sweet silence. Our last evening is spent in small, secluded Burly Bay where we are surrounded by sheer rock walls that shoot down into the water. At dusk I escape in Sharon s single kayak for a solo exploration of our little Shangri La. The reflection off the water is so perfect, so sharp that it is almost impossible to tell where the land ends and the water begins. Just when I think it doesn t get any better than this, it does.