The Passage Adventures pair have crossed the border from Alaska, USA to British Colombia, Canada and have now passed the 1000km mark!
The halfway point and border crossing has had the girls reflecting on their time so far and excited for the warmer weather through the Canadian part of the Inside Passage. They have nothing but warm words for the people of South East Alaska, who have welcomed the strangers with open arms and big smiles, helped where they could and generally been inspiring, wonderful people.
Crossing the invisible border line on the water from USA to Canada went like this:
An online video webinar, delayed by days of bad weather and illness, finally came into life when the girls arrived in Prince Rupert, Canada. They shared their experience so far, challenges, inspirations and stories paired with photos. They answered some questions from curious followers too. If you missed it, you can watch a recording of it here: Webinar recording
In Prince Rupert, word had quickly spread that the adventurers were in town and with many things to do like interviews, meeting new people, the webinar and replanning their route, they extended their stay to 3 nights. The local newspaper The Northern View wrote a wonderful article about Passage Adventures here: Pair kayaking from Glacier Bay to Vancouver Island
As mentioned in their Webinar, the girls have come across huge amounts of marine debris – mostly plastic bottles and fishing gear. But car tyres, huge styrofoam pieces, as well as hundreds of tiny plastic pieces have been found on the shore and in the water of this middle-of-nowhere wilderness. Lucy & Mathilde are sorting, counting and recording the rubbish they encounter to help collect data for Tangaroa Blue & Living Oceans Society, which in turn aim to stop the problem at the source.
Plastic Free July is an Australian initiative to encourage people to refuse single-use plastic in order to protect our oceans and avoid landfill waste. It is held during the month of July, but ongoing plastic refusal is obviously the aim! If you’ve been inspired by Lucy & Mathilde, it’s a great opportunity to get onboard and pledge to go plastic-free >> Plastic Free July
Prior to their launch the girls were interviewed by Ocean Wise– A not-for-profit with headquarters at the Vancouver Aquarium, who are helping to make our oceans cleaner and flourishing. The footage is of their actual journey, and highlights how Lucy & Mathilde are creating change: Ocean Wise Interview
The girls are 53 days in now, past the halfway point and still going strong! You can keep tracking their daily progress here:
https://aus-share.inreach.garmin.com/PassageAdventures
Stay in the loop..
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/passageadventures/
On Instagram: @passageadventures
