Fancy a magical mystery tour?

“We have three different trips we do on this ship,” says Captain Phillipe Menetrier, easing back the throttle at the bridge of the MV Aurora Explor - er . “This is the Discovery Islands trip we are on. We also go north as far as Kingcome Inlet and then we have something we call a ‘mystery cruise.’ But since our freight sched - ule can change from hour to hour, in fact they are all mystery trips.”

The captain eases the Aurora up onto a white sand beach and lowers the front-loading ramp so passen - gers can amble ashore to stretch their legs. Here at the far eastern tip of Bute Inlet, grizzly bears may also roam the beaches, so passengers don’t wander far. Snow-covered mountain peaks tower 2,000 metres as far as the eye can see, and silt-laden emerald green waters lap gently at the shore. If this isn’t heaven, it’s sure not far away.