Emulinka

Hi, moving to Vancouver Island with my husband and 12 yr old son, thinking of Comox/Courtenay east but also would love advice, info on anywhere from Campbell river down to Mill bay. Good schools are a priority. We love nature but would like a bit of a community as well. Very great full for any help with where to look.😀

rivingtonpike

Where will work be as this will have a bearing on location in would imagine.i

Emulinka

Work from home, so main priorities are, good school, nice neighbourhood, interesting community.

rivingtonpike

If work is not an issue geographically, have a look at Parksville. Nice little town and cheaper than Mill Bay by quite a margin.

rivingtonpike

Mind you, not sure the schools further north are as good. We are very lucky with schools around us. Friends of ours in Parksville have been less than happy with the schooling for their two.

Emulinka

Thanks for the reply, you live in Mill bay but didn't recommend it. Any particular problems living there?

rivingtonpike

One man's meat is another man's poison. We like the balance between rural and city. We live in rural, but my wife commutes to colwood so proximity to urban is important. Yesterday for example we drove into Victoria, hair cut, lunch at restaurant, up saanich peninsular to bamboo farm, then home via Brentwood ferry to Mill Bay. Great day for us but maybe not everyone's idea of fun. We manufacture ice cream so proximity to population was initially an issue. Not so much now as distributor deals with all that these days. Geography wise and bang for buck Parksville is lovely. Schools not so great. Access to other areas not so good either. But if you want countryside and outdoorsy stuff, lovely. For us, getting to the capital and civilisation in 40 minutes is required. We still have nearly an acre and big house, but that's just cos we're posh.

Emulinka

Thanks for that, it sounds lovely. That's the good thing about Comox, good schools and more affordable housing, (not being posh like😀) with Mill bay thought of Dwight school at Shawnigan lake, but early days yet.

rivingtonpike

not to be caught for libel, but in my opinion Dwight school is weird. only got a handful of students. Rumours they are planning to sell the beautiful site they're on and relocate to Colwood. If contemplating down here, we have Shawnigan Lake School, Brentwood College (regatta this weekend) and Queen MArgaret's School - all private. Our kids are comparatively young so still in the public sector arena.

charlottyb

I agree Dwight is weird (sorry no other word to say it). My son is at Shawnigan Lake School (on a hefty scholarship for rowing). It is super expensive, so you'd need to be pretty wealthy to send your child there and pay the full fees. They only take them from age 13 too at Shawnigan.

Jackandvictor

Hi
We like Qualicum Beach which is just about 15-20 mins north of Parksville. It has a nice town centre but is known to be a retiree place. Not sure about schooling as we have only gone there on holidays to Parksville. You wouldn't go too far wrong with considering Parksville and surrounding areas. Nice ice rink and leisure facilities. Lots of tourists in summer as it has some nice beaches.
You'd also only be about 25 mins away from Nanaimo to the south for better shopping etc.
HTH