raindropsandroses

Thanks Scilly, yes the university in PG sparked our interest, we did consider PG prior to moving to NS too.

Re smells, that doesn't bother me in the slightest, one of my first jobs was inspecting failing Eastern European slaughterhouses, I've never found a smell since which bothers me!

Prior to living in Canada we lived above the Arctic Circle in several countries (including off grid in one), hence the driving experience there.
I've never yet needed anything other than good studded tires on a car, and now my husband is going to be working from home we can wait for the ploughs, life is a bit more flexible. That's great though thanks.

raindropsandroses

Thanks Aviator, we're not actually worried about the smell, it takes quite a lot for it to be off putting these days.

raindropsandroses

Actually, now that I've said that, we definitely do not want to be near any weed greenhouses, thanks I'd forgotten about checking for those!

scilly

Better check the regulations for BC for studded tyres ................ the regulations now say .......... Note that it specifically says "highways".

I know they were banned in Vancouver many years ago, and other municipalities may have done the same thing. The problem was mainly the damage to the road surface.

There are two recommended tires for winter use in BC .......... all season tire with the M+S mark (mud + snow) is the minimum one.

A tire marked with a 3-peaked mountain plus a snowflake is the recommended one (or M+S + mountain peak)because of better traction on snow and ice.

Chains can be used if necessary in mountainous areas (again not in municipalities such as Vancouver).

scilly

Re marijuana growing operations ........... they;re all over now .............. in mines, inw arehouses in industrial areas, as well as in "open" areas such as greenhouses and in the open ground.

It might be hard to avoid them.

Remember that BC has always been the marijuana capital of Canada!! It might be grown in the house next door (or the property next to you)

When we had the cabin, we kept hearing helicopters overhead one day. Turned out there was a marijuana crop being grown in the centre of the forest about 1 km away as the crow flies. It was apparently a pretty healthy crop by the time the RCMP helicopter flew over and spotted it.

Then they had to find a way to get to it

raindropsandroses

How did they end up getting it?

I would dearly love to become a hermit and have no neighbours, but that isn't in the cards at the minute, I'm saving it as a retirement plan!

​​​​​​Yeah, it is something to put up with, but something I'd rather not have right next door, but places change all the time so there's no telling really.

Thanks, we currently have Blizzaks (non studded as studs not needed here) but we have always switched tires between summer/winter. I'll make a note to check individual municipality thanks.

scrubbedexpat091

We had experienced too much crime all property crime but its the only city I have lived in where I experienced crime so for me that put a bad taste in my mouth. I know there is crime in all citys but to have had our car, apartment and storage unit all broken into and things taken all in under a year that was enough for me.

I also hate driving Hwy 1 its just a mess into the city and we had to go into the city often and simply lack of jobs out there and no adequate mental health services for my wife. She saw a psychiatrist there every 6 months as they were too overloaded vs monthly visits in Vancouver and this lack of mental health access led to her going manic for the first time in years.

Some love Chilliwack but its not a city I enjoy.

Of the places I have lived in BC, Squamish was my favorite followed by City of Vancouver proper.

Abbotsford I didnt mind either. Bigger then Chilliwack and more amenities.

And airquality isnt as good out there in summer and it gets quite a bit warmer.

Danny B

If you end up in Chiiliwack, find out the exact location of this house and stay the hell away from it. I love his 'a look back...' videos! 2015 is the best

raindropsandroses

I'm really sorry to hear that Jsmith, and thank you for sharing. That doesn't sound good at all
It sounds awful about the crime too, we have a guard dog, and he tends to discourage just about everything, but we had break ins before we had him and its horrific, leaves you feeling unsafe in your own home.

scrubbedexpat091

I know exactly where that house is. That area can get interesting.

BristolUK

I thought you were going to say twice a year, six months each time.

scilly

I think it's called bushwhacking

We didn't find out what it was all about until the next time we went into town ............ 60 km away ............. and bought the local paper.


We basically were hermits when we had the cabin .......... we had 20 acres, about 15 km to the next "house", crown land all around us. Although that did mean that we also got some logging done right up to our lot line on one side because crown land is let to logging operations. We couldn't actually see too much of the mess they made of the logging because our lot line on that side ran along the top of a ridge, so we still had trees growing up the hillside.

We were 60 km for the nearest town ( population ca 5,000), paved road to within 12-13 km of our property, then a wide (2 lane) maintained gravel road for about 10 km, then an unmaintained Forest Service Road down to the shore of a lake about 20 km in.

There was a development on the shores of the lake dating back to the late 50s/early 60s, about 20 or so cabins (cottages to people other than in BC), and they clubbed together to pay for maintainance of the road by one of the guys who lived there permanently. He dug out the road in the winter using a snow blade attached to his truck, and used his small 'dozer to try to level out the gravel in the summer. We joined that "club", and paid $100 every year for several years.

I wouldn't exactly call it a "good" road :roflol:

Our place was up at about 2,000'+, got really deep snow in winter, but it would have been possible to live there permanently had we been able to afford to really winterise the cabin, put in solar polar, install a proper sewage field,bring in the phone line 3 km from the main gravel road, etc.

It was really a 3 bedroom house built by someone who homesteaded there in the late 60s and early 70s. He worked at the mine about 30 km away and she ran a trapline, tried to grow root crops, etc, and raised 5 children before they had to move nearer to town.

We only used it from about end April/beginning May until Thanksgiving, and finally decided to sell it in 2014.

Aviator

Around this area
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Chi...!4d-121.942828

scilly

I have to say that we did have 2 break-ins at the cabin, one in the early spring 2012 and one the next spring, about the same time of year.

The RCMP could only laugh when we reported them because the stuff they took was so ridiculous .......... like tatty cheap carpet runners that we used in the main room, a frisby, tatty runners, etc. One guy commented that it looked like youngsters trying to set up their own cabin! They never opened the kitchen cupboards where we had decent pots and pans, some tinned food, etc.

But, yes, it did make me feel uncomfortable sleeping there when we were so far from anybody, and that led finally to us deciding to sell, plus having other things to do with our lives.

dbd33

If it were not the case, what would the alternative be? A Unimog? Something on tracks?