Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Yes it is. BC ferries are fairly frequent, but aint cheap!! alternative and quicker is to fly...lots and lots of sea planes for the commuter......again...aint cheap!

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Thanks for that, what is meant by not cheap (and I dont mean 'its expensive' ;) ) Can you give an idea in dollars or sterling please?

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Sailing time 1hour 35 minutes Victoria to Tsawwassen or Nanaimo (Departure Bay) to Vancouver (Horshoe Bay), 2 hours Nanaimo (Duke Point) to Tsawwassen.

Fairs one way 1 adult $13.50 plus car $45 total $58.50

http://www.bcferries.com/

Minimum 3 hours and $117 per day on the ferry alone if you have to travel by car.

Yes, commuting is doable if you have the time and money, not really practical.

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

I agree with Steve_P. Yes, it is doable in the short-term, but it will be a killer. Add to the cost and traveling time the driving to the ferry from home, then driving from the ferry terminal to your place of work, likely in the rush hour. Then add in the summer weekends when you can get two or three sailing waits (meaning an additional four or six hours sitting in the car at the ferry terminal) and in all realistic terms it cannot be done.

I know many people that have tried to commute from the Sunshine Coast. This is only a forty minute crossing and is much less busy. Even so, they end up working only two or three days in the office and the rest from home. OK if the boss allows it. Otherwise, they buy a studio apartment in Vancouver to use during the week.

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Thanks chaps, appreciate that, seems just too much time in traveling so perhaps a no no. What about commuting to/from White Rock please?

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Hello Campbells!

Great to hear you're excited about your trip to the island.

We live near the town of Sidney on the Saanich Peninsula and think it offers a great balance. It's 30 mins drive on the highway to Victoria so close but not TOO close! We've got great beaches, lakes, parks and open spaces with a couple of small towns (eg Saanichton and Brentwood Bay as well as Sidney) but also many rural areas with farm shops and wineries. Nearby is the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay to get to Vancouver / Gulf Islands, the airport and great local facilities. We love the feeling of space and great walks with the dog. I am a walking advert!!!! Especially now the sun's out ...:thumbsup:

Hope you can spend a day or two exploring the peninsula ..

Personally, I would avoid the "western communities" of Langford and Colwood. They are pretty built up with a lot of new development, traffic (the commute into Victoria from there is known locally as "The Colwood Crawl") and seem a bit soulless to me ...a lot of big box stores and industrial areas. It reminds me of why I left the UK!!

Further west is Sooke ..we lived there for a few months when we first arrived. We found the town a wee bit "rustic" and commuting from there isn't easy as you need to go through Colwood etc. The road itself isn't great especially in the winter. Pretty twisty turny and prone to flooding.

On the subject of roads (!), if you are thinking of commuting from Cowichan / Duncan to Victoria I'd recommend doing the drive down Highway 1 during rush hour when you're here. Remember that you are pretty elevated going over that Malahat summit and factor in winter weather for what I consider quite a hairy ride ... people routinely speed and many sections have no central reservation. I wouldn't want to do it every day but it doesn't bother other people so you'd need to see for yourself.

Generally, I'd advise working out how much you can spend on housing to help narrow things down a bit. Have a look on mls.ca so see what property is for sale in the different areas and how they compare.

Have fun on your trip! :D

Monkey Puzzle

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

White Rock to downtown is 45 minutes when it is quiet, one hour 15 to one hour 30 in rush hour. It depends whereabouts in downtown you are heading.

I drove from White Rock to 4th and Ontario (just before the Cambie street bridge into downtown) for about a year and it took me about an hour to an hour and ten minutes. That was leaving home at 6.45am. The return journey was more like 45 to 50 minutes leaving the office about 6.30pm.

There are commuter buses that go from White Rock to downtown, which will become commuter bus/sky train later this year when the new line opens.

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Hi Andy & Sal

Certainly sounds like we're on the same wavelength :) Those lifestyle factors are definitely what is driving our move. Some people don't really get it, but hey.

I think Kelowna and Vancouver are great places, they just didn't tick all our boxes, and I personally needed to find somewhere I loved more than that in order to make the big decision to move. I think the biggest downside of the region is that the main towns are NOT pretty. Duncan and Nanaimo aren't exactly picturesque in my opinion but...... location, location, location! :thumbup:

I also believe that it is impossible to please everyone so I've just had to focus on my little family unit of 4 because I was being torn in so many directions by my parents (I'm an only child - eeek), and other family and friends who can have some pretty strong (often negative) opinions.

I think we're at the same point of now or never. Our kids are 5 and 2, so perfect for starting a new school system. I'm late 30s, OH is mid-40s. If we don't move now we might never do it. :eek:

As for an itinery, it'll be tough to holiday and fact-find at the same time. If you're kids are young (I'm thinking they are), they'll probably be happy with very little as long as they're not stuck in the car too long.

We really enjoyed exploring Victoria, (but we didn't take the kids). For the whole family I would recommend:
Victoria Harbour Ferry with a stop (or start) at Fisherman's Wharf which has lovely float homes, a fish shop and cafe. We saw seals begging like dogs in the water. http://www.victoriaharbourferry.com/ (click on 'brochure' for more details & map)
Beacon Hill Park with a a childrens' playground with a spraypark and a children's farm. The park is between downtown and the south coast.
The Royal British Columbia Museum is interesting http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/ and also downtown.
But apart from that it's hard to say. We spent a lot of time just driving around.

As for Cowichan you could get a holiday home on Cowichan Lake for a few days to play on the beach, hire a boat and explore the rest of the valley at leisure. M & D would certainly have more insight than us. I would recommend a trip to Cowichan Bay though - small, but cute shops and places to eat.

Renting a motorhome sounds like a great idea, but we haven't done it so couldn't really comment.

Sorry I can't recommend more, but we went on a purely fact-finding mission so didn't really check out specific leisure stuff, :o although there seemed to be lots of trails and beaches if you know where to look. Not many signs telling you which way to the little beaches and things though so finding a good map could be key.

Don't know if that's any help at all :blink:

Bex (& Huw)

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Monkey Puzzle,

Thanks for your post.

I printed off a map of the Victoria neighbourhoods and there listed (in no particular order as; Oaklands, Fernwood, Jubilee, Rockland, Gonzales, Fairfield, James Bay, Harris Green, North Park, Hillside-Quadra, Burnside and Victoria West - I think that all of them?

I understand that some neighbourhoods will simply be too expensive / exclusive, some too rough (for a family at least) but hopefully some might be just in the middle.

Without getting into specific house prices - we're probably middle of the road - at least in UK terms) ... though ask me again next month :( ... which, if any, of the above, might be 'just right' as Goldilocks may have put it, given the rather vague criteria:

Pretty / Attractive
Older / Heritage style
Sense of community (not too large)
Schools
Local Amenities / Shops
Access to Nature (Trails / Beach etc.) if any?

I know that's a tall order as I've not given you much to go on but hopefully if you asked me about Merseyside / Cheshire and gave me a list I'd be at least able to point you in the right direction i.e. avoid Toxteth, Croxteth, Caldy too expensive - maybe Chester just right i.e. I'm only really looking for a starter for 10:)

Same question about the Peninsula towns / communities in general i.e. I have a list of the municipalities but don't really know what the individual towns / communities within them might be worth looking at; North Saanich, Sidney (sounds nice) Centra Sannich, Highlands, Saanich, View Royal, Oakbay, Victoria (we covered that I think) Esquimalt, Langford, Colwood (again thanks for your comments) Metchosin and Sooke??

I'm open to a commute i.e. 30-60 minutse woud be nothing new to me - and woudl be happy to do so If I've got my family settled somewhere where theri happy to liev and go to school i.e. we have thought about Sidneya nd Sooke also

Appreciate any help you might be able to give

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Hi Bex (and Huw)

You post really touched on the points that I have on my mind aswell i.e. the fact that its about lifestyle and the fact that some people just 'don't get that.'

I'm with you 100% on living somewhere beautiful but then again I sometimes worry that perhaps everyone who is so practical i.e. ' ... find a job and then move there ...' perhaps know something I don't and perhaps its my head that is in the clouds??

We're considering this move primarily for the kids i.e. we want them to grow up with a whole wide world of different opportunities (other than going to work in an office) so if I can find that 'ideal' neighbourhood / community (and afford it) I'm more than happy to commute. The only thing I need for myself is 'pretty' surroundings (no really a blokes word really :)) surroundings to come home to ... so yeah agaain - that's why Kelowna and / or Vancouver burbs (at least affordable ones) didn't do it for me either.

The area your hoping to settle in - Cowichan Valley - looks beautiful - I assume you have found some townships you'd be happy to live in i.e. places other than Duncan / Nanaimo ... did you mention Cobble Hill / Mill Bay - where else (assuming everything else comes together) would you consider calling home ???

As for family (my dad is 75 and sick and my mum 68) so again I understand the conflict but equally my focus (and yours by the sound of it) is on my own family. I'm 40 this year, Sally 39 and we have 2 boys (Ryan 7 and Aden 8) and our little girl Indie who is 18 months ... and as I said we're doing this to to try and set the kids up with different options, with different surroundings and hopefully with a better life than they may have had here ... that said when they're teenagers and find out they have EU passportsthey'll no doubt bugger off and leave me and Sal whilst they backpack around the world and end up marrying someone abroad like Sal and I did ... :)


I'd like to keep in touch if you want too ... it'd be good to meet up on the Island but then again I understand that you'll be extremely busy settling yourselves in so maybe we'll leave that on the back boiler?

If you have any good sources of research on the island - books, websites, forums threads etc. I'd appreciate it

Thanks again

Andy

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Hi Andy

I know just what you mean about worrying your head is in the clouds, given people's responses. We've just been to a Christening full of military people (Huw is in the army) and without fail the first question is "have you got a job?" or "what are you going to do?"

Huw's response is always that we're going for the lifestyle and location (pretty :D) first and we'll find something to do when we get there. Idealistic? Sure! But if you don't try it you'll never know. I'm confident he/we'll find something and we want to stay within commuting distance to Victoria to widen the field.

The areas we are looking at are really dictated by distance to Victoria and schools, so South of Duncan and North of the Malahat. The communities we are looking at are:
Mill Bay (closest to Vic with an Ecole Mill Bay French Emmersion Elementary school),
Cobble Hill (on the coast with vineyards & Cobble Hill and Bench Elementary), and
Shawnigan Lake (around the lake with Discovery Elementary)

All these schools feed into Frances Kelsey Secondary school which is considered to be better (going on grades and attendance) than Duncan.

We felt that the Town of Cowichan Lake was too remote and seasonal. Maple and Genoa Bay are gorgeous but a little inaccessible. Duncan is useful but just isn't pretty so we don't want to live there.

As for family, my Dad is 85 this year. He's not sick but he wouldn't ever come out. My Mum is 68 and worried about being alone. My Father-in-Law is 81 this week and OK as long as he keeps his medications up. MIL is in her 60s. They're considering joining us in a couple of years. I'm 37 and Huw is 45.

We'd love to stay in touch and meet up on the Island :thumbsup:

I'm going to PM you with our family blog link so you can see us warts and all :eek:

See ya, Bex

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

We live in Mill Bay and love it - we also looked at Cobble Hill and Shawnigan Lake. For us specifically Mill Bay was better for several reasons I'll list below ( I understand our choices wont suit everyone so please bear in mind these are OUR choices)
1- Access to the Highway, Mill Bay is close to the highway which is the central point of getting anywhere on the Island really. It takes 2 minutes to get to the highway from our house but we are far enough not to hear any traffic.
2- Access to work - kinda links in with point1 and easy highway access. I work in Duncan and hubby works in Victoria so Mill Bay is central to both. Hubby doesnt mind the malahat drive and managed it well over Xmas even with the freak amount of snow we had here - there was only 1 day he couldnt get to work - we have friends out in Shawnigan Lake who missed several days as they found it difficult to get to the highway due to snow on the roads. They clear the highway first in any snow fall, the surrounding roads are second so living close to the highway can certainly pay off in snow!!! ( this was a bonus and not something we had anticipated to be honest) Takes me 20 mins into Duncan and Hubby 30-40 mins into Victoria depending where he is working.
3-Good schools - I have one in Elementary and one in Middle school soon to both move up to high school and Middle school. So Schools were an important factor also... I had heard alot of good reports about Francis kelsey High school and George Bonner Middle school - Mill Bay ( as well as Shawnigan and Cobble Hill) feed into thiese schools.
4- access to shops - I dont necessarily mean dept stores, just general day to day shops. Mill Bay has a good selection of shops at the Mill Bay centre I feel more so than Cobble Hill and Shawnigan -it has everything from a local supermarket to sports shop, subway sanwich place, photo shop, library, a few banks, post office, pizza place, pharmacy a couple of clothes shops, hairdressers, coffee shops, dollar store etc etc as well as Dentish and Dr's office too. oh and a Tim Hortons and McDonalds, and A&W on the other side. Yet it still feels quite rural
It's 30 mins away from Tillicum mall in Victoria which has a Cinema multiplex and bigger stores etc. If travelling rom Cobble Hill or Shawnigan you can add time on to that ( approx 15-20 mins added for Shawnigan a little less for cobble Hill)
5- Access to the ferry to Victoria (North) the ferry from Mill bay to brentwood is on our doorstep - so easy access to Victoria is a bonus
6- Access to recreation activities for the kids, kerry Park Rec centre - 3 mins drive from home, host multiple activities for kids and adults including ice skating, gymnastics, soccer Yoga for adults etc and loads more ( there is also a rec centre in Shawnigan)
6- walking distance to the beach - kids are now old enough to go and play down on the beach with friends most days after school - we also have a park very close to our home. We are 5 minutes drive to bamberton park / beach which is a gorgeous Park / beach / picnic area where the kids can play and swim in summer.

there we lots of other reasons we chose Mill Bay but those are themain ones, hope that helps some :thumbsup:

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Hi Andy & Sal,

A couple of other things that may be of interest for your "leisure" part of the trip are the BC Forest Museum http://www.bcforestmuseum.com/ which has things for adults and a train for the kids.
Chemainus is a pretty town well known for its murals http://www.chemainus.com/
Bright Angel Park in Cowichan Station which has a nice park area, walks by the Koksilah River and a suspension bridge.
If you enjoy vineyards there are plenty here to enjoy and a local cidery. There is also a Saturday Farmers Market held in Duncan with lots of local produce and crafts.
There is the First Nations museum http://www.quwutsun.ca/
Plus there are lots of parks, hikes, beaches and lakes to enjoy and more information and ideas can be found on here http://www.cvrd.bc.ca/index.aspx?NID=260

As Bex said in another post Cowichan means "warmland" or "land warmed by the sun" and in our five years here we have experienced some good Summers, and long may they continue.;)

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

Maple Bay is certainly not inaccesible, Genoa Bay is a bit further on and the downside being that you have to take the same long road out of the place every time you want to go somewhere, but most of those properties have ocean views or are waterfront so I guess that makes up for it.

Duncan, if you judge it by the strip is not particularly pretty but there are some very beautiful areas and downtown is kinda quaint. Choose any one of the mountains surrounding it and you well be guaranteed a spectacular sight. The summit of Mount Tzouhalem has a view to die for as does Mount Prevost, but the latter is for lazy folk as you can drive almost to the top on the logging road.

Re: Thinkin about The Island - again!!
 

This is pretty neat too http://www.kinsoltrestle.ca/staticpa...60529155645883