Vancouver Island... but where?
Jul 21st 2011, 11:22 pm
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: BC
Posts: 96
Vancouver Island... but where?
Hi folks,
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
Jul 21st 2011, 11:58 pm
#2
"In cruce vincam"
Joined: May 2010
Location: Mill Bay, Vancouver Island
Posts: 3,232
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Hi folks,
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
We spent a time in Sooke to the west of Victoria a couple of years ago and found the drive to virtually anywhere else very tedious.
Our internet here is high speed and you can choose which package you want using Shaw cable. I'm not sure what our speed is but we can use 2 VOip phones to the UK simultaniously with no delay or breakup.
When we first arrived our furniture was just starting its 8 week journey of its own so, with 2 kids to house, we put in an offer on an unlet holiday home. Since we first came to Canada in the early Spring, this meant we could negotiate a good monthly rental on a fully furnished house. In fact we found a permanent place pretty quickly - but we still didn't have any furniture to put in it so the out of season holiday let worked well.
Most Canadian rentals are unfurnished apart for the cooker, washer, dried, dishwasher etc.
With regards to leaving electricals behind - I personally would bring everything you can apart from washing machines and cookers. We have a number of varying sized transformers and pretty much everything works. I have put Canadian plugs on lights and changed the bulb holders to take Canadian lightbulbs (otherwise UK bulbs only give off a fraction of the light they should). Also, you may well find (as I did) that your house will have a 240 volt supply. Mine comes into the garage and this means even things like heavy duty drills and power washers will work.
If you would like to PM me a would be very happy to give you lots more info on the area etc. I can honestly say at this moment in my life I wouldn't want to live anywhere else!
Jul 23rd 2011, 2:50 am
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Posts: 251
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
If you could consider a little further, look at Nanoose Bay...The school is FANTASTIC and people actually move here to get their kids into the school. Its approx 2 hours or less to Victoria and we do it often for sports. It is a beautiful area and have met so many families here. It is a great community. It is 10 mins to Nanaimo.
Jul 23rd 2011, 4:00 am
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 140
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Hi
We arrived on Vancouver Island 3 weeks ago and hope to stay permanently if we find enough work, I can't answer you with regards to areas as we are still finding our way around but I can give you my humble opinion with regards to some of your other questions you asked see below.
FYI we are a family of 4, mum & dad, 2 year old and 18 year old who is joining us soon
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
I love the city, the library, parks, pools and bug zoo are great for kids, there seems to be plenty of parking (though expensive) and its pretty easy to navigate around so might be worth at least being reasonably near to a highway to enable you to drive down/over if you wish.
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
We are about 2-3 km out of Victoria and our internet speed is 20Mb, in fact when the gentleman came to set it up he joked about how slow connection speeds are in the UK compared to BC.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
We stayed at the Travelodge (Gorge Road) which was OK (cheap and cheerful!), pretty central, had a pool for our little one and free parking and internet access (lots of places charge) we used usedvictoria.com and craiglist to search for rentals, took us about 2 weeks to find somewhere suitable.
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
Most seem to want only half a months rent as deposit but depends on the landlord, we also bought references from our landlady, neighbors and a good friend who is a doctor with contact email addresses on which definitely helped.
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Apart from electrical I would bring as much as you can, furniture is expensive here, also anything that is decent for sale second hand goes quickly, lots of people seem to either go to the mainland or bob over to the states to pick up bargains, depends on your budget and resources I suppose.
If you end up renting a house with fitted cupboards you can always sell the ones you ship over on Craiglist as anything half decent seems to sell very quickly at good prices !!
Thanks!
Good luck with the move I'm sure you will love it especially with the kids, PM me if I can help in any other way
We arrived on Vancouver Island 3 weeks ago and hope to stay permanently if we find enough work, I can't answer you with regards to areas as we are still finding our way around but I can give you my humble opinion with regards to some of your other questions you asked see below.
FYI we are a family of 4, mum & dad, 2 year old and 18 year old who is joining us soon
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
I love the city, the library, parks, pools and bug zoo are great for kids, there seems to be plenty of parking (though expensive) and its pretty easy to navigate around so might be worth at least being reasonably near to a highway to enable you to drive down/over if you wish.
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
We are about 2-3 km out of Victoria and our internet speed is 20Mb, in fact when the gentleman came to set it up he joked about how slow connection speeds are in the UK compared to BC.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
We stayed at the Travelodge (Gorge Road) which was OK (cheap and cheerful!), pretty central, had a pool for our little one and free parking and internet access (lots of places charge) we used usedvictoria.com and craiglist to search for rentals, took us about 2 weeks to find somewhere suitable.
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
Most seem to want only half a months rent as deposit but depends on the landlord, we also bought references from our landlady, neighbors and a good friend who is a doctor with contact email addresses on which definitely helped.
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Apart from electrical I would bring as much as you can, furniture is expensive here, also anything that is decent for sale second hand goes quickly, lots of people seem to either go to the mainland or bob over to the states to pick up bargains, depends on your budget and resources I suppose.
If you end up renting a house with fitted cupboards you can always sell the ones you ship over on Craiglist as anything half decent seems to sell very quickly at good prices !!
Thanks!
Good luck with the move I'm sure you will love it especially with the kids, PM me if I can help in any other way
Jul 23rd 2011, 4:54 pm
#5
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,682
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
If you do not have pets the maximum damage deposit is 1/2 a month's rent. With pets it is up to one month.
Jul 25th 2011, 3:10 am
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Victoria, B.C.
Posts: 164
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Try Metchosin,
I know a few people who live out that way and I cycle out that way toward East Sooke park and I really like the area.
http://www.district.metchosin.bc.ca/...activepage.asp
Bit steep - but here's a sample: http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...dKey=936981399
Cheers - Steve
I know a few people who live out that way and I cycle out that way toward East Sooke park and I really like the area.
http://www.district.metchosin.bc.ca/...activepage.asp
Bit steep - but here's a sample: http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...dKey=936981399
Cheers - Steve
Hi folks,
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
Jul 25th 2011, 3:26 am
#7
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 12,830
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Apart from electrical I would bring as much as you can, furniture is expensive here, also anything that is decent for sale second hand goes quickly, lots of people seem to either go to the mainland or bob over to the states to pick up bargains, depends on your budget and resources I suppose.
There is plenty of tat around. It takes a while to orientate oneself to whats what, where to buy and what are the best deals.
Full price is always too much, always wait for a sale, they come every week.
Mar 17th 2012, 1:35 pm
#8
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Outside London
Posts: 5
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
We're preparing to move to Victoria BC and trying to decide which area to live in (renting to begin with) which is actually very dependant on the school situation - we have a 14yr old son so a decent high school is important and an 18yr old daughter who will move with us and take a gap year before beginning uni.
As far as we can make out it seems that Claremont (in Cordova Bay), Lambrick in Gordon Head and Oak Bay in Oak Bay all seem fairly good but which is the best choice? The two things to consider are the schools themselves and the neighbourhoods they're in and where we'll be living (living conditions, activities, ease of access to 'down town', decent pub (bar), etc). I would very much appreciate if anyone has opinions or views on these three schools and areas.
Thanks
As far as we can make out it seems that Claremont (in Cordova Bay), Lambrick in Gordon Head and Oak Bay in Oak Bay all seem fairly good but which is the best choice? The two things to consider are the schools themselves and the neighbourhoods they're in and where we'll be living (living conditions, activities, ease of access to 'down town', decent pub (bar), etc). I would very much appreciate if anyone has opinions or views on these three schools and areas.
Thanks
Mar 17th 2012, 2:43 pm
#9
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2009
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 1,244
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Hi folks,
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
We've decided to move to Vancouver Island, and would love some suggestions of good places to settle that would be great for a young family with 3 kids 9, 7 & 2 (wife & kids are Canadian).
So far we have narrowed it down to East coast, unlikely to be within Victoria city limits (possibly too expensive, and we've spent 12 years living on the edge of a smallish city in the UK), and are keen to continue our "good life" , with a hobby farm (in the UK we have an allotment, bees and a pig!).
I'd really appreciate any help with the following:
- Any recommendations for a beautiful location with great local community and good schooling?
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
- Some names that crop up are Cowichan, Comox and Shawnigan. Anyone recommend these?
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
- Any areas that are particularly good for growing veggies - fertile soil etc?
- We'd love to find around 2 acres (another reason why I think Victoria would not be the best option). Is land as part of a house a huge expensive outside Victoria? In the UK, say Devon, it is not unusual for 1-2 acres plot to add £100k ($150k) to the house price.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Thanks!
Mar 17th 2012, 2:53 pm
#10
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: BC
Posts: 96
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
A cougar sighting on the island is a very rare thing, but every time there is one, you can bet it makes the papers, hence the external misconception that people are fighting cougars just to get to the supermarket!
I spoke to a wildlife photographer who has only spotted one and he goes looking for them.
I spoke to a wildlife photographer who has only spotted one and he goes looking for them.
Mar 17th 2012, 5:53 pm
#12
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Outside London
Posts: 5
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Hi
We arrived on Vancouver Island 3 weeks ago and hope to stay permanently if we find enough work, I can't answer you with regards to areas as we are still finding our way around but I can give you my humble opinion with regards to some of your other questions you asked see below.
FYI we are a family of 4, mum & dad, 2 year old and 18 year old who is joining us soon
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
I love the city, the library, parks, pools and bug zoo are great for kids, there seems to be plenty of parking (though expensive) and its pretty easy to navigate around so might be worth at least being reasonably near to a highway to enable you to drive down/over if you wish.
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
We are about 2-3 km out of Victoria and our internet speed is 20Mb, in fact when the gentleman came to set it up he joked about how slow connection speeds are in the UK compared to BC.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
We stayed at the Travelodge (Gorge Road) which was OK (cheap and cheerful!), pretty central, had a pool for our little one and free parking and internet access (lots of places charge) we used usedvictoria.com and craiglist to search for rentals, took us about 2 weeks to find somewhere suitable.
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
Most seem to want only half a months rent as deposit but depends on the landlord, we also bought references from our landlady, neighbors and a good friend who is a doctor with contact email addresses on which definitely helped.
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Apart from electrical I would bring as much as you can, furniture is expensive here, also anything that is decent for sale second hand goes quickly, lots of people seem to either go to the mainland or bob over to the states to pick up bargains, depends on your budget and resources I suppose.
If you end up renting a house with fitted cupboards you can always sell the ones you ship over on Craiglist as anything half decent seems to sell very quickly at good prices !!
Thanks!
Good luck with the move I'm sure you will love it especially with the kids, PM me if I can help in any other way
We arrived on Vancouver Island 3 weeks ago and hope to stay permanently if we find enough work, I can't answer you with regards to areas as we are still finding our way around but I can give you my humble opinion with regards to some of your other questions you asked see below.
FYI we are a family of 4, mum & dad, 2 year old and 18 year old who is joining us soon
- Is it useful to be within driving distance of Victoria (maybe up to an hour). If you live outside, do you tend to rarely visit?
I love the city, the library, parks, pools and bug zoo are great for kids, there seems to be plenty of parking (though expensive) and its pretty easy to navigate around so might be worth at least being reasonably near to a highway to enable you to drive down/over if you wish.
- Any areas to AVOID that don't have decent hi-speed Internet? (important for my business). Out of interest, what speeds are people typically getting. I think we are spoilt here with 20Mb in the UK. Hoping I don't have to dust off the ol' 56k modem!
We are about 2-3 km out of Victoria and our internet speed is 20Mb, in fact when the gentleman came to set it up he joked about how slow connection speeds are in the UK compared to BC.
- Also, what did you do for accommodation when you first landed? We're thinking of a static caravan (holiday park?) for the first couple of weeks, so we can recce and find a place to rent. Did any of you rent prior to moving out, maybe using a real estate agent or the Internet?
We stayed at the Travelodge (Gorge Road) which was OK (cheap and cheerful!), pretty central, had a pool for our little one and free parking and internet access (lots of places charge) we used usedvictoria.com and craiglist to search for rentals, took us about 2 weeks to find somewhere suitable.
- When you rent fresh from the UK is there anything extra you need to provide other than a months deposit (for security) and the first month's rent?
Most seem to want only half a months rent as deposit but depends on the landlord, we also bought references from our landlady, neighbors and a good friend who is a doctor with contact email addresses on which definitely helped.
- When renting is it more usual to find somewhere furnished and should be bring wardbrobes etc. Someone mentioned that most Canadian houses have built in wardrobes. Anything else worth leaving behind (apart from the 110V electrical items)?
Apart from electrical I would bring as much as you can, furniture is expensive here, also anything that is decent for sale second hand goes quickly, lots of people seem to either go to the mainland or bob over to the states to pick up bargains, depends on your budget and resources I suppose.
If you end up renting a house with fitted cupboards you can always sell the ones you ship over on Craiglist as anything half decent seems to sell very quickly at good prices !!
Thanks!
Good luck with the move I'm sure you will love it especially with the kids, PM me if I can help in any other way
Mar 17th 2012, 8:16 pm
#13
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2009
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 1,244
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Mar 17th 2012, 8:20 pm
#14
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Posts: 251
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
Kinda......They act more like cats and watch in hiding. Sometimes they are just walking about though!!! There are quite a few sightings up here (Nanaimo/Nanoose Bay) but thankfully no one has been hurt since I have been here.........This story scared me!!!
http://www.globaltvbc.com/cougar+sig...240/story.html
http://www.globaltvbc.com/cougar+sig...240/story.html
Mar 17th 2012, 10:34 pm
#15
Banned
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 744
Re: Vancouver Island... but where?
They cause other problems too, they caused humpback resevoir to close thank to folks catching some nasty bug they had brought to the resevoir. I think they crapped in it and it affected pregnant people as it was the fresh water source for the area.
