What Is the Coastal Lifestyle?

At BC Oceanfront, we talk a lot about the coastal lifestyle. For us, a coastal lifestyle means finding the balance between life and work so that we can enjoy to the fullest this amazing place where we get to live.

Campbell River and Discovery Passage

Big Picture, this has meant Ed and Shelley finding a way to get some time away in the summer especially, but really all year round, for fishing/hunting/camping. This may mean one is out of town while the other is covering the office, or it may mean Ed is at his cabin in Quatsino fishing in the mornings and working remotely in the afternoons and evenings.

On a smaller scale, the coastal lifestyle means week-ends outdoors, and often evenings as well. It means stopping and looking out the windows when someone thinks they spot whales, or an interesting boat is going through the passage between Quadra Island and Campbell River.  It means that during client meetings talk about fishing takes as much time as talk about properties. It means Monday morning any one of us, or all four of us, uploading photos of week-end adventures to share on social media. It also means that when Shelley and Ed show clients a property they share in the delight a buyer feels upon seeing the wonder of the coast for the first time. After years of living and working on the coast, that feeling of awe and wonder hasn’t gone away.

 

Vanisle 360 race from the BCO office window

Discovery Passage

The coastal lifestyle doesn’t mean you just live on the coast. It means every day you appreciate that coast and the lifestyle it allows you to enjoy. It means you relax a little more often than if you lived in the big city, and you get outside.

Walking the Campbell River seawalk

We believe in it, we live it and we love to share it.

It’s a Coastal Lifestyle … Live It!

Arbutus and Garry Oak Eco-Systems on Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is home to a number of different eco systems. Some of the most distinctive on Vancouver Island (and the Gulf Islands) are the Garry Oak and Arbutus forests on southern Vancouver Island.

A garry oak in Beacon Hill Park, Victoria

Garry Oak eco-systems are becoming quite rare, and are protected in many places on the southern islands. The system likes dry, partially meadowed areas, often along the seashore or on rocky hillsides. There are a few pockets of this eco-system on some of the more central islands, for example Hornby Island.

Arbutus trees are very common south of Nanaimo but they too have had stress, and in recent years have suffered from diseases that threaten to do serious damage.

Garry oaks and Arbutus along the Westway walkway in Esquimalt

Both of these trees and their respective eco-systems are part of the magic that is the natural beauty on Vancouver Island.

It's a Coastal Lifestyle ... Live It!

Fall River Walking on Vancouver Island

One of the wonderful things about Vancouver Island is that every season offers a different nature show. The Fall happens to be a great time to walk along local rivers. With the beauty of the changing leaves on the trees along the banks of the rivers, the salmon returning to spawn to many of the rivers and the extra water brought by seasonal rain, rivers are the perfect place to be in the fall.

There is a great selection of walks and rivers close to most of the towns and cities on Vancouver Island. Many of them are within minutes of town and are easy to drive to. Some walks are just meandering strolls while others can be quite the hike.

We are expecting a series of storms to hit the island over the next few days. Should make the rivers even better for a visit next week!

It's a Coastal Lifestyle ... Live It!

Weather Watching on Vancouver Island

Fall is well upon us here on Vancouver Island, with the trees quickly changing colour and the mornings being quite cool and damp. While this indicates that the fog and rain and storms are coming, it does not mean the down turn in tourism and adventuring that it once did. These days many people come to the island in the winter, both for the mild climate compared to the rest of Canada and also to watch nature in action.

Fall colours on Quadra Island.

Fall and winter weather is a part of life here on the island, and it can be awesome to watch. Many regions of the island have marketed this, none more so than the west coast through Tofino and Uclulet. However the west coast isn't the only side that gets stormy wet weather.

Campbell River shoreline after a winter storm.

Parksville and Campbell River are two of the communities where one can easily enjoy the wild weather months along the shoreline. With miles of beaches (both sand and rock) and fewer people around, being on Vancouver Island in the fall and winter can be an exciting and invigorating adventure.

Miracle Beach in winter fog.

Vancouver Island really is a year-round destination, and the natural beauty shines in all seasons.

It's a Coastal Lifestyle ... Live It!