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Many folks are approaching retirement or have reached that point in their lives where the same old routine stretching out to oblivion is something they want to avoid. They are thinking of making changes, doing something different, living a little. Many are sitting down to computers and roving the Internet in search of that perfect spot in which to retire. In which to start a new life and rejuvenate themselves. Images of seductive beaches in Mexico or Costa Rica slide over their monitors and they picture themselves already there.  Some, a few, will actually go to these lovely places and have a look. Fewer still will commit to living there. Still, I believe you should follow your heart and check it out and then be ruled by your instincts. You never know! Most will come back home utterly defeated and succumb once again to their admittedly tedious existences. Defeated by a realistic assessment of whom they really are and what it is that brings peace and happiness to their lives. Fact is that most of us can not find happiness sweltering on some beautiful but alien beach far from all that is familiar and comfortable. We are not, many of us, cut out to be Robinson Crusoe’s. We discover quickly that living in a world of different customs, language, environment and lifestyle is not really what we want after all. We don’t really want to leave what is familiar and we want to be close to friends and family. This is all very disappointing, as that beachfront lot in Panama looked perfect.

The Empress - Victoria There is culture in North America, just north of the US border. Rising regally on the banks of Victoria's Inner Harbour and representing the center of British Columbia's Capital City, The Fairmont Empress has been completely restored to her turn-of-the-century beauty. The Fairmont Empress displays the grandeur of a bygone era, her facilities and services meet the needs of today's traveler. Whether you are looking to experience a British tradition with their famous Afternoon Tea, hold a meeting in their exceptional conference facilities, go on an ocean bound whale watching adventure, or spend  an afternoon browsing Victoria's quaint shops, The Fairmont Empress is a reminder of a finer world when the world was more agreeable.

Culture - Diversity - Pristine - This is not a small island at nearly 300 miles long by 60 miles wide.

Canada does not immediately come to mind when one thinks of an island paradise, but there is an island in the Pacific off the coast of British Columbia and within sight of the US west coast that fulfills that description to the many who move there each year from the US and many other points as well.

You know you are coming to something special the moment you step onto a BC Ferry and thread your way through the incomparable scenery of the gulf islands en route to Vancouver Island. Emerald islands in an azure sea with glimpses of Orcas and sea lions. Sea gulls wheeling overhead and squadrons of sea ducks skimming the waves. Clean fresh air with the scent of cedar on the breeze.

You are approaching Vancouver Island, one of the most magical places on earth. Close enough to the US to be familiar but different enough that you know you are on foreign soil. Friendly people. Same language----almost! We don’t rhyme missile with whistle or fertile with hurtle! We have other peculiarities!

This is not a small island at nearly 300 miles long by 60 miles wide.
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Roger Gallo comments:  When we used to live in Seattle and after it started to go bad we used to get out of there on weekends and head for Vancouver Island.  We could cross on the ferry from Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. It was a pleasant ride across and we always felt like we were returning to a finer world. Victoria is a pleasant city with much about it that is agreeable.  We'd stay at the Empress at night and travel the island by day. I don't have a bad memory of the place and I often gave serious thought to living there. It is a magnificent island! In the words of Simon Jones, "This island paradise does not take a back seat to any other island paradise."

Vancouver Island has a population of over 750,000, half of whom live in Victoria, and stretches southeast to northwest along the western coast of British Columbia. The rugged West Coast is cut deeply by fjords lined between high mountains with many communities located along the shores of protected bays. The eastern plain is rich with timber, farmlands, fishing streams, lakes, villages, and modern cities. Vancouver Island attracts people from the world over who are drawn to her spectacular and varied scenery. There are hundreds of deserted beaches. Fiords to challenge Scandinavia and New Zealand. There are mountains and myriad lakes and rivers. Many visitors are so enthralled that they never leave or they just go home just long enough to pack their bags and return for good. The Provincial capital of Victoria is the principal city of the island and reams have been written of the beauty of that city by the likes of Rudyard Kipling and many other luminaries who have visited there. You will not be culturally deprived anywhere in the Island as you are in easy reach of three world class cities, each with a superb symphony orchestra that has hosted the likes of Luciano Pavarotti. Live theater abounds and some of the worlds most celebrated restaurants call the Island home. Who has not heard of the sumptuous high teas at the Empress Hotel or of the magnificence of the renowned Butchart Gardens?

The real treasure of Vancouver Island lies in her many smaller towns where living is good and property is still very reasonable. You don’t have to live in Victoria to enjoy her charms when many of these towns are an easy drive away.

The Cowichan Valley, which lies about 30 miles north of Victoria at the other end of the Malahat Drive, is the focus of this article.

We approach the Valley from Victoria, over the Malahat Drive, a high point on the highway overlooking Saanich inlet which affords the visitor a vista of a typical Island fiord, majestic in size and depth, unforgettable for its grandeur. From here one can see the fiord with the Coast Mountains and Mount Baker in Washington State as a backdrop.

This is truly an extravagant paradise for anyone captive in a large megalopolis looking to start a new life in gorgeous surroundings.

Many are the legends of brutal Canadian winters and while this is true of most of Canada and also much of the US, it is simply not true of Vancouver Island. Being surrounded by the Pacific brings a climate so mild that any accumulation of snow is a rarity and newsworthy. People fish and golf year round here.

Speaking of fishing. Wader equipped fly fishermen here routinely cast to cruising Coho, Pink and Chinook salmon off our beaches. They can be seen fighting these splendid game fish all along the coast. There are thousands of lakes and many rivers with good trout populations. It is a fisherman’s paradise.
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Golfers are well served here with many beautiful courses that kept Bob Hope returning here annually. People golf here every month of the year. Gardening is a favorite past time on this island as homeowners take advantage of the mild growing conditions. Spectacular gardens are everywhere with a riot of colour showing most of the year. Roses have been known to bloom near Christmas and the first bulbs are up in February. The Gulf Islands, inland waterways and other boating destinations such as Desolation Sound draw boaters from far and wide many of whom state with conviction that there are no finer boating waters anywhere. There are many full service marinas dotted about the coast. You don’t have to be a boater to enjoy the plentiful seafood landed daily from these waters. There is a fresh choice from the many seafood shops and restaurants in the area. However if you were to launch a small boat in Cowichan Bay and drop a crab trap you would likely be rewarded quickly with a haul of succulent Dungeness crab for your supper. Cowichan Bay is the ocean estuary for the Cowichan River and supports an incredible array of bird and marine life. Aside from the swarms of migratory fowl that winter here there is a large population of Trumpeter swans that delight local residents with their arrival each year. These birds were just about extinct in the 40’s but are making a good recovery.

Cowichan Bay ocean estuary for the Cowichan River

Within an easy drive of Victoria, nestled in the Cowichan Valley and handy to both Seattle and Vancouver there exists a small town that is starting to attract a lot of attention. This is the town of Lake Cowichan, which sits at the edge of 20-mile long Cowichan Lake, just where the famed Cowichan River starts its 25-mile journey to the sea at Cowichan Bay.

The town and lake are surrounded by mountains, which create a heat trap resulting in the highest average mean temperatures in Canada. Visit http://www.cowichanlake.ca/index.htm for more extensive information on the town and area.

The setting for this town while gorgeous is taken for granted by Island locals. Outsiders are immediately captivated by the town’s charms and are the ones taking quick advantage of the low property prices.

The town offers all necessary conveniences including supermarkets, hardware, building supplies, pharmacies, high speed Internet and medical and dental offices.  Most of what you need is right here or close by.
 

People fish and golf year round here

Living here evokes a time long since gone in most places but sorely missed by many. People walk everywhere here and they actually greet each other and stop and chat awhile. If you are in the midst of a project and are missing a certain critical item, you simply down tools and walk a few paces to the hardware store and get one from Dave the proprietor. You don’t need a freezer as you can eat fresh every day as a fully stocked food store open seven days a week is across the road from Dave’s hardware store. Where else can you walk out of your home down to the local tackle shop and locate that fly missing from your own collection and then walk down to the river and cast it to a trout? All without ever getting into your car.

 The Duke of Windsor brought more attention when he arrived with his fishing entourage for several expeditions in the 20’s and 30’s. Then he met Wallis and was seen no more. Lost his head, lost his fishing and lost his Crown!

The river remains generous to sportsmen to this day. I am in a good position to know as she flows by not 20 feet from my study window from which this article is being written. Fish come to my fly almost daily all year long.

The name Cowichan derives from the coastal native term meaning “The warm land.” The Cowichan valley lives up to this name with glorious sunny summers which have been found to be kind to the grape vine and has resulted in the birth and rapid growth of Island wineries which are quickly establishing fine reputations.

 A favorite local past time is to visit one of these wineries for lunch and enjoy the music of a classical string quartet amid the flowers and hummingbirds on a balmy summer afternoon.

Now before you dismiss all this as the scribblings of one lacking comparison, let me say that I have had the good fortune to knock about a good portion of this planet and therefore have the experience on which to have come to a few happy conclusions.

This island paradise does not take a back seat to any other island paradise.

I have visited the mountains and beaches of Central America, the islands of the Caribbean and Pacific and the plains and mountains of India and many other exotic locales and will likely do more of this as a visitor.

I have come to recognize that I am like the majority of you and prefer that my home base is somewhere where I have easy access to friends and family, where the language is my own and the lifestyle is predictable and comfortable. The more so as I grow older.

I did not start out here. In fact I arrived from the other side of the world. But I made some discoveries that led me here and could lead you here too if you recognize value and quality of life when you see it.

You see, today, right now, there are several houses that can be had for less than $75,000 in the town of Lake Cowichan. Some for less than $50,000.
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Vancouver Island Lake View - Vancouver Island Lake View - This upscale, ten year old 3100 square foot home has been designed with flexibility in mind offering four bedrooms [master ensuite] and three bathrooms or it could easily be two large suites. There are also large family rooms and dining rooms easily adaptable to your lifestyle. A well-appointed kitchen opens to a large sun deck with a private hot tub with lake view. Home has heat pump for economy, central vac system and built in underground sprinklers covering the manicured lot. A large double garage completes the picture.  This lovely setting is located in the town of Lake Cowichan, which is on the shores of Cowichan Lake, equidistant from Victoria and Nanaimo just 75 minutes away. Seattle and Vancouver are easily accessible.  Vancouver Island Lake View

There are also upscale waterfront homes available for less than a quarter what you would pay for the average suburban home in most large cities the US. In fact these homes would cost more than three times as much in Victoria which is only a little over an hours drive from here. Can’t you just smell the value and the resulting opportunity?
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Work through this simple progression.

 You might live in LA, and you might want to escape. You sell your house for its LA price and you buy a Lake Cowichan house for $75k.This leaves you with a nice fat balance in your investment/bank account. Plenty with which to explore many options possibly not open to you before. It is now possible to finance the extended tropical vacation of your choice each winter as previously mentioned. Not only that but your home here is likely to appreciate, as homes in paradise tend to do this.

My new friend Bill illustrates the possibilities perfectly.

 A businessman from San Diego, Bill recently did just that. He just closed on a lovely modern high end five bedroom three bath house in Lake Cowichan for $140k.The house is perched on a hilltop with commanding views of the lake and the river. He is renting it out at positive cash flow and intends to move his computer operated business here in the next two years. He figures his San Diego house will fetch around $850k which leaves him with a nice surplus on the transaction.

This life change and its resulting surplus makes it possible for Bill to consider the purchase of a second home in Panama [a favourite spot of mine] or perhaps Mexico and indulge his tropical needs each winter. Sort of like having your cake and eating it too.

 Bill’s actions speak volumes. He actually is leaving one of the most coveted places in the US to move to Cowichan Lake. When asked to explain he simply remarked that the lifestyle here reminded him of when he was a youngster. “Life in Lake Cowichan is just slower, simpler and nicer,” he says. “I simply want to live that way again.”

There are other gems available in this town at very modest prices.

I know of one upscale house currently for sale by its owner with a magnificent lake view, three bedrooms, pub den, carpentry shop, double lot, sundecks and huge enclosed sun room, enclosed motor home port with separate sewerage, two more garages and all of this in pristine move in condition. Price? This home will sell quickly for $100k.

I know of another house, a three bed, two- bath rancher in the village with a pretty garden complete with small pond and waterfall that can be had today for $60k

One home sold the other day for $70k.Two story, four bed, two bath, cedar chalet type on a huge double lake view lot. That one had a car bridge entrance over a pretty stream in the front yard. Very pretty spot!

We are seeing a lot of interest from Americans and Canadians from high population centers that have visited here and are now buying homes.

The reason for the low real estate prices? The demise of the local forest based economy. This town once supported several sawmills. One by one they have all disappeared. Many employees left the area and property values languished for years until rising prices further south in Victoria and Duncan caused property here to look very cheap. Visitors noticed too and the sawmill workers are being replaced by retirees and cyber-commuters. The well heeled have been snapping up bargain lakefront and riverfront but there are plenty of bargains to be found if you know where to look.

There are many small towns and villages in Vancouver Island forsaken by big lumber that have cheap real estate but in my view none with the attributes of Lake Cowichan.

Simon Jones
Lake Cowichan BC.
Fsbocv@shaw.ca -
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Simon Jones - Simon operates a Cowichan Valley real estate consulting business with a twist. He is not and has no desire to be a conventional real estate agent. As an industry observer he feels that exorbitant sales fees are a detriment to both sides of a sales transaction. Accordingly he designs marketing programs to assist homeowners to market their own homes for a fraction of what is usual in the industry. Simon can introduce you to the owner of a property that meets your requirements anywhere on Vancouver Island and can save you a lot of fees. Real estate transactions in Canada are simple and straightforward however a lawyer or notary should approve all documentation. Simon can be reached at fsbocv@shaw.ca -  Simon Jones - Living The Good Life

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