Southern Vancouver Island, the Canadian Riviera

gateway and flowersSouthwest British Columbia has emerged as the choice location for lifestyle in Canada. Many think of this area as being the Canadian Riviera. Southern Vancouver Island is the number one desired retirement location of 80% of Canadians and has become a region filled with retired diplomats, executives, and economic expatriates. We will offer our view of the lifestyle, design, architecture of Southern Vancouver Island.

One area that is still under the radar is the Cowichan Valley, some think of it as Vancouver Island’s version of Napa Valley. It is a serene area of agri-business, hobby farms and quiet small town living.

April and March this year were very nice. Walks through Duncan, the primary hub of the valley,  captured the beautiful spring atmosphere.  It is much less expensive than nearby Victoria and actually has better weather. The Natives called the Cowichan Valley “The Warm Land” and the description is apt.

Walk Along Cliff Road
Walk Along Cliff Road

 

 

Pink blossoms near the Garage Cafe.
Pink blossoms near the Garage Cafe in Duncan.

 

Renovated cottage duncan
Renovated cottage on Cliff Road in Duncan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Duncan is a perfect option for those who are interested in renovating a small cottage in a quiet small town atmosphere. Other interesting small towns are Chemainus, Ladysmith, Cowichan Bay, among others. Outside of the towns are beautiful hobby farms and agricultural acreage which has been turned into vineyards and farms..

Tudor cottage in Duncan
Tudor cottage in Duncan
Walking trails at hospital with fence post
Entrance to the walking trails next to the hospital.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s