
The Comox Valley is known for its abundance of fresh seafood and farm produce. At the right time of year, shoppers ...

Hi there, I’m Max and I was not born in St Joseph's Hospital. I was, however, born in Addenbrooke's Hospital, ...

On Friday, May 13, 2022, a group of paddlers from many backgrounds made their way, in two interconnected voyageur ...

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon as I make my way through Alex Blais’ yard, following the sound of laughter toward an ...
Words & Photos by
Sara Kempner

Like most woodworking spaces, Sandpiper Studio is an organized-but-dusty collection of equipment designed for the ...

I-HOS GALLERY
K'ÓMOKS FIRST NATION
Owned and operated by the K’ómoks First Nation, I-Hos Gallery showcases a ...

Hi, my name is Darragh Tormey, and this is my love essay.
Love can mean a million things, and it means ...

K’ómoks First Nation (KFN) members Sean Frank and Trevor Hardy, assisted by master carver Joe Martin of ...

The Comox Valley in the 1960s was remote, beautiful, and serene. It was also secluded, with no major highway ...

Glean (v.): Gather (ears of grain, etc.) after the harvest.
I recently attended an inspiring symposium hosted ...

Some of my dearest early memories involve water. My dad would tie a rope on my sister’s and my life jackets as we ...
Words & featured photo by
Erica Keen

Marianne Enhörning is a West Coast Canadian artist. Born in Sweden, she split her work life for many years between ...

As an adventure, wildlife, and sports photographer based in the Comox Valley, Nick chases the thrill of unique ...

Every day, we hear and say, “I love this.”
And this. And this. And this. And oh, that over there, too.
We toss ...

In 2008, novice paddleboarder Norm Hann hatched a plan to travel by stand-up paddleboard (SUP), with boat support, ...

We’ve all done it. Bragged about how we used to go somewhere when it was still cool and undiscovered, before the ...

Deep in the heart of Utah Mormon country, in a place called Temple Square, sits an unusual statue known as the ...

The ferns have their fresh, feathery leaves and everything in sight is electric green. This is Vancouver Island in ...
Words & Photo by
Jennifer Jellett

Two “very pregnant” cats. That was the delivery at the door of the Kitty Cat P.A.L. (Prevent-A-Litter) Society at ...

In 1992, an eclectic group of local artisans joined together to form The Potters Place Gallery. “There was already ...

There is a natural intimacy to be found at the Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival. Readers, writers, ...

Land is on my mind a lot these days, as a dad and freelance journalist. I recently interviewed an old Findlay ...

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably driven past the community halls north of Courtenay along Highway 19A ...

My dearest Yarden, It wasn’t just one of your plants that snared me. Nor did my love for you hit all of a sudden. ...

Bark! Bark! Bark! We are an hour and a half into our wilderness validation search; Rudy has already found two ...

When LOVE was suggested as our summer theme, I jumped on it. I planned to write an inspiring intro that would ...

for S’ólh Téméxw (the traditional territories of the Stó:lo-)
out in the valley
plump drupelets fall into ...

Born and raised in Quebec, Françoise is a self-taught wildlife/landscape photographer. Her first career was as a ...

A member of the Taku River First Nation by birth, Brian was adopted as an infant by Linda and Perry Jessop and ...

In August 2020, I travelled to a magical corner of the world where there are more glaciers than anywhere outside ...
Words & Artwork by
Tracy Kobus
Photos by
Malcolm Johnson

March 4, 2021: “This is not good. I’ve just gone to look at the area. The flagging starts about 50 meters beyond ...

My parents were notorious collectors. On any given Saturday, they would pack up our silver E150 Ford Econoline van ...

When Sarah McLoughlin passed away on February 10, 2021, at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver—her husband ...
Words by
Kerry Hale
Featured photo by
Susan Healy

You pretty much can’t have a conversation anywhere in the world today without one of our global crises popping up ...

Imagine three siblings—Cumberland, Courtenay, and Comox—who tolerate each other, but aren’t exactly brimming with ...

North Island College’s (NIC)’s Indigenous language courses are bringing together students and building a community ...

A few years ago, a fog rolled in on me, gradually placing a dim, grey mist over my view in all directions. I ...

Urban agriculture can mean a number of things depending on who you ask and where in the world it’s occurring. To ...

What separates SOS Gear from other outdoor stores is not what it carries, but what it doesn’t.
Like most gear ...

The secret’s out regarding Vancouver Island and its amazing mountains. While all alpine environments are ...
Words & Photo by
Shane Johnson

There’s no real place to start this story of sailing. I never would have predicted that I would be writing this ...
Words by
Judith Wright
Featured photo by
Jenn Dykstra

A few years ago, there was a local kerfuffle because a new sign on the Inland Island Highway proclaimed: “Welcome ...

For over a year, we’ve all been dreaming of getting away, and perhaps Island adventures will once again be ...

One of the most iconic summer activities in the Comox Valley is tubing down the Puntledge River.
There’s no ...

At the end of a dirt road, minutes from the sea, sits an idyllic farm.
Youthful alder, fir, hemlock, and pines ...

I remember well the pitter-patter of tiny toad feet on my lawn when I was a child growing up across from the swamp ...

At the end of a meandering gravel driveway tucked among lush cedars stands the Deep Bay Marine Field Station, a ...

After so many months of navigating an ever-changing pandemic landscape of worries, warnings, restrictions, and ...

It was a warm summer afternoon when I first met Comox Valley Art Gallery (CVAG) Executive Director Sharon Karsten ...

Nearly invisible, a fishing net drifts within the dark waters off the western shores of Vancouver Island. As a ...

Jessica likes to eat her pot. Preferably in a gummy. But it could be years before she can buy them legally at a ...

Escape. Run away. Get lost. Get free.
Last winter, when the long stretch of darkness was at its most ...

Ian McKenzie sees things.
These hallucinations started when he was a kid. He would hear voices while sitting ...

Desperately pinching limestone tufas and underclinging stalactites, I tried hard, like full-body core-strength ...

I have lived in the same place my whole life, in a smallish house in deep west Courtenay, near the river, forest, ...

Ava Luna is a professional henna and visual artist born and raised on Vancouver Island and new to the Comox ...

Dave Ingram is a photographer and naturalist based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. He currently works as a ...

It is amazing to stand on the shores of Comox Lake and consider the vast amount of water it contains. With a ...

Many people living in the Comox Valley develop a sense of adventure. We are blessed by forests, beaches, ...

In 1927, it was a day like any other for Peter Bardesonno as he clocked in alongside his father Jossepi for ...

For two decades it traveled and camped with couples and families, as most RVs do, but for the past 10 years the ...

The world of photography is broad and has no boundaries. Perhaps this is why so many people are drawn to it. But ...

What is yarn bombing? Some people call it art. Others call it craft. Some call it a nuisance and a waste of ...

Standing in the golden hayfields that roll down to the ocean’s edge, I look over the sparkling water to the ...

When it comes to doing drugs, Adam isn’t interested in getting high. “I’m a busy man,” the 49 year-old creative ...

No one wants to be told what to eat. Food sharing is at the core of culture, group identity, and pleasure. Just ...

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, thriving mining, logging, and fishing industries in the Comox Valley led to ...

MO MOSHIRI: EXPLORER
“I’ve been a traveller since I was three,” says Comox-based MC, songwriter, and producer ...

We descended into a magical underworld. Giant, spider-like cave crickets filled the vast corridors of karst ...
Words & Painting
Nick Hutton-Jay

My heart races and my hands shake as I check my lines for the third time. My speedwing is neatly laid out on the ...

Storytelling originates underground. It’s the job of a writer to drag little known stories to the surface. ...

I feel most at home in vast wilderness landscapes. Here, the bears and wildflowers alike are my equals, and the ...
Words & Photos by
Leah Ballin

If you live on Vancouver Island, you are blessed with an abundance of places to experience the raw and rugged ...

Hi, my name is Naomi and I’m currently a student at Cumberland Community School. I've lived in Cumberland for ...

“You know what I’ve been doing,” says Sarah Neufeld exuberantly, on the phone from the back of a Toronto taxi. ...

134 years ago, the Canadian Government introduced legislation to ban the P'a_sa, or Potlach, in an attempt to ...

When you think about your high school experience, what comes to mind? The friendships, sports, or parties? Maybe ...

Drive northwest past the ferry line-ups, strip malls, and highways choked with RVs. Carry on until you’re out of ...
Words & Photos by
Tim Ennis

Let’s face it, cycling is less of a chore when you have a growler of local craft beer, fresh herbs, and a few ...

Fresh water flows through the Kingfisher Oceanside Resort and Spa’s new Serenity Garden. The soothing sound of ...

If you could divide people into two categories, there would be those who spend their lives taking from the planet, ...

The A-frame is an architectural style that needs little explanation, aptly named for its high peak and steep ...

If you dare to live a life of infinite possibility and opportunity, it is essential to understand how comfort can ...

In December 2016, discussions in my house revolved around setting goals to keep active. Friends had completed the ...

In Cumberland, the community and forest are inexorably linked. Whether we explore the woods as athletes or ...

I don’t think I truly understood the word “bittersweet” before I became a mother. When I watch my son play with ...

As You Like It Products & Catering epitomizes the farm-to-table approach to food production and service. Chef, ...
Words & photo by
RJ Herron

1 Start with a stainless steel saltwater hook, in sizes 4 to 8. Pinch the barb with pliers to produce a smooth ...

It was sometime in April, while I was sitting in my chiropractor’s office, having just injured my back filling our ...

When I arrived at Material Creative’s studio in Cumberland, an unseasonable rain was falling and the air was cool. ...

My journey to Denman begins on their new cable ferry, and while that part is surely different than the journey in ...

It's 5:30 a.m., April 15, 1942. The full dark of night is just lifting. Suitcases are packed and weighed and ...

Many can say they have travelled to countries and continents around the world, tasted food from the most exotic of ...
Words & photos by
Ben Neufeld

On the water, the fastest way between two points is rarely a straight line. Sailing, surfing, paddling, it's all ...

Picture a small boy sitting on a tall drafting stool, drawing rocket ships, submarines, and houses – sculptural, ...

They say you should stop and smell the roses if you want to enjoy the journey. I’ve discovered my own ...
Words & photos by
Wendy L Macdonald

The setting of The Fanny Bay Candle Company is pastoral. Donalda Lauzon and her husband Randy greet me while ...

As editor of the Watershed Sentinel, B.C.’s award-winning “scrappy” environmental magazine, Delores Broten has ...

The Comox Glacier is such an iconic mountain for the Comox Valley. Since moving here in the fall of 2006, it’s ...
Words & photos by
Sarah Hauser

As a very young child, I enjoyed my mum reading to me the story of Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling. It is ...
Words & photos by
Tim Ennis

Our world is busy. We invite stress and then wonder why our bodies fail us. We refuse to listen, but expect ...

Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS) is a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre where over 700 injured and ...

I am not sure if Kerouac had any idea when he was writing his iconic novel On the Road, that the idea of the road ...

The air will be fragrant with the smell of smoking salmon and the shores lined with thousands of visitors who’ve ...

EARLY MEMORIES
One of my earliest memories is on the beach. I am six years old and I am standing next to my dad ...

It's about time. We're a food region. But the food truck movement is only just starting to make itself felt in the ...

At the tender young age of eight, while attending Quadra Elementary School, Cody LaFrance (Beaver) was assigned a ...

There's always a day in mid-March when I peruse the veggie aisle at the grocery store feeling dejected. Despite ...

Each issue of this magazine is a journey of its own. It takes its first steps with simple ideas, drifts to making ...