Thankful for wasps
By Margot Fedoruk Kat Shantikat of Gabriola Island lives with her black cat in a quaint house tucked along a network of forest trails. She enjoys daily hikes through the second-growth forest. On one of her walks, she found her first wasp nest. “I notice stuff and pick it up,” she says. Shantikat once saw another artist use wasp nest paper and it never left her. She […]
Living Green on a Budget
By Kristen Bounds It’s no secret that the planet needs and deserves our immediate attention (“climate emergency” was Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year in 2019), but it’s easy to feel helpless with the abundance of depressing information about the environment we receive every day. Many people respond by trying to adopt more sustainable habits […]
Welcome to Utopia
By Kaleigh Studer A drop of water slithers down my spine and into the crevice of my lower back. The brain freeze has worn off from my icy dip. The sun is striking my porcelain skin. I’m riverside in Croatia with Selly, my best friend. I often get jealous of the way the sun’s rays turn her skin […]
V.I. Eyes
By Heather Froese I’ve always been inspired by photography. My earliest inspiration came from my older sister, Elizabeth, who was always taking sneaky candid photos of me before I could see the camera and pull my silliest face to annoy her. But I wasn’t her only subject. Growing up on Vancouver Island also provided her […]
When Trees Tell Stories
By Sheena Robinson Photo top: seawolfadventures.ca Walking through the forests of Vancouver Island, it’s easy to become entranced by the density and beauty of the tall trees towering above you. Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, and Western Red Cedar are the most common coniferous giants here. They are a big part of what makes […]
Hikes to Lose Yourself On
By Anika Michaux Do you know that feeling of getting lost in nature? Losing yourself among the pine trees that coat British Columbia? I was born in Nanaimo, and grew up with mountains and forests only a short distance away. This temperate rainforest will always be a place I call home, not only because of […]
Cubs Fans
By Reid Eccles A computer monitor flips between different angles on what might be a forest floor, if it weren’t for the cement blocks enclosing it. There are logs, a pool of water, a wooden den. The screen flips again and a groggy black bear stands up, its motion having tripped the camera’s sensors. This video feed […]
The Hidden Waterfalls of Nanaimo
Story and photos by Spenser Smith In 2013, I moved to Nanaimo, British Columbia, a city full of winding streams and rivers. It was a big change from my home province of Saskatchewan, which has its own beauty, but not generally of the wet kind. In fact, all of Vancouver Island was a revelation. One […]
Searching for Staqeya
By Shanon Fenske The 25-foot Amanda Anne plows through the frigid February waters of the Juan De Fuca Strait. Somewhere in the darkness ahead of us are islands inhabited by a wolf many in the Songhees First Nation believe is sacred. Campers were the first to report a lone wolf on Discovery Island, five km. east […]
Watchguards in the Walbran
By Rob Wilson “RESCIND 4424!” reads a hand-painted banner adorning the plywood wall of the camp’s kitchen and main shelter. It’s a crudely constructed building made of 2x4s, tarps, and ropes, standing a few metres from the Walbran River bridge. Inside are cluttered tables and counters piled with power tools, a 3,000 Watt power inverter, pots and […]