To enjoy pictures of my wandering throughout the region join my Instagram account: nsruralbynature

A New Beginning

 After a 40-year absence, I have returned to Vancouver Island. My years at the University of Victoria were spent more outdoors than in the classroom. Exploring the backroads and pathways throughout the Saanich peninsula captured my imagination far more than the lectures I was supposed to attend. Rural Saanich had much to offer then and now. Though North Saanich has grown tremendously in the past 40 years, it continues to offer a rural lifestyle close to every amenity possible. 

In this new blog, I will explore some of the beautiful parks and byways in North Saanich and the surrounding areas, including Central Saanich, Sidney-by-the-Sea, Saanich, Victoria, the Western Communities, and even further afield, up island and onto the Gulf Islands. 

Through photos and essays, I will look at the changing nature of the area as urbanization spreads to suburban and rural areas. How North Saanich adapts to these changes, and how change might be managed and mitigated, will be explored through my experiences in civic government, environmentalism, and 25 years of parks and natural areas advocacy [you can find more about that at: betterparks.ca].

Growth is inevitable; how we manage that growth will determine whether North Saanich becomes just another bedroom community of the Capital Regional District, or continues to be a rural community with room for density. My love of North Saanich is because it is rural by nature.