Well, this past few days has been interesting, to say the least! We went to the mainland to hunt for an apartment, hitting the road at 4:30 AM on Sunday morning to get to a showing by 11 AM. We had been assiduously studying Craigslist and Kijiji for weeks for possibilities, and not really meshing well on what we were looking for. (Here, you need to read that Marcelle knew what we wanted, but I had yet to reach enlightenment.)
What we both agreed upon was that we really wanted to live as close to downtown Vancouver as possible, and if not in the thick of it, then close to easy transit to get there. The issue we ran smack up against was that the price range to accomplish this goal was simply beyond our reach other than for student loft-sized cubbyholes. This, of course, was not what we had envisioned. We had seen an ad for a place on Capitol Hill, which would have been a nice neighborhood, and a fairly quick ride into the city, but when we saw the place, it was, unfortunately simply not meant for tall people as it's top-level windows had sloping walls that encroached drastically into each room. (A head-banger's delight!) So, we stayed with dear friends in Langley and scoured the lists for further ideas.
Our web searches took us from minuscule, unsatisfactory candidates in downtown to out as far as Abbotsford, and even a couple in Chilliwack! While we could certainly find good size and value out in the boondocks, our dreams of being townies was severely curtailed. And as we had already spent six years in Langley, this simply wasn't what we had in mind.
One of the criteria that played heavily in our search was square footage. While Marcelle was willing to look at (very) small places, I had yet to wrap my mind around a change this drastic. I should probably explain that we had about 1,400 square feet in Langley, but when we moved here to Ukee, we ended up, quite accidentally in a lovely 2,600 square foot home! What we were finding in our target area (that was stretching our budget) was 500 to 600 square offerings that I simply couldn't fathom living in. This, however, didn't daunt my dear, long-suffering wife, who has been talking about Tiny Houses for years now.
I also had to be goaded into looking at neighborhoods other than strictly central and immediately surrounding downtown. Marcelle had been regaling me about North Vancouver, but for whatever reason, I simply hadn't considered it. When I finally relented, we fortuitously came upon a listing for a condo for rent in Lower Lonsdale. We called immediately and made an appointment for later in the afternoon and hustled down there to meet the landlord.
The unit is in a brand new complex on 3rd Ave, virtually right up the hill for the quay and the SeaBus terminal, with service every 15-minutes for a 14-minute journey across the inlet to downtown. Astounding! Not only that, but the unit is brand-spanking new, never been occupied, and it's beautiful. The building has a gym, and a rooftop common area that has beautiful furniture, a major barbecue and an astounding view over the inlet to downtown.
The next day, we went back early and spent a few wonderful hours exploring our new neighborhood, walking down to the Esplanade and spooking around the quay, the market and Lonsdale Street, had a delicious late lunch in a lovely Greek restaurant and finally made our way back to the apartment for our appointment.
So, Dear Reader, you ask: what is the downside to all this? Well, as you might have guessed from the title of this posting, it's a little smaller than we are used to, weighing in a slightly over 600 square feet! We met the landlord, Rudy, a charming and gregarious gentleman who was a Master Mariner and now teaches the rules of the seas to up-and-coming young tars. We have been very lucky with our prior landlords, gaining good friends in the process, and we can see that this will be the case here too. As we concluded the business of signing the lease, we partook of a Tamil ritual in which each took a small amount of water from a brass ornamental urn into our right hand, drank it and then passed our hand back over our head. We look forward to getting know Rudy better and, as we told him, learning some secrets about Tamil cooking from his wife. Curries rule!
We left Rudy and drove up to the ferry at Horseshoe Bay and caught the 6:55 PM ferry back to the island, and then drove non-stop back to Ucluelet, getting in about 11:30. A long day. But a good one. We accomplished our mission to secure a domicile and now we can plan the next chapter in our lives.
Today, I spent the day inputting the floor plan into the computer then moving furniture around in it, trying to figure out what we will be able to fit into our very small footprint. This was a daunting task, as the entire place is really no larger than a hotel suite. We knew, and were prepared to have to get rid of a fair amount of what we have been carting around with us for the past few years, and indeed we have downsized with each move, but damn, this one is going to require some major surgery! With only one bedroom. And a small living room and kitchen, it is a significant challenge to fit the essentials in. Especially as we are both enthusiastic and accomplished cooks. This means that we have to be really creative to fit the cooking equipment and essentials (spices, herbs and other necessary ingredients etc) into the very reduced cupboard spaces.
The list of things we have to divest ourselves just keeps getting longer and longer: sofa, love-seat, desk, tables, spare bed, linens and towels etc no longer needed for guests... the list goes on and on! But you know what? We are both really pumped about it. It is going to be a liberating experience to downsize this drastically. While we hope to stay in our new home for a good few years, we will already be prepped to move almost anywhere with a minimum of fuss. And finally, we can do it all in a smaller truck to boot. Win-win!
The pictures in today's post are from our walk around the quay area, and are just the first of many to come as we get moved and start to explore our new world. Lots more to come!
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