Visiting Vancouver Island ... Chemainus

At the end of May, my husband and I took a trip out west to visit my brother and his two teenage sons. We haven't been out west for fourteen years now, as my brother (who is a very good brother) would always do the travelling and visit us here in Ontario. But it was definitely time for our overdue visit. We were there for a week, and did a bit of touring around. I tried to condense my trip into one post, but there were too many photos to share, so I'm breaking it down into bits :)

We rented a car for the week and one day was spent driving up the Malahat to the quaint town of Chemainus.  The Malahat is a beautiful island highway with several spots to pull over and admire the spectacular view.

The town of Chemainus is famous for their painted murals. When the lumber industry was threatened  here years ago, putting many of the residents out of work, the residents came up with a plan to paint murals on the sides of buildings to attract tourists into their town. For the most part the murals depict the town's history, and they are quite amazing. Over the years, other themes seem to have been adopted. I do have a book somewhere in the house about Chemainus and the background of the murals, but here I will just share the murals with you. You may follow this link to read more on the history of the town.

  

 

After viewing many of the murals (and the above sampling is not all the murals!), we wandered around town a bit. People here have taken great pride in their little cottages, and their gardens are beautiful! 

I honestly think I could happily live in this little town by the sea and forests.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy