Retiree Stories

Bengt & Britt Lindstrom
Newcomers 1998, North Vancouver, British Columbia

My wife Britt and I moved from North Vancouver to Campbell River in the fall of 1998. I had enjoyed a career as an engineer, working for a Vancouver engineering firm for 27 years and running my own consulting firm for four years. I had turned sixty, our children were finished with their education, gainfully pursuing their careers and were on their own, and it was time for the two of us to relocate away from the busy Vancouver area for our retirement. Being raised near water in Stockholm, Sweden where lakes, canals and coastal inlets and bays are never far away, we have always been drawn to coastal settings, so relocating to Vancouver Island for our retirement was for us an easy choice to make. We had been vacationing in this area on numerous occasions over the years and have always appreciated it for its pristine nature and natural resources.
We arrived here with a house plan, designed to cater to our lifestyle and interests, and built our house in a newer Willow Point subdivision, where we had previously purchased a building lot.

I am an ardent recreational fisherman who used to come here in the mid seventies for salmon fishing. Needless to say, the local ocean salmon fishing is not what it used to be in those days and one would need to work a bit harder and sometimes travel further distances to be successful. This pursuit have on occasion brought us quite close to the marine wildlife and fond and exciting memories include being surrounded by a pod of killer whales with one rolling within two meters from the boat in Nodales Channel and being defeated in a tug of war with a couple of playful White Sided Pacific Dolphins over hooked Chum salmon at Chatham Point. A more local but nevertheless memorable experience was when the Super Pod of killer whales came through Campbell River one late afternoon a few summers ago. Britt and I were over on the Cape Mudge side, where part of the pod came through. With the engine shut off and the fishing gear out of the water, we had two whales sounding right behind our boat and resurfacing some thirty feet in front of us, a quite awesome and humbling experience.

After enjoying several seasons of good salmon fishing from our 19 Ft Campion Explorer powerboat, it was this year time to move up to a 32 Ft Bayliner to pursue longer distance cruising along our beautiful coast. It is indeed wonderful to travel along a fiord like archipelago, to anchor up in a sheltered bay, set the prawn traps, dig for clams and to pick some oysters. I still enjoy salmon fishing, but cruising has today the number one priority, where Britt and I can share the enjoyment of exploring the beautiful coastline.

Since coming here, I have been actively involved in the Ripple Rock Squadron, a unit of the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons and Britt in the Women’s Newcomers Club. This year we also became members of the Campbell River Yacht Club. We have through these organizations met many interesting people and are pleased to have formed good friendships.

Also being downhill skiers, we enjoy our midweek trips to Mount Washington. This is a very nice ski resort area, situated just 35 minutes by car from our home. We usually go there twice a week for morning skiing in the back runs. The runs are well laid out in a suitable terrain and are considerably longer and, we think, a bit more interesting than the Vancouver Mainland North Shore hills, Seymour, Grouse and Cypress. This resort is also popular for its Nordic cross-country skiing.

Our young female Black Labrador, Sheba, keeps us well exercised with her demands for daily walks. Our Campbell River District has plenty of well-maintained nature trails along the local rivers, in endowment land areas, and in the nearby forest parks. One of our favorite trails runs around Lost Lake in the Snowden Demonstration Forest.

This is now our sixth year in Campbell River and we have noticed that the gradual change in local demographics, which had already evolved before our arrival here, is still an ongoing process, where the make up of population is becoming quite diversified and to a lesser degree dependent on the traditional resources industries; commercial fishing, forestry/pulp and paper, and mining. The new Inland Island Highway, as well as attractive residential developments, stores, municipal services, and an expanding modern infrastructure to serve our daily needs, have all contributed to attract new residents to our area. Like many relocating to Vancouver Island, Britt and I have found Campbell River to be an ideal community to spend our retirement years in.