North Campbell River

Cross the bridge north of Campbellton and the city changes pace. Tyee Spit curls out at the river mouth, home to the Tyee Club, where anglers have rowed the pool for giant chinook since the 1920s under rules that still ban motors. Floatplanes come and go from the spit, and on a summer morning the water is dotted with small wooden boats.

Just up the shore, Painter's Lodge has hosted fishing guests and visiting celebrities for decades, and its dock is still one of the busiest in town for charters. Behind the spit, the estuary and Baikie Island are a restored nature reserve, with trails, birdlife and seals hauling out on the logs.

North along the Island Highway, the homes face Discovery Passage. Cruise ships, tugs and pods of orcas pass close enough to watch from the living room. Streets run up the hill behind the highway, with a mix of older family homes, acreages and newer houses built to catch the view.

Farther north, the neighbourhood opens up into forest and the former Duncan Bay mill lands, with Highway 19 heading north toward Seymour Narrows and the rest of the North Island.