I've always wanted to spend more time exploring Vancouver Island and the area around Courtenay and Comox. Well I got my wish – kind of.  I have a little condo in Courtenay which I have been renting out for the past nine years. All good tenants up until the last one. Unfortunately for her, she passed away suddenly.  So I need to find a new tenant.  But first Frank and I have to fix up the trail of destruction and filth she left behind.

Condo location on the river in Courtenay


So here we are on Day 24 of this project with very little time off to play.  Turns out the place did need some TLC anyway. So we have not only cleaned up the mess and repaired the broken stuff – the place now has all new paint, new toilets and bathroom sinks and faucets, light fixtures, hood fan on the stove,  interior doors and one completely new frame (she had somehow smashed the door frame and the door was bashed in too), and new tiling around the wood-burning stove.

The living/dining room flooring is being replaced too, but that is being paid for by the tenants family. Won't go into the story about that. The hot water heater is overdue for replacement, so we’re doing that too. We're also having to organise a new bedroom window and new door-jam for the front door. Those were both smashed.

Tenant left this broken window

Our bedroom parked across from us!

Thank goodness Frank is very handy. He's worked non-stop since we got here. We're doing everything ourselves except the flooring and tiling.

Original fireplace tiles and flooring

Old damaged flooring removed, new feature wall colour
New tile job

A truck-load of reno junk being removed yesterday

There's plenty to do here recreation wise, but so far we haven't taken the time to get out there. Our biggest outings have been our frequent visits to Home Depot for supplies and WiFi time! The Banff Film Festival was showing here last week, so that was a welcome diversion for two nights. Looking forward to a concert this Saturday – a tribute to Johnny Cash – right up our alley, and the theatre is right up our street. Courtenay has great restaurants and coffee places - we've tried out a couple of each.

Our second home at Home Depot
New doors being installed


Mt. Washington is just thirty minutes up the hill from here, with great downhill and cross-country skiing. So we've got to get up there in the coming week before we head back to Calgary.

Since we have no furniture here, we cosy into our camper van every night at bedtime. It's parked out in front of the building, but it is a beautiful location – right on the river here. We've seen bald eagles perching in the massive trees on the premises, and humming birds hovering around our front window. We do all our cooking in the condo, having brought enough kitchen equipment with us. Really missing a good couch though. The large blanket-covered boxes aren't doing it for us!

Yesterday's makeshift dining table
Frank installing a new hot water heater

Now that most of the work is done, I can finally get an ad posted with photos and see if we can get a tenant while we’re here.  Apparently there’s a shortage of rental places here, so that should work in our favour.

Meanwhile interesting aromas waft through our condo. Some of the neighbours in adjoining units must be heavy pot smokers, and the smoke somehow makes it through the ducts into our place. So we have become passive pot users!!


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