KEMA Hornby Island - Cabine

The property surrounding the cabin is quite pleasant with tall trees for shade, yet an opening is there to see some of the ocean from the cabin deck. There are wild blackberries all around the cabine and lining the driveway - nice for breakfast. Although the property sits on a main road leading from the ferry terminal, it is usually only somewhat noisy in the morning and late afternoon. At night it is very quiet. Deer mums and fawns grazed on lawn regularly.

Ocean access across the road is down several flights of rickety stairs; not ideal to carry down cooler, chairs etc. Better to hop in the car and drive a short distance to Tribune Bay Provincial Park with its beautiful sandy beach. As Hornby Island is quite small, it is really a short drive to all attractions whether they be wineries, distilleries, hikes, beaches etc.

Cabin: smoke detector had no battery in it and was too old, fire extinguisher indicated it needed recharging, railing on the cabin deck was very wobbly; you would not want to lean on it too much or you could topple into the blackberries. The outdoor benches are also wobbly and we had to drive many nails back into deck stairs (with a rock) as they were sticking out. Some of the wiring is iffy; hubby fiddled with bathroom GFCI switch for half an hour to get it to work. Light string outside the cabin does not work either. Ceiling in the bathroom by the toilet is so low (about 4.5 feet) when I stepped back to let husband pass soundly smacked my head on that ceiling; have a big goose egg to prove it.

Ceiling is also low by breakfast table/ chairs so one must always think to duck when one gets up from the chair. Lighting is poor in the cabin, except in kitchen. The lighting that does exist is harsh and often not possible to position where it is needed. We thought to bring book lights or else we would not have been able to read and there is no TV. Cast iron stove is about 2 feet from bed end; thank goodness we still had warm weather and did not have to use it. Not safe to have this heat source so close to bed linen.

We took our garbage with us (as requested) and had to provide all our own water for consumption - sulphur smell of tap water while washing was awful. We received a list or rules prior to check in and then found more rules posted all over this little cabin. 5 in bathroom alone.

2.5 out of 5.