Living on an island fifteen minutes from the city is a peculiar pleasure. The ferry becomes a daily ritual: coffee on the upper deck, the skyline sliding past, a nod to the same faces each morning.
I have sold homes on Peaks for eleven years and lived here for six. This is what I tell people who ask what it is really like.
The ferry
The boat runs from early morning until late evening, all year. You will learn the timetable by heart within a month. Most islanders keep a car on the mainland and a bicycle or golf cart at home; the island is small enough that you rarely need more.
Winter
Winters are quieter and occasionally stormy, and you learn to keep a few things in the pantry. A cancelled boat is rare, but it happens, and there is a certain satisfaction in watching the weather roll in from a warm kitchen.
“In February you find out who your neighbours are. In July you find out how many friends you have on the mainland.”
Summer
Summers are lively, with visitors, bicycles and long evenings on the back shore. The general store, the café and the small restaurants are busy, and the island school fills its garden with volunteers.
Buying on the island
Homes range from simple shingle cottages to granite houses built for year-round families. Check the heating, the insulation and the distance to the landing. Year-round access to a water supply matters too, since some older cottages were only ever summer homes.
If you are thinking of making the move, spend a weekend in February as well as one in July. If you still love it, you will love it for good.
