Meet your Bowen Island Neighbours: Jae Mather

What year did you come here?

2015

How did you come to be on Bowen Island?

We moved here from the UK. I’m from Vancouver but I was living in Europe for 20 years. And I always said that if I’m coming back to Canada it would be to come back to the best of the West Coast. So we picked Bowen because we have friends here.

How did you know your friends who are here?

We’ve known each other from before they were on Bowen but they moved here long before us. When we would come back to visit Canada, we would visit them.

Where you do you live on Bowen?

Cates Hill.

What’s your favourite place on Bowen?

The forest path that runs up alongside Cates Hill on towards Mount Apodaca. There’s a little trail in there. 

What do Bowen Islanders have in common?

We have, I think, a deeper sense of community than Vancouver does. And more of an openness. It’s a much friendlier place than Vancouver when it comes to people being more interested in each other.

What’s your favourite Bowen fact or story?

Probably that we used to be a holiday destination with a hotel and curling rink and ball dancing and camping and all that old stuff.

What do you do for fun these days?

Go for a lot of walks with my dog. And enjoying Bowen’s environment. Outside.

When you’re going around Killarney Lake, do you turn right or left?

Left.

You’re the first person to say left! Why left?

My wife does that walk a lot. And she decided one day that left was the way she wanted to go. We’ve always done it that way ever since.