On Island Time

David Allinson is the president of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory in Victoria, B.C.

On Island Time captures the simple pleasures of island life around
Hilary Stewart’s home on Quadra Island, off the east coast of
Vancouver Island. Natural and Native heritage is celebrated in this
diary of the ups and downs of life on a rural island. For those
considering retiring from urban life, the book offers insights into the
quaint eccentricities of daily chores and the quirky personalities on
the Gulf Islands.

The diary format with its endless accounts of the author’s daily
routine, makes for occasionally dull reading. Also disappointing is
Stewart’s lack of research with regard to her bird identification and
nomenclature. And there are distracting errors; for example, Stewart
identifies the grouse on Quadra Island as sharp-tailed, an uncommon
species found only in the interior of British Columbia. Nevertheless,
for those willing to pay the steep price, On Island Time provides a
charming glimpse of the wildlife and Native cultural history of British
Columbia’s Gulf Islands.