The Perfect Vacation Spot

Five Island Retreat is located in Nova Scotia on the Bay of Fundy. I found their website while surfing around one day and I've been dreaming about it ever since.

The Island is rented in it's entirety. The quote I received is that is $400 a night or $2500 a week. Initially this struck me as steep until you realize that this would be the cost for 6 couples (or 12 people that do not mind sharing a bed). It works out to $30 a night per person for the week rental. To have full run of the island, the main house and the three sleeping cabins... it's a damn fine deal.

The island is only accessible by boat during high tide (there is emergency services available by helicopter if needed). There are no cooks or housekeeping services. You have to bring your own groceries. There is on-site caretaker who is rarely seen, unless you need him.

Five Islands is an hour and half drive from the Halifax airport, which is an hour's flight from Boston or an hour and quarter from New York.

The main house is a newly built two story home with fully equipped kitchen (gas stove, electric oven, refrigerator/freezer, microwave), large open living/dining area, three bedrooms, two baths (one with bathtub, one with shower only) and sitting/reading areas on decks up and downstairs and on a mezzanine which includes a glass floored walkway over the living room.

The lovers’ cabin is one room with bed looking down 200 feet to the sea, a wood burning stove for heat, an efficient and pleasant compost toilet, sitting chairs and front porch looking over sea and nearby islands.

The lighthouse cabin is a small scale lighthouse with a living room downstairs, a bedroom up a ladder onto the second floor and up another ladder is the outside widow’s walk which wraps around the lighthouse. A compost toilet is in a separate structure.

The boat cabin is built as a boat with a bedroom inside and the open front deck looking over the sea. A compost toilet is next to it. The control house can be used for reading or viewing.
The caretakers’ cabin is near the main house but not visible from it. It comfortably houses a couple with a kitchen, sleeping and living areas and toilet.

Here is the website... http://www.fiveislandsretreat.com/view.htm

Now the only snag is to find 5 suitable couples to spend a week with.

This now concludes the vacation season for 2007...

Vacation is officially done for 2007. I have 2.5 hours before I have to be at work. 2 weeks of vacation in 2 months was a nice treat although it really sucked not to have much time off during the summer months.

Tomorrow is my 7th anniversary with Convergys and this treats me to another week of vacation for 2008 for a total of 4 weeks. I was pretty effective making 4 weeks out of my 3 weeks for the past few years, I can just imagine what I can do with a whole extra week! I've never taken more than 1 week at a time before... perhaps this could go into the planning.

As I am still looking for employment up north, I should only allow myself to take vacation every 13 weeks when I have earned it so I am not in a position to pay it back later. That being said, there are 7 weeks left to the year, 13 weeks into the year is the last week of March, first week of April... that's a really really really long way off. Thankfully, I should have some time off around Christmas or the New Year.