Family home and garden - rural
British Columbia
My husband Nick Knuit and I live on 9 acres of meadow and forest on Quadra Island between Vancouver Island and the west coast of B.C. We have a large vegetable garden, several ornamental gardens with lots of driftwood and rock providing structure, and trails through our woods. We live in a lovingly remodeled house full of driftwood and stone. We have a separate bright little cabin/guest room with a sink and a cozy chair to relax in privately. We have an outdoor shower that we use from May to October. Our guest would stay either in the small guest cabin or the loft bedroom with deck above it, but would have the run of the house so they didn't have to be isolated from us. The outdoor shower is lovely but if it is too cold, the main house shower would be used.
Speaking of husband: we are a happily married couple. We have been together for 19 years. Nick is of Dutch heritage (grew up in Canada, but speaks a child's Dutch) and I am of Ukrainian heritage and speak a child's archaic Ukrainian. We retired early and are now 74 (Nick) and 69 (me). We both LOVE gardening. Nick is a very talented carver (moose antlers and some wood), and a creative builder and landscaper. I enjoy making stained glass mosaics, hiking and biking (for fun, not anything serious). We remodeled our house almost entirely by ourselves and created our locally famous garden ourselves. We are both hard workers (Nick more so than I ). We have 6 kids all told: I have 4 and Nick has 2 and we have 5 grandkids, so we do have a lot of summer visitors. We are both very sociable and have a wide circle of friends here on Quadra Island. Nick is a homebody, while I like to explore. I like seeing what is around the corner on the road and what is on the other side of the mountain!
We are looking for strong, physically active people to help us for a week (renewable if all parties agree) with outdoor chores such as stacking firewood, collecting driftwood off the beach for construction and art projects, trail building and maintenance on our 7 or so acres of woods, weeding areas, and general yard help. We realize that WOOFERs are also on holiday, so 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week is plenty. We have 2 bikes that can be borrowed, and there are bike rentals available here. I would be very happy to be a tour guide and show off our lovely part of the world in relaxing time. We do not own a kayak, but there are several kayaking companies on the island. We enjoy beer, wine and good food, but are calm about it. We do no wild partying though we do have friends over to sing around the fire in the backyard when weather permits. Speaking of food, Woofers would eat with us, and I would be the main cook but help , though not necessary, would be appreciated sometimes. We eat healthily but are definitely not anything-free ( we eat wheat, sugar, meat). We are not vegetarian. We try to buy organic food but it is expensive, so we do our best and try to grow what we can. . House rules: no smoking, no parties, work hard and enjoy your stay!
Organic methods: We use no herbicides or pesticides in our gardens. We grow as many of our fruits and vegetables as we can in our home garden.
Certifications: we are not a commercial farm, so are not certified.
Current projects: maintaining and cleaning up the areas surrounding the house and garden, splitting and stacking firewood, planting and doing maintenance in both vegetable and flower gardens, clearing brush, maintaining and improving trails and paths, collecting driftwood for projects
moderately good Internet access available
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Flower farming
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Bakery
Traditional crafts
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
3.6
Hectares
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9
Acres
Kathy
Member since 2019
Languages spoken:
English
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 100%
Response time: typically within 1 day
British Columbia
Campbell River
Reviews
Fia
Sweden
•
May 2026
Kathy and Nick are wonderful people! Very welcoming, big hearted and generous. Their garden is an absolute paradise and I was happy to get to help out with this and that during my stay.
Aimee
New Zealand
•
May 2026
Eagles Rest is an absolute treasure, both the location / lodgings and the hosts. I was welcomed immediately with warmth and enthusiasm as Kathy and Nicks experience hosting was immediately evident.
Hiking with Kathy was wonderful as she shared her enjoyment for nature and people with me. She also prepared delicious dinners, for myself and other visitors... you will not go hungry here!
Nick was also a wonderful host sharing loads of laughs, a passion for games, which he will teach you so he can then beat you ha ha ha, and he even guided me through making my own carving.
There creativity and warmth is reflected in their beautiful house and garden. It truly felt like being with family.
Im immensely grateful for my experience with Nick and Kathy and look forward to sharing a game of cards with them again.
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Olivier
France
•
May 2026
I spent two weeks on Quadra in mid April.
From the hospitality, the card games, the sharing of knowledge, the wonderful garden, the diverse tasks, the activities on the island, the community, to the chickens, everything is set to let you enjoy an amazing experience.
Thank you Kathy and Nick, I will come back to Eagle's rest for sure!
Codii
Canada
•
March 2026
I spent just under a week at Eagle's Rest. For the first few days, I did upkeep of garden walkways and mulched garden beds. It snowed unexpectedly halfway through my stay, so we pivoted and I stacked firewood and did snow and tree removal. I alternated between working outdoors and learning how to do antler carvings with Nick inside his workshop (how cool is that?!).
In my downtime I played card games and board games, had thoughtful discussions, read various titles from their large book collection, went for walks around the island, and was spoiled by Kathy's wonderful cooking and baking.
Kathy and Nick are hospitable, caring, genuine, and knowledgeable hosts. Right from the beginning to the very end of my stay, I was welcomed into their home like a family member. Through all of our interactions, I felt a deep sense of mutual respect, kindness, and patience. I'm so grateful for the experience I had and would recommend Eagle's Rest to WWOOFers looking to experience a bit of paradise on Quadra Island!
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Patrick
Canada
•
November 2025
I had the most wonderful time at Kathy and Nick's home at Eagle's rest!! I was honestly blown away by their hospitality and kindness which they showed me during my stay here. I was so well looked after and I had a tremendous amount of fun working and living at the nest! I only wish that I had the time to have stayed longer! I learned so much from this lovely couple which will do me well going forward into the future and I will always cherish the time I spent on Quadra Island!
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Camille
Canada
•
September 2025
My stay with Kathy and Nick felt like a dream! It surpassed my expectations in so many ways, and was an incredibly enriching experience. These hosts are kind, genuine, funny, and so loving! I was really well taken care of, and I felt like I became part of their family in the short space of my two weeks stay.
I had a private accomodation, access to food and drinks through the day with lovingly made home cooked meals by Kathy, and was provided with fresh towels as need and clean sheets every week.
My days consisted of card games and coffee before breakfast, caring for chickens, all sorts of carpenting work with Nick through the day, meeting their wonderful friends across the island, lovely artistic sessions with Nick, exploring beaches either to relax at the end of the day or to collect drift wood and rocks for projects at the house - and so much more!
They encouraged me to take the car and explore the island on my free time. I went on a few walks/hikes with Kathy. Since I enjoyed their company and the work so much, I mostly shadowed them throughout the day, but it was nice to know I could use my time off in various ways.
I would strongly recommend this place to anyone who is eager to learn, has an open heart, creative mind, and a social personality. They are real advocates of a good time. I learned so many useful skills, and now feel I have a home in BC.
Thank you so much for everything <3
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