Wine Country
Trip Start
Jan 03, 1976
1
142
167
Trip End
Ongoing
The Okanagan,
British Columbia,
Canada
Sunday, April 8, 2007
So for Easter we packed up our eggs and headed off to wine country BC, the Okanagan. Its about a five hour drive from Vancouver (the long way) through the mountains and then out to the other side to the valley, where there is a giant giant lake. The mountains are gorgeous and so big, we kept finding ourselves in little valleys looking up to be surrounded by mountains (and no radio signal!)
We stayed in Kelowna and after a wander around town headed off for an early night so we could get up nice and early for a wine tour
at Janwo & Adamos last night..
. We went to Mission Hill winery first, which is one of the biggest. Its also set in a stunning spot on top of a little hill and a real effort was put into the buildings so its a beautiful little spot. We went around a tour of this one, which of course included tastings, and it was carved in part into a dormant volcano. We had booked a mini bus to cart us around and it took us to another winery for lunch, which was just around the corner.. and then another winery and then several bottles of wine purchased later we headed back into town to wander around. Apparently BC wine, though its won a few world prizes, hardly makes it out of BC for export. Something about everyone in BC drinking it all so as a resident (well I have to do my tax so Im a resident for tax purposes and wine purposes then!) I had to be sure to continue on that tradition..! Kelowna has a lot of little statues around and is (as everything is!) set along the lake so its very pretty. It is also home to possibly the dodgiest Japanese Garden I have seen. Shame as it seems some guy put a lot of effort into it but the region just isn't quite right to keep a Japanese garden.
We drove down to Penticton and spent a night there also. Penticton is a little quieter than Kelowna and as it was Easter weekend everything was shut, that is of course aside from the wineries
Beaver
! As non-driver (something about Canadians insisting I reverse park to get a licence here) I had to do all the taste testing to ensure we had the right wines.. Penticton is between two lakes so its a picturesque spot. To take advantage we made sure to eat by the lake and sat down in the sun for a while lakeside. Not quite the same as sunning it on Queenscliff beach but you gotta take what you can get.
As we were walking through some gardens a guy yelled out to us "there is a beaver behind you" and we turned around and girlishly screamed with excitement.. yes a beaver was hiding in the gardens behind us! Somewhat like a wombat with a big plastic looking tail we watched this cute little critter for ages. Probably making us look crazy (but then again the first time I saw a squirrel I coached it for ages to run up a tree..) but its not every day you see one of these! I'm slowly racking up my Canadian wildlife..
We also drove down to the border and looked over the water to the US. Boats arent allowed on the lake without prior approval from each side to stop visa runners. Just in case my visa doesnt come through I checked out the best route through the water though.
Co pilots!
. Over the last month or so I also have had the pleasure of showing the honeymooners (Kel and Grant) a little around Vancouver. I was excited to hang out with someone who was as obsessed with the beluga whales as i was, though they kept making me watch hockey! The Canucks had some crazed game last night where because its the play offs they dont do sudden death and at the end of the game they were tied so the game went on (it started at 7pm) till almost 1am before they finally scored. Much whooping went on, obviously not from me though - though i do seem to be more aware of what happens in hockey than I think I am! Must stop hanging out with the boys all the time.. who knows what could happen - I might end up following a sport!
As a continuance of the old visa is up soon no idea what I'm doing mad panic - we went out to Lynn Canyon and had a look at the suspension bridge. Mum and Dad can be proud as I even went for a short walk around there!
Tracey and I ages ago found a school that offered free instruction and one free flight with them so the other night we got to fly a little Cessna. Thanks very much to airfun.org. The super nice guy that runs the school got a class sponsored so we didn't even have to pay and I bunny hopped my way around the skies.. apparently you arent supposed to turn the yoke (thats flyboy talk for wheel) too much nor tip the nose when turning. huh. who wouldve thought! It was such fun and a great thing to do. Very interesting to be on the other end of things and I tell you what, I think it might be a long while to QANTAS wants to hire me!
