Hello to everybody,
Last weekend was a long one, so Robyn and I along with Steve and Lea headed east to the small town of Penticton. Penticton is in the heart of the Okanagan Valley which is a region located in British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. We camped just out of town and had a nice relaxing time over the three days.
It started out well when 2 hours into our drive, we sighted a black bear right next to the road so obviously we had to stop and investigate. We were amazed, and all the Canadians around us were amazed that we were amazed. We quickly told them that seeing a 300kg animal next to the road capable of killing us was not the norm in Australia. We headed off in to the evening and arrived at our camp and set up for the night.
The next morning we checked out the local market before heading off to the nearby Yellow Lake for a days fishing. Not being the most experienced fisherman, we quickly proceeded to lose sinkers and hooks as if they were going out of fashion. After a while we got the hang of it and eventually we (Glen - I had to clear that up) managed to catch a small rainbow trout. He was small, but delicious.
The following day we did a days winery tour on bikes. Our ride was mainly on the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) trail that stretches 600km in around the area. We stuck to the local stretch that passes by the wineries. It was a great way to see the local area as well as allowing us as much time as we wanted at the wineries. We sampled quite a few, and managed to start a wine shelf in the process.
On out last day we headed to the most popular part of the KVR trail which sits in Myra Canyon. The reason most people visit this section is for the 18 trestles that are all in the space of 12 km of the trail. It was a nice relaxing couple of hours.
Some of the other highlights of the weekend were having a snake slither out from the vestibule of our tent, sighting a coyote run across the road, being invited into the back yard of a couple of canadians to sit by the fire wile the sun set and seeing a gingerbread man drving in the lane next to us.
Overall we had a great time, but now it’s back to searching for work.
We hope everyone is well.
Glen and Robyn
Our weekend started out well spotting a black bear on the side of the road
Up Close and Personal
This is how close he actually was. We had a good head start had we needed to run!
Our new Mounty Friend
Fishing on Yellow Lake. We were promised we would catch something
We did eventually catch something. We would show you the rest of the days catch but…
Lea eating a Canadian Delicacy. S’mores - a traditional campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham crackers
Robyn and Lea after our first wine tasting of the day
Riding along the KVR track
A typical view along this stretch of the KVR. There are so many wineries, we couldn’t get to them all in a day
This was just a small portion of the wineries :)
Eating our wine and cheese. Nothing but class!
A weather vane and perfect weather
A bald eagle spotting
One of the 18 trestles during our trip to the 12km stretch of the KVR in the Myra canyon
More trestles. The landscape is still recovering from a fire 5 years ago
Our very own Inukshuk. If you want and explanation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk)
A group shot in the Myra canyon