At some point in the night, our little riverside paradise at Jolly Creek, became shared by a couple of blokes sleeping on a picnic table in a swag. I’m not sure if that classes as “being bear aware” or not.
We descended down into the valley of Osoyoos and geez it was hot! No wonder they market this as the hottest part of Canada. It was 34 degrees with a hot wind like a hairdryer on you. We couldn’t wait to get to the lakeside and take a swim to cool off. Another way to stay cool was to go cider and wine tasting, followed by an ice cream back at the lakeside with the breeze. It’s a hard life. We then drove North to Oliver, to a provincial campsite called Inkaneep, where we were first entertained by the quail birds running about like headless chickens and later a huge thunder storm. The sheet and fork lightening show was spectacular!!!!The following day we made our way up the Skaha Lake to Penticton.
We had lunch on the lakeside beach and then went to the supermarket where we met a lovely old man who just wanted to chat and give out his Wurthers Originals. It would have been rude to say no. Then we were off, making our way up the Okanagan Lake. We stopped in a place called Summerland (not at all like the one in Onchan). Pete had a nap in the shade while I sat on the beach in the sun and took yet another dip in the lake. We carried on to Kelowna which turned out to be a huge place but is surrounded by wineries, cideries and breweries – how awful!
Actually the lakeside is really pretty and a mixture of modern apartments but also protected marshland with nesting osprey and public beaches. It has a nice vibe about the place.
Our first evening was spent wandering the waterfront watching free concerts and dance classes and later licking the most yummy ice cream, made from all local ingredients. Hmmm.
The next day we drove up to the Myra Canyon and cycled the old Kettle Valley Rail Trail which had many, many trestle bridges and tunnels to get around the canyon. It was a lovely 25 mile ride overlooking Kelowna.
To reward ourselves we visited the Summerhill Pyramid winery and tasted some gorgeous wines.
We cooked up a fab salmon dinner at a lakeside beach before heading back to town where we toured three different breweries. Hmm.
Shame we got woken up at 5.30am when the sprinklers started and kept hitting the side of Fred.Pete was desperate to ride the Myra-Bellevue mountain bike trails and luckily we’d met a couple that owned the very inpressive Myra Canyon Ranch which is most of the way up the mountain.
We rang them and arranged an uplift from their place for the remaining 4 vertical kilomentres on dirt road to the top of the trails. We rode down and alongside Bellevue Canyon which has an amazing drop into the huge canyon.
We cycled an amazing overlook of Kelowna and then to Lost Lake.
It was so hot, a swim was looking likely until we realised the lake was pretty shallow and pond-like. A dip of our toes would have to suffice. When we got back to the ranch, Kathrin and Rolph kindly offered us a shower – it was the best. And then let us stay the night on their property overlooking Kelowna. First we took a small diversion (37km round trip) to town for another amazing icecream and another free concert in the park.
We got back up the mountain just in time for a sunset beer and a late dinner. The view was just amazing !
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