“Sun” Peaks is a Lie

We started the week visiting our friends Thom and Hannah in their new apartment. We always enjoy visiting and very much appreciate their hospitality, including regular freshly baked sourdough and consistently good cooking from Hannah. As they have been working from home anyway, they’ve temporarily moved from Vancouver to the retirement village ski resort of Sun Peaks. This way they can take advantage of the mountain biking and skiing on their doorstep. Plus, they deserve a rest after working so hard throughout their careers.

On Saturday, with the sun hiding, we took the scenic route down some logging roads to the town of Chase. We had some lunch, purchased some famous corn on the cob for our dinner and had a look at a waterfall. Then we drove back to Niskonlith Lake and inflated the paddle boards. The rain predictably got worse just as we got out on the water, despite Ollie reassuring everyone that Google said it would stop. It did stop, just as we got back in the car. As a consolation (for the rest of us) Thom got a leech on his leg! Luckily he flicked it off before it tucked in. Nevertheless it was a great paddle and day out exploring the local area.

Sunday was actually rain free and the smoke had pretty much gone. Ollie and Thom spent the day riding the chair-lift up the mountain, to then hurtle back down it on mountain bikes over and over again (seems pretty pointless to me…). The only crash happened within the first 5 seconds of cycling. Ollie careered off to the left on his first pedal, before bouncing off walls on both sides of the entrance to Thom and Hannah’s apartment. This obviously left Thom full of confidence that Ollie could safely navigate some of the actual mountain bike trails to come. Rosie and Hannah had a much more mature and tranquil day hiking up to Mount Tod and taking in the (cloudy) views. They did cheat and take the chair-lift up the first part though.

After distracting Thom and Hannah from their retirement for a little longer on Monday morning, including a very one sided tennis match between the boys, we drove down to the Okanagan Valley – a dry sunny region in British Columbia which is known for its vineyards and fruit orchards. On the way, we stopped off so we could wash the car (again) and so Ollie could buy some second hand ski boots in preparation for the winter. Although the boots fit in the car, we’re not sure where we will put skis if he manages to buy some… We set up camp by Okanagan lake for the night, and drove to the city of Kelowna in the morning.

We are house-sitting for a lovely kitty called Islay. She is an old lady, so isn’t very active, but she is extremely friendly and jumps on your lap whenever you sit down. We really like Kelowna itself. There is a great waterfront area with lots of really well maintained parks. The cultural district looks cool too, but unfortunately there are no events on because of you-know-what. Also, Ollie finally got rid of the beard and Rosie gave him his second haircut in nearly 8 months.

We now have a week and a half of travelling and camping before our last Workaway of the season at the start of October. We haven’t finalised plans yet, but we might re-visit Banff national park and try and do some more backcountry camping. We’ll of course update you next week. Bye for now!