Das Okanagan Tal

Da wir am kanadischen Erntedankfest arbeiten mussten, haben wir uns statt dessen letzten Freitag frei genommen und ein langes Wochenende in Kelowna am Okanagan See verbracht. Die Gegend weist ein besonders Klima auf, und so sind Wein- und Obstanbau hier weit verbreitet.



Obwohl das fast um die Ecke liegt (nur vier Stunden Fahrzeit), sind wir bisher nie auf die Idee gekommen, hier mal wieder vorbei zu schauen.

Roland hatte Cove Lakeside Resort fuer einen guenstigen Preis (Nebensaison!) ein geraeumiges Apartment mit Seeblick gebucht. 

Und so liessen wir es uns an diesem Wochenende gut gehen, haben gelesen, sind spazieren gegangen, haben die Gegend ein wenig erkundet und uns kulinarisch verwoehnen lassen. 

Life is good!

Before the wet stuff cometh

As the spousal unit and I had to work during the Canadian Thanksgiving, we took Friday off in lieu and spent a long relaxing weekend in Kelowna, in the Okanagan Valley, South Central British Columbia. Although fairly close to home we hadn't been here in years.

We drove the slow route along Crowsnest Highway, and enjoyed the sunshine, with temperatures in the high teens (>60F) we wouldn't have to worry about the 'carry chains beyond this point' signs just yet.

Hope Slide, the largest ever recorded landslide in Canada

 Somewhere past Princeton

 Changing colours

 Thompson-Okanagan Valley

We had booked ourselves a roomy suite in a nice waterfront resort overlooking the Okanagan Lake. At the Bonfire restaurant we enjoyed salad and lasagne with a great local wine (a Quails' Gate Chasselas). Sorry, no food porn, too hungry...

A room with a view: Sunrise at the lake

The Okanagan is famous for its orchards and vineyards, and offers year round outdoor activities. Lazy as we are we didn't come for the latter, but we surely did get our taste of various wines, and good food.

 Excellent breakfast at the Bohemian Cafe

The chef's special: Cinnamon Crepes filled with pineapple and organic maple syrup yogurt. fresh fuit, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and a London Fog (breakfast tea with foamed milk).

 Reflections

 Kettle River

 

We strolled around in the Kettle River Provincial Park, following an old railway track which was converted to a hiking/cycling path.

 Nobody around to do it for us, so we had to do it ourselves...

 

Fall colours galore. Mostly yellowish, still... it makes a nice contrast against the blue skies.

At one of the countless fruit stands in the area we discovered pumpkins and squash in various sizes, shapes and colours, and multi-coloured corn.

The culinary highlight of our little sojourn was the Indian Nepalese Restaurant Everest in West Kelowna, located in a low-key building, equipped with sparse interior. The food however was delicious.

I picked a Vegetarian three-piece-dinner with Mutter Paneer, Aloo Gobi and Eggplant Bharta, while hubby went with butter chicken, lamb curry and chicken tandoori.

Sunday morning we checked out at 8AM and made it home by lunch-time. Note to self: We need to do this more often while the weather plays along.

California's Wine Country

Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley is not Tuscany or the Provence, and doesn't thrive to be, but it is certainly a worthy alternative for those who crave some Southern European flair every once in a while. Bonus, it is fairly close to our home, and in the same time zone.

There was an abundance of country lanes connecting the wineries (some big names and many small unknown to us), and we had to admit: This is definitely Vespa territory.

With temperatures in the twenties (70F) we rolled down the windows, wishing we had at least a convertible.

It was harvest time, and big trucks were racing between the vineyards and factory. We stayed out of their way by continuing to use the tiniest roads we could find on the map, and were rewarded with ever so beautiful vistas.

The grapes are ripe, and waiting to be harvested. By the way, they tasted delicious.

Especially this stretch of road with the old moss covered stone wall reminded us of Southern France. There was no sound except for the chirp of the crickets.

Needless to say that this won't be our last visit. There are so many little roads to explore (and wines to taste) that one could easily spend a week in the area to discover (or to get drunk...).

Speaking of... (discovering!). We visited Chateau Montelena, a winery that had a story to tell which was worth making a movie of. Actually, the movie does already exist: Bottle Shock with Alan Rickman.

The tale is said to be based on a true story where a Californian wine for the first time won a blind tasting contest in Paris back in the 70's when French wines were regarded as the world's best wines, and Europe would turn up their nose at American products. California wines earned a lot more attention since, and today many regarded and excellent wines are being produced in the area.

We watched harvesters sorting out the grapes. They didn't notice us and were busy with what they were doing.

Where is the romantic flair of wine cellars? Not oak but metal seems to determine the storage facility for wines.

I rather prefer the barrels. They look so much more picturesque than metal bins.

Alas, this is the last entry of our journey. The touristic part is over, but we had the pleasure to stay another two nights with our friends Guido and Andrea at their house, to catch up, enjoy their garden, admire their ever growing motorcycle fleet and relax (for a change).

Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment.