First stop was a sushi restaurant for a bite to eat for
lunch where Nigel filled us in on the lasted news from their house – one of
their boys, Sebastian (aged 2), had woken up with a few spots on his hands. The
diagnosis from the doctor was hand, foot and mouth disease which is was quite
prevalent in the region at the moment and very contagious between kids. So Niki
(Nigel’s wife) was in the process of packing up Sebastian and Cole to go and
stay with her parents in Summerland about 40 minutes away. Not the most ideal
start! Fortunately the three of them were able to swing by the shops where we
were to say hi on their way to Summerland, whilst Matthew sleeping soundly in
our car. We spent the rest of the afternoon having a few drinks and nibbles at
Nigel’s place, admiring the view of nearby Black Mountain from his balcony.
Matthew loved playing on his playmat that we’d set up out there, as he had some
new toys to try out, his favourite being a plastic cricket bat! He also appeared
to be putting a crawl together too…….
On Friday morning, I headed out for a run around the area.
It was mainly residential, although there was one track through the forest.
Apart from the sign that said to be aware of a bear in the area, it was a nice
run with a few hills as well. Late morning, we headed down to Lake Okanagan
where we had lunch at a rather healthy wrap place – Nigel had a kale and salad
wrap which put our turkey and pesto paninis to shame! Over the road was a café,
so we got some takeaway coffees before taking a relaxing stroll along the
lake’s edge. These were great coffees and supersede the comments on my last
post about the Good Earth Café in Canmore, making these now the best coffees of
our trip so far! The walk along the lake was really scenic – plenty of trees
and grass, topped off with perfect sunny weather. It is easy to see why this is
a popular tourist destination. We then drove up a hill that overlooks the city
and the lake for an even better view. It was from there that we could see a
fire in the direction of Black Mountain, so we made a quick return back to
Nigel’s house to find that the fire was only a few kilometres away. Fortunately,
the fire bomber planes were dropping water and fire retardant on it, and it was
completely out by evening. Nigel cooked up another great meal tonight. Even though their family was vegetarian, he spoilt us with chef-prepared meals of salmon and chicken, and made a zuichini and chocolate loaf (with spelt) that kept us coming back for more!
On Saturday, we took a drive down to Summerland to see Niki
and the kids. Our first stop was the Kelowna Farmer’s Market which is held
every Saturday. We had a mid-morning snack of buckwheat crepes and bratwurst
hotdog while Matthew was intrigued by a mum-and-bub alpaca – another animal he
likes! On the way through downtown, we stopped by Bean Scene again for the day’s
coffee, before enjoying the scenic drive south along the lake to Summerland.
Sebastian still had a few spots but was feeling fine, so we met up at a park
along the late for lunch. We picked up some lunch from a café and
lazed away the afternoon, chatting and munching on kettle-corn. Matthew played on a picnic rug, while the kids
played in the playground and on the flying fox (or “zip line” in Canadian!). Before we
all went our separate ways, Cole was a bit out of sorts and by evening
started to develop some spots….oh dear, looks like they might be staying in
Summerland for a few more days.
After a busy few days around Kelowna, and before that in
Calgary, it was time for Heather to have an easy day. So we spent time relaxing around Nigel’s place on Sunday and doing a couple of loads of washing. By afternoon,
we were all keen to get out of the house and do something, so headed down to
the local driving range to hit some golf balls. For me, this was twice in a
week having not touched a golf club for two year…maybe I’ll start playing
golf regularly when I get back to Perth. Even Heather hit a few balls while
Matthew giggled at all the comotion. For dinner we had the world’s most
expensive pizza – three of them cost over $70! Some things are quite cheap
here, but it’s amazing what isn’t.
Monday was our last day in Kelowna as we were flying out
that evening for Vancouver, our first stop on the way back to Perth. I went for
an early morning run (still no sign of that bear) and after some packing we
headed back down to the lake. First stop was Bean Scene a relaxing outdoor
coffee in the sun. We got a wrap from the same place as Friday (and yes, Nigel
had the kale wrap again!) before Heather heard there was a Lulemon store in
Kelowna. She has bought pants from their shop in Perth and thought she would
check their prices since she was planning to buy some more when she got back to
Perth. Fortunately, I had cleared the credit card a few days earlier as the
cheaper Canadian prices meant Heather made the most of her visit! After that, we
dashed home to catch up with Niki who was on her lunch break. We finished off
the packing and said our goodbyes, after four really nice days in Kelowna. We
then headed out to the airport to catch our flight to Vancouver – only 50
minutes this time, again on Westjet. The flight wasn’t full so we were able to
move and get an extra seat which is always handy when you have a baby on your
lap.
For our overnight stay in Vancouver, we had booked in at the
Fairmont Hotel in the airport. Although a tad expensive, this was by far the
easiest option rather than catching a shuttle with all our bags and a tired
baby to a hotel outside of the airport. After getting some takeaway Japanese,
we wheeled our baggage trolleys to the hotel at the end of the international
terminal and were in our room soon after 8 o’clock. That evening, we made the
mistake of giving Matthew some “nappy-free-time” on his playmat while we chowed
down our takeaway…needless to say he made quite a mess!
The room was huge,
with two queen beds, a massive bath and shower and lots of room for Matthew to
play. Given it was contained within the airport terminals, it also had a great view
over the gates and runways – a planespotter’s dream. We decided to forgo the
hotel’s continental breakfast (juice, toast and muffin for $25 each!) and head
to one of the many cafes in the terminal. Our flight was not until 3pm, so after
breakfast we took Matthew for a swim in the hotel’s pool which oddly enough
overlooks the check-in area of the international terminal. He loved speeding
through the water while I held him, so he’ll be looking forward to his new
swimming classes which starts 2 weeks after we get back to Perth. It was then
time to leave the hotel and head to check-in (just below the hotel pool!) for
our 13-hr flight to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. Apart from being a little
tired and noisy early on in the flight, he slept for over seven hours, so gave
Heather a chance for some sleep and me a chance to watch Modern Family on the
inflight entertainment. 8-months old seemed to be about the maximum age the
bassinet works effectively for. For the first few hours of the flight
he was more interested in trying to climb out than playing with his toys or
sleeping! And now with his crawling developing each day, we are glad we timed
the trip to back in Perth for this.
Like Vancouver, we decided to overnight at the airport
rather than connect to another long flight, so we stayed in a hotel connected
to the airport for the night. We are just about to depart for our flight home to
Perth after seven wonderful (and sometimes challenging!) weeks away. It was so
great to spend time with family and friends as well as having three relaxing
weeks in France. Time to start planning the next trip!!
Adrian, Heather and Matthew
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