Our Road Trip Begins - Vancouver to Kelowna

Sunday 8^thSeptember 2019

Expectations were lowered this morning as we rose to heavy rain and very overcast skies. On the positive side, we had a good night’s sleep and are ready to begin our road trip, whatever the weather brings.

Initially, we had plans to walk down the road to a little café nearby, have breakfast, check out of the hotel and catch a cab to the rental car office at 9.30am. The weather quickly resulted in us having breakfast at the hotel and heading off in the rain in a cab to pick up our car.

Despite many warnings about waiting times at the Thrifty Rental Car office, we were given excellent service and were in our car within 20 mins of arriving at the office. Much of this time involved going to the remote car park to pick up our car. We had ordered a small SUV (Toyota RAV 4 or equivalent). We ended up with a Chevrolet Equinox, which we are very happy with.

Our Chevrolet Equinox

Leaving the Thrifty Office at around 10am, we had a great run out of Vancouver, probably because it was Sunday morning, but also because we only hasd to follow one straight raod for about 6km before we were on the freeway heading for Kelowna.

Driving conditions were miserable with intermittent light rain and loads of spray from vehicles ahead and passing. However, conditions slowly improved, but at no time was it ideal for sightseeing. By late morning we were looking for a cup of coffee or perhaps an early lunch, so we took a chance and turned off into the town of Hope. Sadly, on Sunday there was not much hope there, but a quick stop and a walk across the road to see the fast flowing Fraser River, made it worthwhile and it gave us a bit of a break from driving.

The streets are pretty quiet in Hope on a Sunday

I think this guy is in search of Hope

The Fraser River moving rapidly through the town

Back on the road, and still hungry, our next opportunity was the town of Merritt, a small timber town , with not a lot of Merit and only appeared to have one café open on Sunday, and it was very busy. With no immediate alternative option, we joined the queue to order a “bannock” sandwich. With little idea of what we were about to receive, we discovered and new type of “flatbread” ( bannock being a native flatbread apparently). In any case we were very hungry, devoured the sandwiches, and moved on for Kelowna.

The Kekuli Cafe, Merritt, where we are introduced to the endearing Bannock

Inside the Cafe where people are queued up for their bannock

Conditions lightened a little, but right up until we arrived at our Motel in Kelowna, the light rain persisted.

Kelowna is a pretty city, located on Okanagan Lake, a very large freshwater lake. It is a warm place, by Canadian standards, experiencing a microclimate that makes it perfect for growing many types of fruit, and more importantly, Grapes. It is Canada’s main wine producing region.

Arrival at our motel is at around 3.30pm. Despite last nights good sleep, the jet lag is still there and we are glad the driving is over for today. Once checked in, we needed to get a bit of exercise, so headed off to explore the town.

Accent Inn Kelowna, our home for the next two nights

A sign nearby says we are only 15 minutes walk from the beach. Sadly we walked, but had we run all of the way, we may have reached the lake in 15 mins. The exercise was therapeutic, and we enjoyed checking out the town. The closer we got to the Lake, the more were entered the restaurant and retail area. 

Once by the lakeside, it is hard not to be impressed by the beauty of the scenery. It is a bit like Queenstown in NZ. There are lots of boats and a big marina. Further exploration reveals the Kelowna Yacht Club, a very smart newish building on the lakeside overlooking the marina. 

Bridge across Okanagan Lake joining East and West Kelowna

Lakeside vista, including the Sculpture "Sails"

The marina, including a unique breakwall system (logs chained together !)

It is now around 4.30 pm, and we have worked up a bit of a thirst, so we decide to see if we are welcome at the yacht club. The waterfront entrance says private members only and key card access. The street entrance allows us in and I present my RPAYC membership card and we are immediately welcome.

Okanagan Yacht Club

We had a very pleasant few drinks up on the balcony off the dining room, taking in the magnificent view, talking to a few locals and a very helpful waitress. Overall, it was a very nice way to spend a relaxing hour after a pretty tiring 4.5 hours driving.

View from the balcony of the Yacht Club

Not a bad setting for a few relaxing drinks

We left the club at around 5.45pm and started to walk back to our motel, considering all dining options along the way. It would have been easiest for us to dine back at the bistro at the motel, but they are closed tonight because it is ‘Staff Appreciation Day”. !!!!

We stumbled across a Boston Pizza Restaurant that met our requirements, and had a satisfying meal there, washed down with a local red.