Lakes and Grapes

This week I have soaked up the sun, the lakeside culture and the wines of the Okanagan Valley whilst staying in Penticton, a town nestled between two huge lakes. After time spent in the Rockies, the landscape is very different - much drier and hotter, still with forests, but open grasslands too.  When hiking I swapped bear watch for keeping my eyes peeled for cougars and rattlesnakes. Thankfully I didn’t come across any, only some mule deer. I think walking at home will seem very tame after Canada!

The area is also known for the vineyards, so on a trip out to Naramata it would have been wrong not to sample some. Pear, cherry and blackcurrant wines were on the fruit wine tasting menu and all were delicious, blackcurrant being my favourite. A bottle of that with bread and cheese would make for a heavenly afternoon! I also had recommendations for a great coffee place, where I had the best coffee so far in Canada - http://www.thebenchmarket.com/ and a restaurant recommendation, http://www.badtattoobrewing.com/ where the pizza was mouth-wateringly good, washed down with a pint of cider. 

With the great food, wine, cider, hiking and sunshine, I definitely enjoyed a few lazy afternoons by the lake and in one of Canada’s largest second hand bookshops 
http://www.bookspenticton.com/history.html. A perfect way to spend my last full week in Canada  : )