I cannot believe it has been 6 weeks since my last blog post – time flies! While I work on documenting the details of our trip to Europe from May and June, I thought I would quickly update you on our trip to West Kelowna during the Canada Day long weekend.
A couple weekends ago, Justin and I (and the dogs) had the opportunity to visit our old neighbour’s who moved to West Kelowna last year. Fortunately for us, our neighbour’s home has a beautiful guest suite that we were able to stay in during our visit, that is in very close proximity to Rose Valley Regional Park.
While Justin and I are typically always “on the go” when we are away, this weekend getaway was the perfect combination of exploration and relaxation. We very much enjoyed visiting with our neighbours and also getting the chance to explore West Kelowna!
Outdoor Activities:
We started our first morning in West Kelowna by doing the Rooster Tree Lake Loop hike. This is a beautiful trail in Rose Valley Regional Park, providing views of both Rose Valley Lake on one side, and then Kelowna and Okanagan Lake on the other. Because this is a loop trail, you can choose your starting direction. We went counter clockwise, as some reviews we read indicated it would be a “better workout” this way, as it involves more uphill climbs. While this was true, and we had some hills to overcome, I believe this was ultimately the safer option as I often find it difficult to go down hill, especially if there is loose gravel and I do not have my hiking poles. We very much enjoyed this hike, which took us approximately 1.5-hours; however, we took our time taking pictures and taking in the views. Our one dog, Bruno, especially enjoyed himself, as he accidentally ended up doing a belly flop into Rose Valley Lake while chasing a bird!
The other hike we did in the area was the Boucherie Rush Trail. This trail is a series of switchbacks up Mount Boucherie, which provides stunning views of West Kelowna, Okanagan Lake and the wineries in the area (more on this below) once you reach the top. We started this trail at 9am, and it is a good thing we did, as there is no shade on this trail – it is definitely not a hike you want to be doing in the heat of the day. Overall, we enjoyed this hike and would recommend it to others. A fun fact for you – Mount Boucherie is actually a dormant volcano!
While not a hike, we also decided to check out Gellatly Dog Beach, as we thought it would be fun to give the dogs a chance to cool off. It was a successful visit as Bruno did some swimming, Bella dipped her paws in the lake, and both dogs enjoyed chasing each other in the sand!
Finally, our neighbours offered to take us on a boat ride on Okanagan Lake during our final morning in West Kelowna. While I screamed a little bit when the boat went fast, I thoroughly enjoyed being out on the lake ツ.
Wineries:
For those who may not be familiar with the area, British Columbia’s Okanagan region is very well known for its wine. According to WineBC, there are over 200 licensed wineries in the area.
Fortunately for us, West Kelowna is home to several of these wineries and we chose to visit two: Frind Estate Beach Winery and Quail’s Gate Estate Winery. Our decision making process ultimately came down to both of these wineries being dog friendly (thank you!) ツ. I should also note that we booked reservations in advance, as we anticipated it would be busy during the long weekend!
Our first tasting was at Frind Estate Beach Winery. Since we had our dogs with us, we did our tasting outside while enjoying views of Okanagan Lake. Apparently this winery is the only beach front winery in all of North America (apparently I am full of the fun facts in this blog post)!
Our tasting consisted of four wines: a Chardonnay, Viognier, Rose and Merlot. While we enjoyed all the wines, we ended up purchasing a bottle of the Viognier to bring home, and we appreciated that the cost of the wine tasting could be used as a credit towards our purchase – apparently this is no longer standard practice at all wineries!
Following the tasting, we were able to order a single glass of wine (amongst other drink options) to enjoy at the property’s picnic tables from Annie’s Beach Cafe. The Cafe offers other drink options such as sangrias and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as food. We had intended on trying one of the pizza options (with plant-based cheese), but we were short on time as we had to make it to our next reservation at Quail’s Gate.
Quail’s Gate is one of the more popular and better well known wineries in West Kelowna. We opted for the Estate/Collector Tasting and, again, we were able to enjoy the tasting outside with the dogs. Bella and Bruno reached celebrity status while we were at Quail’s Gate – an employee asked to take a photo of them, and a guest asked for photos with them!
While not a beach front property, Quail’s Gate does have vineyards on its property, as well as views of the Lake. However, what made the wine tasting a particularly mind blowing experience was the unprecedented wind storm we experienced – see what I did there? We had to put menus on the bases of our wine glasses to keep them in place, and I gave up on my hat after it blew off my head for the third time ツ.
Food Establishments:
And finally, here is a list of food and drink establishments we checked out in West Kelowna and Kelowna. Again, our decisions on where to eat during this trip really came down to whether the establishments had dog friendly patios!
- Naked Cafe: This was our second time at Naked Cafe, an all plant-based food establishment, which is actually in Kelowna (not West Kelowna). Our first visit was last year when we drove through Kelowna during our BC Road Trip in May 2022. I ordered the Sweet Chili Seitan Bowl, while Justin tried the Pad Thai. We then treated ourselves to a slice of carrot cake for dessert – everything was delicious!
- Lakesider Brewing: This brewery had several great plant-based options that we were excited to try – the Warm Pretzel, Loaded (Tater) Tots and Margherita Pizza. We managed to order everything during the happy hour, which was an added bonus. In terms of drinks, Justin had a flight (with our favourite being the Blueberry Vanilla Nitro Sour) and I tried the Endless Summer Patio Heff, and was able to add peach slushy to it – so refreshing!
- Central Kitchen + Bar: Like Naked Cafe, Central Kitchen + Bar is located in downtown Kelowna. Justin and I shared (if you know us, you will know this is a rare occurrence) The Herbivore burger and Central’s Pad Thai. While we enjoyed our dinner and the service was great, we went to Central Kitchen + Bar the same day we visited the wineries – the wind definitely made it difficult to enjoy our meal, and my menu even went flying 50 feet in the air at one point!
- Parlour Ice Cream: We were very excited that Parlour Ice Cream offered plant-based ice cream options. They had two flavours available during our visit – Sea Salt Caramel and Mud Pie, and while both were good, the Mud Pie was a clear winner for us.
Well – I think that covers everything we got up to in West Kelowna a couple weekends ago! We are off to Pemberton and Whistler tomorrow – I will be sure to provide an update on this visit very soon ツ.
Always grateful,
Michelle
Exploring With Gratitude 