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Much has happened since we’ve been back (almost a month now!) … In particular, last weekend we went camping and wine tasting in the Okanagan for 3 nights / 4 days with 6 other people (2 of them under the age of 3!) Thanks to Cariad, we had a great itinerary and accommodation during one of the busiest summer weekends.

It was a little early for ripe grapes, but we enjoyed lots of delicious Okanagan produce: peaches and apricots ($0.40/lb!), cherry tomatoes, cherries, etc.

Fortunately, the tent we found in the basement but had not had time to check before leaving turned out to have all the necessary parts and was easy to set up – that was a relief! We didn’t pack our inflatable mattress and I forgot the camping pillows, both items which make camping so much more pleasant. I substituted them with drinking lots of wine before bed – it helped!

We stayed at 3 different camp sites.

Night #1: Cathedral Lakes provincial campground

This camp site was near Keremeos, about 10 km off Hwy 3 with some dirt road driving required to reach it. We got there after nightfall on Thursday night. Facilities were basic (bring your own TP, hope you enjoy outhouses, no water or showers, etc.) but it was cheap (i.e. free – thanks to the Camp Free BC guide!) and had lots of room for us. Also, we could build a campfire, a task made easier by Ian’s ‘foresight’ in packing a huge bag of shredded mail as fire starter.

Unfortunately 3 of our group, including Ian, got stung by wasps in the morning. They were some mean buggers, and large doses of Advil and Benadryl did little to stem the swelling and pain. Don’t do dishes in the river and watch where you step!

We also saw some horned mountain sheep (goats?) crossing the road.

Night #2 – KOA Gallagher Lakes

The KOA site was not bad – good facilities including free showers, very close to the small lake, and a camp store where you could buy corn on the cob and chili, as well as magazines and toiletries. However, no camp fires were allowed and privacy was non-existent. You could hear everything going on in the neighbouring sites! It would be a good place to stay if you were camping for a whole week, with children, and wanted somewhere quite central to the south-central Okanagan.

Night #3 – Camp-Along

Just south of Penticton, this campground is probably the worst one I’ve ever stayed in. Yes, it has a pool and water access at every site, but the showers are coin-operated, there is no soap or paper towels in the bathrooms, the sites are on a hill and far away from the lake, but less than 30 ft from busy Hwy 97, and planes landing at Penticton airport fly very low, right overhead. Thank goodness for the earplugs Patrick provided!

Our wine route

Wine tasting is what we went for, and we did lots of it! We drove north from Osoyoos towards Kelowna, stopping along the way at about 5 wineries each day. We chose where to go based on prior experiences and on recommendations from friends, and we tried to go to smaller places, avoiding large and impersonal places like Mission Hill and Calona. Our first stop of the trip was Nk’Mip.

The most distinctive experiences were at Summerhill Pyramid Winery, where the pyramid and the giant bottle of bubbly were quite memorable, and it was the only place serving/selling bubbly, and at Elephant Island, where we loved the casual patio atmosphere for the tasting (especially the Framboise) and the live music.

We also did tastings at (and I’m sure I’ve forgotten a couple):

• Domaine Combret/Antelope Ridge
• Gehringer Brothers
• Blasted Church
• Hillside Estate
• La Frenz
• Township 7
• Lake Breeze
• Cedar Creek
• Mt Boucherie
• Quails’ Gate
• Silk Scarf

We bought quite a few bottles of wine (19 made it home, 2 were enjoyed while camping) – strangely enough, we never bought at the first winery we tasted at each day, and bought more and more as the day went on! We carpooled, so had to limit our purchases somewhat – it took a lot of creative re-packing of the car to get everything to fit!

In between all the wine tasting, some of us swam in lakes while others enjoyed naps in the shade and wicked people-watching.

We had a great lunch at Hillside Estate Winery (complete with pavlova for dessert, see below!) and would have liked to eat at Quails’ Gate but it was fully booked so we ended up at the Cove resort down the road in Westbank.
It was an excellent weekend and I hope it becomes an annual event.