Hiking, flying, cuddling, screaming and loving (it)!

The last few weeks literally passed by so fast, it's unbelievable. I have been enjoying Canada for a little over a week now, and it has been amazing already... I'm meeting more and more family members and new wonderful people, who would also like to stay posted on my travels, which is the reason why I'm writing this and my coming blogs in English! Don't hate on the language mistakes, I'm only learning ;-)!

So, the last blog ended with me getting ready for my first Canadian BBQ at my cousin Nich's, his beautiful wife Teresa and their 3 adorable children; Eva, Kaitlyn and Tucker. Soon we talked about the difference between BBQ's in Canada and the Netherlands... And indeed, Dutch BBQ's are actually more about throwing as much different kinds of meat on the fire, while Canadian BBQ's are more... sophisticated... Had a fun evening!

Bill picked me up the next day to visit my aunt Jane north of Midway. Beautiful scenery along the road, and when we arrived at Jane's I became flabbergasted. Their drive way only is about 2km long, and they own 700 acres beautiful land.. Hiking on private property was a great experience, and we reached great heights with breathtaking views. I could even see the mountains in the USA from the top! We also visited a waterfall, which was very impressive. After three different hikes, we had dinner together and headed back to Summerland. It sure was very nice to meet you Jane! Thanks again!

On Wednesday we had a most exciting activity planned; ZIPLINING! This literally means 'flying' from A to B while being attached to a line. Daredevil Bill joined me and we completed 6 lines, of which one we crossed upside down! Truly an amazing experience, the wind in your hair and the beautiful sceneries... True freedom and extremely cool to do!

I took 'the day off' on Thursday and spent it reading and tanning in the park. At some point it felt like it was 40 degrees, so I decided to head back to the apartment and spend the rest of the day there on the balcony. My legs have never ever been so dark....... Florence was able to get back from work a little earlier, so we walked to 'Granny's Fruit Stand' where we would meet a friend from Terrace and her monster truck (not really, but it sure was a humongous car). And together we drove to the local pub where it was 'Wings Night'! We met up there with Nich, Teresa and the kids, Bill, and Florence's sister and her husband. And together we had a fun evening in the sun while enjoying many chicken wings with different flavours.

Then, CANADA DAY!!! A very very busy but extremely fun day. We started the day with yet another free Pancake Breakfast (yum!) in Peachland, after which we continued our trip to a Kangaroo Farm! But first, we stopped at a shop to buy us some more Canadian stuff, as Florence didn't feel patriotic enough... So there we were, three crazy people in a blue Mini Cooper, all dressed up in red and white. Go Canada!! And we had the best time at the Kangaroo Farm... So unreal to see these little kangaroo's just hopping around! There even were baby's that we could hold and cuddle, cutest thing ever! Florence and I got over excited and made up and about 300 pictures all together, so our next project will probably be to sort them all out... 

The next stop was a the beautiful wine estate of Millershill Winery, where Bill and I enjoyed four ridiculously good wines. And although I have always believed that the wines from France were the best, they did manage to convince me else wise.. Yup, Canadians sure know how to make good wine too.. Had a quick lunch at Tim Hortons after our wine tasting and because it was my first time there ánd because I am Dutch, I got a limited edition Tim Hortons cowboy hat, for Free!!! I'll treasure that hat for the rest of my life.... We had to hurry a bit after our late lunch, because there would be a Canada Day Parade in Peachland at 5pm, including men dressed in quilts, women singing ABBA classics, and all the Miss 'City in the Okanagan''s were also present and waving from their rides. After the parade, we went home because the fireworks were not due until 10:30pm, so Florence and I 'rested' on the balcony, Facetimed my dad who just got home from a bar's 15h anniversary in NL (and who was supposed to be in bed for many hours by that time already, like normal people....) and had a nice dinner together. Around 10ish, we left for Penticton, but parked the car along the high way because we thought we would have a better view on the fireworks. Soon we were accompanied by multiple bats that were flying around, and by an enormous spider that considered my knee as a comfortable place to hang out... The fireworks were fun, but a bit disappointing, so after our suicide mission to cross the high way again in pitch dark screaming in order to get back to the car, we drove back to Summerland and called it a day. A GREAT day!

I was able to sleep in a little bit today, and Florence had to work on the Kettle Valley Steam Railway train as a volunteer. She picked me up around lunch time and I was able to go on this very special trip with a real Harry Potter steam train, which was really nice! Around 4:30pm we were expected at Nich and Teresa's to babysit the kids, and it was so much fun! I have been treated as a living 'kermisattractie' by Kaitlyn and Tucker, and we enjoyed the sunset in the hottub, which was actually really hot. They have a beautiful house here in Summerland, including an uncountable amount of raspberries which you can eat just after plucking. Kaitlyn made sure I always had my personal stash of raspberries, and after multiple games of hide and seek in the house, I put all three of them to bed. They are just the cutest!

So, that's it for now! Tomorrow we will go canal floating, on Monday I will probably go paddle boarding and/or kayaking on the Okanagan Lake, and on Tuesday I will cycle 15km by myself to where Florence works in Penticton, where we will go on a dragon boat race. Have never done that before, but apparently it is a lot of fun!! And then I have to get ready for my departure to Vancouver already... But I'm so excited that my nephew Zoran will accompany me for three full weeks there!!! Although I will sure miss Summerland.. But luckily I still have a small week here, which I intend to enjoy to the fullest!!!