The Okanagan - October 2011

I bet there you were... All smug and safe in the knowledge that Halloween and Thanksgiving were finally over and you would not have to look at a photo of yet another pumpkin for a year now. Well, I am really sorry... I'd like to show you what the Okanagan area west of Vancouver looks like, and unfortunately, I took some pictures of gourds, squashes and pumpkins while there. My apologies. But you'll also get snaps of the wine we sampled and wineries we visited and (of all things!) Morris dancers. That should more than compensate you for the produce shots. I hope. Marco and I spent a long weekend in this beautiful farming and wine-making region during our Canada visit, together with my brother-in-law, Nino and his wife Vanessa.
We took the Crowsnest highway from Vancouver, which runs past a very scary-looking landslide site in Hope through rocky terrain with fir trees and whitewater rivers and then eases you gently into the Okanagan, where sloping hills and farmland greet you.

We stopped at this ginourmous fruit market to marvel at the gorgeous produce. We bought some peaches and plums. They were warm from the sun and really delicious.

We started the wine tour in Osoyoos, which is a dessert-like area in the very South of British Columbia.

We had lovely weather on the Friday, but it rained all of Saturday. All the more reason to spend the day driving (thanks, Nino!) from winery to winery and slowly getting warm and tipsy on samples...

Saturday night, we had quite enough of drinking. Well, sophisticated drinking, that is. To keep the buzz going, my sis-in-law recommended we order a round of Blender Benders!

And do not think we slept in and nursed our hangovers on the Sunday. We went right on to another winery before starting our journey home to Vancouver.

Our combined haul from the weekend: almost two dozen bottles of wine and fruit liqueurs.

And this is what Marco and I bought. We drank a lot while still in Vancouver, gave a few bottles away at dinner invitations and left Marco's parents some. We did take home the fortified wine, which we are saving for Christmas.

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).