Back at the beginning of the summer, our neighbour Laurie, invited us camping, to her parents acreage on the water in Sicamous, BC for a suprise 40th birthday party for her husband Kevin. With us not knowing if we'd still be here we were unable to commit, but as soon as we knew we'd be back in work, we confirmed our attendance.
Sicamous is around a 5 hour drive from Calgary so with the car laden with camping equipment, food, drink and one spotty dog, we headed off on our road trip (via Tim Hortons!). With a 20 minute stop half way for fuel (both us and the car!), we arrived at our destination. As we had arrived in the dark, Laurie's parents offered for us to use one of their cabins and as we were informed that there were bears in the area, we decided not to put the tent up in the dark and take them up on their offer. I must admit however that I got very little sleep as every time Domino stretched out her legs her claws would scratch against the wood and I kept thinking that a bear was trying to get in!
The following morning we were all up early for breakfast, put up our tent and survey our surroundings.
Now, firstly we just need to point out a big difference between camping in the UK and camping in Canada, we were the only ones with a tent, with everyone else in large RV's and caravans, but we were quite proud of ourselves when we continued to put up the tent when it started raining (we'd spent many a weekend with Nige's racing putting up tents in the rain!!!)
Whilst here we were lucky enough to witness the salmon run up the Fraser River and this year was set to be the largest one in over 100 years. Although it was reaching its end, we were really treated to one of natures wonders with over 30 million sockeye salmon returning to spawning grounds, more than 20 times more than arrived in 2009.
Laurie's parents had a large orchard in their grounds and they had spotted a bear cub frequenting it in order to snack on the apples so we were really hoping for a glimpse whilst we were there and we weren't disappointed! While sitting down talking with a cup of tea, one of the party guests rushed in to inform us that they'd seen a bear by one of the apple trees. Now although approaching a bear is very dangerous the fact that there about 20 of us in a group all making lots of 'oohing' noises meant that they would have been well aware of our presence and moved away if we got too close for comfort!
At first we spotted the bear, the realised that it was a cub so kept our distance until we knew where its mum was.
When the cub crossed the driveway and headed into the other orchard we spotted the second cub and its mother munching on the apples on the ground (we're told that after a few hours of munching on the fermented apples the bears are often seen staggering away into the woods drunk!!)
We watched in amazement for around 15 minutes before they wondered off into the woods, although they made frequent visits to the acreage during our visit, so we kept Domino fairly close to ensure it was only the apples they ate!!!
Although the weather was very much like the UK, sunny one minute and pouring the next, we made the most of the last of the warm weather, and even managed a dip in the neighbours heated pool!!
We had a wonderful weekend with good food, beautiful scenery and good company and it was exactly what we needed to unwind after the last four months; plus we even managed to cross a few things off the 'bucket list' whilst we were there!
We'd been informed of an awesome ice cream factory just near to where we'd been staying, so in true 'British' style we started off our journey home in the pouring rain, with a large ice cream!
Sicamous is around a 5 hour drive from Calgary so with the car laden with camping equipment, food, drink and one spotty dog, we headed off on our road trip (via Tim Hortons!). With a 20 minute stop half way for fuel (both us and the car!), we arrived at our destination. As we had arrived in the dark, Laurie's parents offered for us to use one of their cabins and as we were informed that there were bears in the area, we decided not to put the tent up in the dark and take them up on their offer. I must admit however that I got very little sleep as every time Domino stretched out her legs her claws would scratch against the wood and I kept thinking that a bear was trying to get in!
Our home for the first night!
Now, firstly we just need to point out a big difference between camping in the UK and camping in Canada, we were the only ones with a tent, with everyone else in large RV's and caravans, but we were quite proud of ourselves when we continued to put up the tent when it started raining (we'd spent many a weekend with Nige's racing putting up tents in the rain!!!)
On the first morning we offered to help Laurie and Kevin bottle an order of wine they were due to collect from a local wine makers. We had great fun (especially with the tasting!) and decided that next time we were down that way we would make an order of our own. Alberta has laws which prohibit the commercial production of wine so this being the closest place to Alberta that does the store informed us that a large number of their customers are from Calgary.
Whilst here we were lucky enough to witness the salmon run up the Fraser River and this year was set to be the largest one in over 100 years. Although it was reaching its end, we were really treated to one of natures wonders with over 30 million sockeye salmon returning to spawning grounds, more than 20 times more than arrived in 2009.
Domino enjoying the Fire later that evening!
Laurie's parents had a large orchard in their grounds and they had spotted a bear cub frequenting it in order to snack on the apples so we were really hoping for a glimpse whilst we were there and we weren't disappointed! While sitting down talking with a cup of tea, one of the party guests rushed in to inform us that they'd seen a bear by one of the apple trees. Now although approaching a bear is very dangerous the fact that there about 20 of us in a group all making lots of 'oohing' noises meant that they would have been well aware of our presence and moved away if we got too close for comfort!
At first we spotted the bear, the realised that it was a cub so kept our distance until we knew where its mum was.
When the cub crossed the driveway and headed into the other orchard we spotted the second cub and its mother munching on the apples on the ground (we're told that after a few hours of munching on the fermented apples the bears are often seen staggering away into the woods drunk!!)
We watched in amazement for around 15 minutes before they wondered off into the woods, although they made frequent visits to the acreage during our visit, so we kept Domino fairly close to ensure it was only the apples they ate!!!
This picture was taken before the bear started sniffing around
the cabin in which we'd stayed the first night we were here!
Although the weather was very much like the UK, sunny one minute and pouring the next, we made the most of the last of the warm weather, and even managed a dip in the neighbours heated pool!!
We had a wonderful weekend with good food, beautiful scenery and good company and it was exactly what we needed to unwind after the last four months; plus we even managed to cross a few things off the 'bucket list' whilst we were there!
We'd been informed of an awesome ice cream factory just near to where we'd been staying, so in true 'British' style we started off our journey home in the pouring rain, with a large ice cream!
The last two pictures are for anyone who's seen any of the Twilight movies and the entire journey home was like driving through the film set with the low clouds and drizzle, I was just waiting for Edward to run along side the car!!
