I could get used to this Farm life thing.

We had Sunday and Monday off, so after a much desired lie in we decided to go for a hike up the mountain. It was stupidly hot, stifling almost, and most people had gone for the lake option. We however were quite determined to make the most of our time so headed on up. 

First off we had to avoid walking through other people's land, also this was blatantly not a tourist trail, no neatly confined bark chips to follow. Nothing but a slightly less vegetated path to guide us. It was very pretty though and quiet aside from us and the eagle we heard above us somewhere. That was a cool moment, it was like being in a movie. 

After a couple of hours of hiking up following an almost dry stream bed we stopped for lunch and discovered we had drunk half the water. This wasn't due to the lack of planning, more the overwhelming heat, so even though we were only a third of the way up we decided to head down.

Quite sensibly the rest of the afternoon/evening was spent at the lake.

Monday was a lake day as we'd learnt our lesson and didn't go for another hike.

 

We did indulge in a couple of slightly over-competitive games of badminton though. Also big news I tried Cherries for the first time and discovered they're really rather tasty. 

Tuesday was not as cooperative weather wise and as George went off to fix fences in the field accompanied by the faithful Jack, Marlee and I began weeding with Blue for help. His view of help is to run away with any unattended item of clothing, as such I now have some very holey gloves. Pretty soon it began raining, quickly turning from a light drizzle to a full on pour. With my anorak on I finished laying the mulch as quickly as possible then retreated inside. 

Moody

George however with the stubbornness of a donkey carried on until he'd finished the field. When he eventually came in he literally poured around half a litre of water out of his boots, and Jack was a very soggy dog. We spent the afternoon watching Back to the Future and a Canadian film called 'Never Cry Wolf'. It's about a guy sent up to the Arctic to study the Caribou and Wolves. It's a nice little film about a dude living in the wilderness with Wolves until the end where he goes a bit crazy and joins the wolves in the hunt and chows down on a bit of Caribou. Slightly bizarre.

The boys drying off after the rain.

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny, a surprisingly welcome return to the heat for me. George and Jon went off to the next field to fix those fences, George with still wet boots - he wouldn't listen to reason and accept a dry pair.

George now really, really wants a drill and tool belt. 

Marlee and I deweeded a new bank, and mulched it so it looks all pretty again. On that note if anyone wants some weeding done I'm becoming quite skilled at it. Once again we spent the afternoon at the lake, which is such a gorgeous way to cool down. That evening we joined in with moving the cows to a new field, which was uneventful as they simply ambled out the gate and down the road. All very calm

We had been invited to Marlee's High School Graduation on Thursday however I was feeling really rather ill. So I wasted our penultimate day alternating between sleeping and watching Heartland, a Canadian tv show about a horse ranch that I haven't watched since school. George though was productive I believe and 'weed whacked' - English people read strimmed - yet another weedy bank.

For our last day the weather didn't cooperate and acted like a particularly moody teenager, however we did manage to mulch an entire bank, even if I did get a bit OCD about trying to cover every single root and stem of grass.

Halfway point.

The finished article. 

Not at all amused by the rain

Unfortunately it was too cold to have a last dip in the lake, and there was the slight issue of the big thunder storm going on. Lots of flashing lightning.

It cleared to become a beautiful sunset though. 

That night Mico made an excellent Jambalaya and Jerk chicken dinner. The family very kindly gave us these water bottles and beautiful card. They've proven to be useful, even if they do add to our tourist get up quite a bit ;) . 

Marlee had a grad party so we stayed up to Mico comparing the differences between our two countries. Our main point was holy shit this country is big.

Saturday came all too soon, we packed up and vacated the cabin, I had one last attempt at photographing a hummingbird. They've proven to be irritatingly hard to capture on film, and in the vein of the previous two weeks I was unsuccessful.

Bye bye cabin. 

Then Caroline took us into town and after a walk round the nature reserve - where we finally saw an Eagle! - we went to the Mexican restaurant where Mico works, for a delightful lunch. 

Bald Eagle!

Scrummy

An excellent magazine selection in the local shop.

Then it was goodbye to the family and the Shuswap :( It was a fabulous couple of weeks and we absolutely adored our time there.

Farmer Tan.

So, I've taken a while to write this post because quite frankly George and I are having too much fun. We have really lucked out with the farm we've ended up at. We're currently WWOOFing, which is Worldwide Working Oppurtunities on Organic Farms, basically we volunteer ourselves for a few hours of work each day in exchange for a bed and food. Currently we're staying at Shuswap Lake Ranch, which isn't so much of a farm anymore, but they still have a few cows, and a big old tractor.

We arrived on the Monday, after what can only be described as a rather dreary journey from Vancouver. Which was preceded by the most plasticky breakfast in the history of the world. We'd picked up our bus tickets and as the bus depot isn't in the most cosmopolitan part of town we struggled to find somewhere to eat. So we ended up in a pub with a dining area attached, and despite the multiple no smoking signs there was a lingering smell of tobacco. The food was fried to an inch of its life, with baby fried chipolates, it was... Interesting... Needless to say we didn't hang around and went to wait at the depot.

They get you to queue on a red carpet!

 It takes about 7 hours by Greyhound coach, and it rained constantly with a low cloud hanging down, however at least the scenery is far more inspiring than a trip up the M1. We had a very chirpy bus driver though, who in a chipper manner told us about three hours in that the electricity and wifi on the bus weren't working due to an engine fault, but don't worry we should be able to drive for another 2 hours and Kelowna ( our intermediary destination ) was only 90 minutes away. Never have I received such worrying news in such a happy way. As it turns out we made it safe and sound. 

The location is absolutely stunning, it's a waterside property with a mountain just behind. We stay in this cute little cabin just off from the main house, and the door opens out to reveal a view of the lake. 

Our Cabin.

The view from bed!

And the view from our picnic table, just outside.

The family are amazingly friendly too, Brent and Caroline with their three kids Mico, Aidan and Marlee, all around my age. Caroline picked us up from the depot and we headed back to the Ranch, which is 21km down a road that eventually turns to gravel, so way out of town. We got there quite late so we just had a quick BLT, whilst talking on their Balcony, which has this stunning view. 

They graciously gave us the first day off to explore and settle in, so we started off with a stack of pancakes and maple syrup and wandered round the farm. Assisted by two gorgeous volunteers Jack and Blue!

Blue is the puppy, and Jack is the lab mix.

It is gorgeously hot here so we headed off to the lake first, which has got a lovely bit of decking on the side, and a pontoon with a diving board just out a bit. We initially wanted to take the canoe out but couldn't locate any oars. Which led us up to the sheds.

The sheds were full of plenty of delights including a kayak, plenty of oars and a couple of speed boats. 

We grabbed the oars and headed back to the lake, stopping off briefly for an abysmally one sided basketball match. We pulled the canoe out to the pontoon and discovered it was not just a simple canoe but H.M.S Big Bitey Ants, it was properly infested with them, and they had giant pincers. So we began what can only be described as a highly sophisticated ant killing regime, which involved drowning them frequently and repeatedly and squashing any survivors. As we waited for the last stragglers to emerge we took a dip, the lake fluctuates quite a lot depending on the previous days weather so it was pretty fresh but nothing compared to the North Sea. They also have a diving board which enabled us to pull off some Olympic worthy cannon balls. We finally headed out in the canoe and made our way down the lake, it is truly stunning, the shore fluctuating between rocky cliffs and grassy banks. 

The next day we got up nice and early ready for work, weeding their gravelly front garden bit. It's pretty hard to label their various gardens/fields/outdoor areas as they have so many.  We soon discovered that dandelions aren't only pretty yellow flowers, but actually plants of Satan with extensive networks of chalky roots that actually disintegrate when any pressure is applied to them. 

There were a fair few weeds.

At least we had the puppies to play with.

When we finished we headed to the lake for what can only be described as the best swim ever. There is officially no better way to wash off the heat and mud of the day than a dip in the lake. 

We also noticed the abundance of different wildlife here, the birds especially; one kind yellow with black stripes on their wings, another black with red shoulders like a soldiers lapels and hummingbirds! I never realised what a noise they make nor how tiny they are, that was a pretty cool moment. We've been assured there are also Bears, Coyotes, Cougars and Bobcats in the area, the latter two have been known to attack the pets. 

On Wednesday we set about dismantling their old gazebo and erecting their new one. My muscles were not happy bunnies, evidently spending most of a day crouched over weeds is not good for flexibility. I assumed it was the same as the ones at home, a couple of poles to put together, a bit of tarp to throw over the top, or even one of those pre fabricated that you just pull apart. How wrong I was, first off the old one was rusted over and thereby extremely reluctant to be pulled apart. This was followed by the new one not having enough nuts and bolts (I can actually tell you with confidence which is which now!), and being made in such a way that all the holes didn't quite line up :/. Anyway an hour later than anticipated we finished and once again enjoyed our afternoon by the lake. 

Our days have settled into a nice routine in the morning we work through the insane heat, and in the afternoon go for a bit of a swim and relax in the hammock by the lake. Definitely not the worst way to spend a couple of weeks. 

On Thursday we carried on weeding then got to learn how to drive the tractor! It turns out that driving a tractor, whilst fun and exciting, is slow, smelly and deafening. We use it to take bark mulch to the garden, and at the end of the day, better to do it in a tractor than a wheelbarrow!

Tractor lessons.

Friday brought another diversion from weeding, burning the stuff in the pit, George in particular was excited about using the propane burner. It certainly created an effective bonfire. 

That evening we had to take a load of stuff to the dump, however we didn't realise that one of us would be driving until Mico got in the back seat. I now suddenly realised why Caroline had been warning us of deer and moose on the roads. I ended up driving this massive pickup truck about 3x the length of my baby Fiat, it's so long that one can't really see anything out of the rear view mirror. Whilst Automatic cars are meant to be easier to drive, I discovered however that there was one slight problem with my conversion from manual. The park brake is located where the clutch normally resides, so whenever I braked I automatically hit the 'clutch', fortunately this only happened a couple of times before I adjusted my brain.  Also what is with 4 stop junctions? Theoretically they work but realistically they're a terrible system, everyone just sits there until some has the balls to claim the road. After the dump we went to a BBQ Mico had invited us to, it was rather lovely with lovely fresh veg, as it was on a farm. We left early though as I was slightly disconcerted by driving a big ass truck down a windy gravelly road, on the wrong side, in the dark with potential deer and moose. That night we watched the stars which are beautiful here as well as numerous. It's hard to pick which is which.

Saturday was Aidan's party so we constructed another gazebo, luckily no nuts and bolts required for this one. 

I got to mow the lawns with the ride on lawn mower, whilst George dismantled some wooden objects and affixed the badminton net. Quite frankly I got the better deal, though for some reason George was overly excited by using tools. Must be a man thing. 

The afternoon was once again ridiculously hot so we swam in the lake, and tried to watch the Game of Thrones finale, but were thwarted by the arrival of guests. The party was fun with beer pong, people BBQing, and obviously a fair bit of late night swimming. 

All in all our stay so far has been quite delightful, and we still have anotherweek until our return to Vancouver.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

On Friday George and I decided to go and connect with nature, which is ridiculously easy to do here, the closest trails are only about 10 minutes walk away. It was pretty cloudy, but I think that kind of weather suits here, it adds an ethereal edge. It makes everything look a bit greener, a bit lusher. 

We headed to Lynn Valley Canyon which is full of plenty of easy trails, and consequentially lots of Chinese tourists. Which means lots of SLRs, posey photos in the middle of the path and no squatting on the toilet signs.

The big draw here is the suspension bridge, which stretches across the canyon, and is definitely ... bouncy. I may or may not have had a slight moment in the middle, and irrationally asked George if it would tip if everyone stood on one side. He found this hilarious, I thought it was perfectly rational as a question. Luckily we made it to the other side.

As we carried on past the bridge it quieted a fair amount, allowing us to take in our surroundings a bit more. The forest is full of ferns and mosses, and the needle bed is so thick. The trees are incredibly tall even though they're still quite young. Some of the giant stumps remain, however you'd need three or four people holding hands to ring around them they're that big.

We followed the canyon down to the river bed which is full of rounded rocks ( I almost expected them to turn into singing dwarf things ;) ), and whiled away the time skimming stones into the fast flowing current.the water was beautifully clear and as cold as the English Channel. Apparently in the summer there's a natural pool further up where you can go swimming. The course of the river is full of waterfalls some little, and some. Not so little that go down through the darkness of the rocks before re-emerging. 

Next we came across something rather unexpected, considering the cleanliness of the forest around us. There is genuinely no litter anywhere, they do a really good job of making sure everyone uses the bins. Which are bear proofed with a lock on the door. 

Who doesn't love a lazy boy recliner.

Then we headed up for lunch to the local cafe/ general store, called 'The End of the Line'. I think it's a spectacular name for a cafe round here. I assume it's because that used to be the last but of infrastructure before the loggers headed up into the mountains. Anyway the food there was lovely. 

Then we headed up to Rice Lake, which was a lot quieter mainly just fisherman. In fact a wife/girlfriend overtook us on the way round with supplies for their partner, how cute!

That night we watched the Stanley Cup final, which decides the winners of the NHL, it was the LA Kings vs the New York Rangers. I never realised how few teeth they all have, and apparently they all grow their beards out and don't shave until someone's won the cup. It's the best of 7  matches between the two teams. It is insanely quick, real end to end stuff, so it was lucky that I was watching it with two Canadians to explain the few rules that exist. SPOILER ALERT: the kings won at the end of the second set of overtime. 

Saturday brought the footie, we met up with some of George's friends from Norwich. We had to pay entry which was the first time I've ever paid to watch footie. It was worth it though for the atmosphere, the pub/sports bar (not sure which it was) was full of English peeps and the Canadians supporting England. There may have been a couple of Italians, if so they were lost in the sea of white shirts. I don't really need to go on about the match, but the experience was fun. Then we headed to this really cool café called Acme, which we'd been told had great pie. It does, the slices are insanely giant, and tasty!

Giant Lemon Meringue!

Unfortunately as it had been so long since we'd left the house the weather had changed somewhat, it was absolutely chucking it down. Buckets upon buckets, upon the fact that we didn't know where to get the bus from so after walking with squelchy shoes for about half an hour we gave in and got a taxi, much to George's chagrin.

Sunday proved we hadn't learnt our lesson as we went for a quick stroll between showers, which turned into a nice 2 hour impromptu hike. The last half an hour of which was more of a swim...

Nice and dry.

More drowned rat esque.

Luckily we had Nanaimo bars to inject a bit of energy back into us. They're super tasty chocolate, then custard, finished a chocolatey nutty biscuit thing. Scrumptious. 

That night we had a lovely last meal with the family before we headed off to the farm, there were some great giant prawns. Yum! Think I might be able to get used the veggie thing.