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.
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.
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