Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Day one... Nicola Valley


We're off and running, the road trip through BC to and around wine country has begun.  Toss a few things in the car... who am I kidding, the sucker is full to the roof and we'll be lucky to be able to see anything out of the back window.  Getting off the island is a bit of a nightmare, the Nanaimo to Horseshoe bay ferry has a one sailing wait, on a Tuesday yet, so we blast through to Duke Point.  A quick jaunt up the Coquihalla highway to Merritt BC and we stop for the night to visit family.  Our first official day of touring starts off the next morning in the beautiful Nicola Valley.  We head up to the Nicola Ranch and the Quilchena cattle company, for any history buffs, it was established in 1887.


The Murray United Church, built in 1876 (originally St. Andrew's Church) was the first church in the Nicola valley. The cemetery was established in 1878 with gravestones dating back to 1873.


A quick glass of wine and nibble at the Quilchena Hotel, est 1908 and a bit of shopping at the Nicola Ranch store and our first day is almost over! 

Heading west towards Lower Nicola we have the gorgeous Nicola lake on our left. 



Through Merritt to Lower Nicola we pass unbelievably rustic and gorgeous scenery.
Day one is only 1/2 over with the best weather ever and some stunning photo's for the memory banks! Now we're on to highway 97C, the Okanagan connector to Oliver.

1 comment:

Catherine said...

That water is just like glass ~ so beautiful!

Hmmm... if your car is full already, what's going to happen if you buy lots of stuff on your holiday?? :)

Have a safe and happy trip!
xo Catherine