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Canada Roadtrip
  • Oliver Wood
  • Katie Archibald

Canada Roadtrip

A 14-day adventure by Oliver & Katie Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 12, 2023
  • Canada Roadtrip

    Cycle around Stanley park

    August 12, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Trying to shake of the jet lag with a very slow cycle around Stanley Park. Don’t think this one did anything good for our Strava stats.

  • Canada Roadtrip

    Vancouver -> Osoyoos

    August 14, 2023 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Biggest drive of the trip on day 1 at ~400km. Busy roads and roadworks to navigate for the first spin of the RV out of Vancouver.

    Stopped by Walmart for some (very expensive) groceries, and navigated our first petrol station.

    Spotted a small bear drinking from the river on the drive over, but didn’t manage to get a pic! Great drive, but arrived at the campsite just before 10 and missed final orders at the bar by 2 mins 😥 too tired to cook so a nutritious dinner of tortillas and salsa.    Read more

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    Osoyoos ➡️OK Falls (🍷🍷🍷)

    August 15, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C

    Spent the night at NK’MIP, on lake Osoyoos.

    The most American campsite ever (despite being in Canada). Everyone goes for the full summer with their RVs and creates a mini city. They couldn’t understand why we were only there for one night.

    Missed last orders at the restaurant by 2 mins, so ended up drinking a bottle of wine instead.

    Went out on SUPs in the morning and felt like we were the only ones there (no one seems to do anything before 10am here… I like it)

    Then drove up along the lake. We knew there were some wineries, but don’t think we’d appreciated how many… We passed over 40, on a 1 hour drive! Katie got the short straw and was designated driver, whilst Oli got increasingly pissed (and she had expensive apple juice)

    Visited La Stella (nice view, boring bloke serving), Maverick (incredible wine, the most amazing lady serving us), Hester Creek (Italian style villa, classy vibes). Then reached the campsite in Okanagan Falls.

    On hindsight, don’t know why we stayed here. Lovely campsite, but the town is a bit s**t. Walked around for an hour and found one pizzeria (had food poising written all over it) and a lot of questionable used car dealers.

    Decided we needed more wine, and to leave OK Falls ASAP, so we visited See Ya Later, on the top of the hill. This sounded lovely in theory. But the drive was like an Alpine pass, with hairpin bends and blind corners, which was great fun in a 27ft Motorhome.

    Drank some more wine (there’s a theme here) and then headed back down to OK Falls. Cooked steaks and chips and sat out on the picnic bench.

    Top tips for any future traveller: don’t stay in OK Falls, visit more wineries, don’t be designated driver.    Read more

  • Canada Roadtrip

    OK Falls -> Kelowna

    August 16, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Short drive from OK Falls to Kelowna. Unfortunately forest fires meant visibility was still pretty rubbish, so missed out on some good views.

    Stared the day off with a short hike along the edge of the lake, then jumped into Bertha (we’ve finally named the RV).

    Stopped off in Penticton, a town on the south of Okanagan lake and home to Ironman Canada. They claim to be the endurance sports capital of Canada, but we saw 0 cyclists/runners/swimmers in our time there, so not sure we believe that. The plan was to do a swim in the sea, but the choppy water and rubbish visibility made us reconsidered and instead got ice cream and went for (another) wine tasting.

    Then drove for another 30 mins and stopped off in Peachland. (Confusingly the giant peach photo was in Penticton, no idea why that was there). Cute small town on side of the lake. Had some chips, wandered around the pier and then went to a Bavarian themed pub, because we’re all about the local Canadian culture.

    Then finished up in Kelowna, which is a mega city compared to everywhere else we’ve stayed. City of 130,000, but more drive throughs than the UK put together (probably). Stayed in a lovely park on a farm outside the city centre.

    That evening we headed in Kelowna and found the craft beer neighbourhood. Really cool industrial-vibes area with microbreweries on every corner. Tried out a few different places and stumbled across an open mic night… with some questionable performances, so of course we had to drink more to get through it. Hired some electric scooters to get around the town, but you have to wear helmets and our speed was restricted, as it was our first ride, so we just looked like absolute dweebs. 🙃    Read more

  • Canada Roadtrip

    Kelowna -> Revelstoke

    August 17, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Big 200km drive up from Kelowna to Revelstoke. We were very lucky and this was the last day before the wild fires hit the city, so everything was normal, but pretty soon after they stated evacuating and everything was shut down.

    Up early for a lovely open water swim in the bay. Then hired bikes and head out on a ride around the city. Took the bike rental team’s route recommendations, which turned out to be a massive mistake… ended up cycling along the Highway for 30km, through the industrial heartlands of Kelowna 🙃 Oli’s seat kept on falling down, so ended up stopping at a bike shop on the way to buy an Allen key. Overall, a crap ride.

    Then head out of Kelowna. Stopped off at another winery on the way (couldn’t stop ourselves), which is when the fun started… The turn up to the vineyard was a sharp corner up a hill, and we forget we were driving a 27ft RV. Long story short, we ended up taking a big chunk out of the road (and our pride). Luckily there’s a metal cage protecting the bottom of the van and a nice passer-by stopped to help us get unstuck! But still that might be our damage deposit gone 😀

    After the vineyard, we head off to a zip line park in Oyama. Managed to catch the last tour of the day and spent 3 hours going around the forest on a bunch of zip lines. Was good fun, but shame about the smoke, as the views were pretty rubbish!

    Then set off to Revelstoke. Made one stop off on the way at the Three Valley Gap, after a recommendation from the precious RV park owner. WEIRD. INCREDIBLY WEIRD. It’s a model “Ghost Town” based on 1900s BC village, with various historical buildings that have been shipped in from across the province. They have model shops, houses etc, fully complete with terrifying doll models.

    Finally ended up at our campsite in the woods. Oli popped the hood of the RV to check something (he had no idea what he was doing) and immediately several RV dads descended upon him to give their input. Welcome to RV life.    Read more

  • Canada Roadtrip

    Revelstoke

    August 18, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    First day of the trip with no travelling!! Woke up in Snowforest campsite, which is in the middle of Revelstoke provincial park. Lots of bear warnings all over the campsite and posted on the walking route we wanted to do, but the campsite ranger seemed confident that we’d be completely fine on our own with no bear spray (despite all signs saying the opposite), so off we went. 45 minutes of nervous walking and a lot of elevation later we reached the viewpoint, which was an old ski jump at which lots of world records were set. Just after reaching the viewpoint we got a call from Chris our estate agent to let us know the latest drama with the flat sale… this hit about the same time as a thunder storm (talk about pathetic fallacy), which hurried us down the mountain. The upside of this was that it was pretty effective at distracting us from potential bear attacks on the way back.

    Safely back at the RV we ventured into town for some white water rafting. The fires in Kelowna were significantly worse by this point, and that in conjunction with a fire just outside of town was enough to completely cover Revelstoke in pretty thick smoke.

    Aside from lack of visibility and the smokers cough we all seemed to develop, water rafting was great fun - pretty wet with very cold (glacier fed) water. We were sharing the boat with a German family (dad and two kids) who were travelling in the opposite direction to us, and gave us a few tips for Jasper. By the time we got back to the start we were very cold, but luckily the rafting company was based in a hotel with a hot tub we got access too!! Perfect way to finish the trip.

    Oli’s highlight of the day was the giant slushy machine we found in the petrol station on the way to our next campsite…    Read more

  • Canada Roadtrip
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    Revelstoke -> Jasper (Part 1)

    August 19, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Big day of driving!! I thought the first day was the biggest but turns out this one beat it with over 450km on the roads. The smoke was still hanging around Revelstoke in the morning so we got out early and headed towards Jasper.

    Short stop in Golden to fill up on fuel and groceries (last one before Jasper), then we headed onto highway 93. The smoke cleared up and the sun came out - the views were really just as amazing as everyone said. I have about 200 photos of the drive alone, and struggling to pick my favourite for this post. So many places we wanted to stop on the journey, but not enough time for them all.

    First lake we stopped at was Lake Herbert. Armed with our newly acquired bear spray we bravely ventured a full 50m around the lake before finding a fab spot for swimming. Quick trip back to the car for picnic supplies and camping chairs and we had a great setup on the waterfront. After lunch we had a quick swim in the lake, which was unbelievably clear.

    End of part one! Have to split this into two post because we’ve hit the picture limit.    Read more

  • Canada Roadtrip

    Revelstoke -> Japser (Part 2)

    August 19, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    Next stop on the road was Bow Lake, which as expected was super busy. Some RV’s were clearly a lot more ballsy than us and drove down the single downhill track road with cars lining either side - Oli broke a sweat just thinking about having to navigate that, so we parked up as close as we could to the main road and trekked down. We went for a short stroll around the edge but headed back to the RV fairly quickly to escape from the crowds - this was more people than we’d seen in the last several days combined.

    After this stop we then gassed it another couple of hundred kilometres to the Columbia Icefield (of course under the speed limit the whole time, even though no one else was - everyone here seems to take the limits as a suggested minimum speed). Our speed walking across the parking lot got us to the Skywalk just in time 60 seconds before the last bus.

    The Skywalk is a glass walkway which is suspended 300m above the valley and sways a lot in the wind. Neither of us were scared though, obviously.    Read more

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    Jasper Day 1️⃣

    August 20, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Full day in Jasper, so (relatively) little driving. Woke up to an amazing sun rise and got very lucky with the campsite spot. It was absolutely freezing, which felt weird after the 40 degree heat we started with in Osoyoos.

    Started the day with “Valley of the 5 Lakes” hike, which claims to have views over (you guess it) 5 different lakes. This annoyed Katie (someone needs to get a life) as she thought some of lakes were connected, so it will now forever be known as “Valley of 4.5 lakes”. It was still freezing and Oli forgot to bring any long trousers, so ended up hiking around in pyjama bottoms like a moody teenager (see pic attached). Views were amazing and started early enough to almost have the views to ourselves.

    Then head off to Lake Edith. Did an amazing hike around the lake, with ridiculously clear blue water. There were cute log cabins all around the lake and think this is where proper locals come for their summers. Again we got really lucky and met almost no one! Finished off the hike with a swim in the lake, absolutely freezing but made us feel slightly wholesome for once.

    After the walks headed into town for food and a couple of cheeky pints in the sun. Ended up shopping for some more wine, because we clearly didn’t have enough already 🍷

    Katie couldn’t stop herself, so we ended up in the gift shop and now are the proud owners of a baby black bear, imaginatively called Jasper 🧸 She claims it’s a gift for someone else, but let’s see how long that lasts.

    Then head back to the campsite early for some incredible views over Mount Whistler (confusingly located in Jasper, not Whistler). Got some great photos of Katie looking like a real RV mum.    Read more

  • Canada Roadtrip

    Jasper Day 2️⃣

    August 21, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Second day in Jasper (apparently the largest National Park in the Rockies, who knew 🤷‍♀️).

    Started with a 50km drive to Maligne Lake and luckily managed to escape the crowds. Went for a short hike but Oli couldn’t keep his eyes open. Turned out he’d taken some industrial strength Canadian sleeping pills the night before and as a result, became a walking zombie for 24 hours! He went back to nap in the camper van for an hour (benefit of driving your hotel room around) while Katie went to the lake to be wholesome and read. Lake was beautiful and the tour boats were very Wes Anderson-esque. Was quiet when we stared but by the time we left it was like bloody Piccadilly Circus, so we jumped ship!

    Then went off to see Maligne Canyon, confusingly nowhere near Maligne Lake. Again absolutely heaving. Hiked up for a bit, grabbed lunch (and wine) and then sprinted back down.

    Headed off to the Jasper Skytram, which is a glorified gondola up a mountain. Apparently one of the best things to do in Jasper, but we chose a day full of smoke and fog, so the visibility was absolutely f**k all. Honestly we saw more from the campsite. But the ride was fun and we witnessed a proposal! God knows why he chose to do it on top of a mountain with fog everywhere. Maybe he was going to push her down the mountain if she said no 🤔

    Finished off the day with a wildlife tour around Jasper. Really should have been called the Elk Tour. Spent 4 hours on the bus and saw loads of Elk, in town and on the side of the road, a few deer and not much else. Guide was interesting at least, but we really went to see some 🧸🐻 and we failed.

    Finished off the evening with some questionable Mexican food from the campsite!    Read more

    Trip end
    August 25, 2023
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