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Our Honeymoon

August - September 2018
A 8-day adventure by Danielle Read more
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  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 1

    Day 1 at the Robin's Nest Cabin

    August 27, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We got in to our cabin around 8pm MST after a 12 hour drive. The views were amazing on the drive and we saw very little smoke. Just 1 fire and a helicopter fighting it. Our last hour of the drive, we drove along the coast on Kootenay Lake and couldn't believe the amazing view and the glass like water. The sun was setting over the peaks of the mountains.
    We got to Wedgwood estates and everything here is lush and green. They told us they had 18 hours of rain, the first rain here in months. The cabin is amazing, equipped with lots of information and suggestions for us to do on our trip here. They have a dog, Titan, who is very friendly and will come for visits to us! Our first impression has been perfect!    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 2

    Waterfall Trail Hike

    August 28, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We woke up this morning around 7am and as I got the energy to start the day Chris made eggs benedict for us for breakfast. After we finished eating we left to take a hike to a waterfall on the Wedgwood property.
    They estimate the hike to be 25 minutes, so 50 minutes there and back. It took us about 2 hours. It was a gorgeous hike, with a lot of beautiful views, and interesting features. We saw a tuning fork tree (a tree that was split at a young age and each split piece grew as the 'leader'), an old water line that once provided the property with water and power, and a beautiful view of Crawford bay. The hike got very narrow and steep and we imagined how clumsy Rebel and Saint would have been if we had brought them. The view of the waterfall was beautiful. Unfortunately you cant get very close to it (although Chris did try).
    The hike back was much quicker, and we were ready for a nap by the time we got back!    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 2

    Crawford Bay and Area

    August 28, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    After walking the grounds around where we are staying, we came inside for a bit of a rest. They have a number of assorted DVDs here at our disposal. We decided to watch Jumanji. I watched and Chris napped.
    After we finished watching the movie, we decided to check out Crawford Bay. It is a cute little town, with a welcoming atmosphere. Most stores are filled with locally crafted jewellery, paintings and other artifacts. We watched iron working and jewellery making. All of the locals were very friendly!
    Chris bought a broom from a straw broom store. It sounds like a weird souvenir to buy but it is actually kind of cool! This store in particular has made brooms for quite a few movies and shows, including the Bewitched movie. The broom that Chris bought was made specifically for the Harry Potter books. These brooms were made to be be sold during book releases and book signings. The store ended up buying some of these back to be sold in their store. Apparently, according to Celtic traditions, if a newly married couple is to hold hands and jump over a broom together it is a sign of good luck in the marriage. It symbolizes 'sweeping away' past concerns and problems and jumping over to start a new adventure as husband and wife.
    After we left Crawford Bay, we decided to drive and see what we could find. We ended up at the Ferry which gave me a flashback of the feeling of relief when we made it there on our Nakusp trip. I realize now why that drive was as frightening as it was!
    We drove into Riondel to visit one more local artisan shop. Chris ended up breaking something, so we bought 2 more artifacts because we felt bad!
    We came back to our cabin and Chris BBQ'd kabobs and corn on the cob (which I actually ate, even with my veneers!) It was the most satisfying corn I've had in a long time! We decided to have an evening at the cabin to follow our busy day. Chris and I played a lot of Badminton. Joan also let us know that she found bear poop in her orchard so with any luck we will get to see it (hopefully at a distance).
    First full day was a success!    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 2

    Wedgwood Estates

    August 28, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    The Wedgwood Estates is home to a few historical buildings.
    The Coach House was the first building built in 1911. At first Commander Harrison and his oldest daughter Nancy Anne lived there while they supervised the construction of the Manor. When they moved into the Manor the coach house then housed coaches, horses and servants of the Wedgwood Manor. It has since been restored and is the home of John and Joan, our hosts.
    The Manor was built in 1912 as a residence for Commander Mathew Harrison and his wife Lucy Caroline (nee Wedgwood). This building has also been restored and John and Joan sold it. It acts as a bed and breakfast since 1987.
    Another building we can see from our back window is the Pen-Acres House. It was built by Anne Gooch, daughter of Commander Harrison and his wife.
    There is also a shed where the gardener for the Harrison family kept his fruit that he grew and cider that he made and became known for.
    We also came across a tree where, long story short, Commander Harrison, who was upset with his gun, staked it into the ground between two young trees. He then tied the trees around the gun. The trees continued to grow, tied together and the gun is now completely embedded in the tree.
    Lucy Caroline passed away at age 72 and Commander Mathew Harrison built a church to commemorate her. 7 years later, he passed away. Both graves are about 100 yards from the front of the Manor.
    It is a very interesting property!    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 3

    Zipline and Spawning Salmon

    August 29, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    After breakfast this morning, we decided to go to the west side of the lake. We ended up at the ferry an hour early so got some coffee while we waited. The ferry was pretty much what I remember it to be, except this time I was able to take it in more than last time.
    We got off the ferry and started our drive towards Nelson. We noticed a sign for Kokanee Mountain Ziplines and on a wimb decided that we were going to do that today! We came in and luckily there was a tour leaving in 20 minutes with room for us!
    The tour consists of 6 lines. The first is about 70m long, a bit slower, just to give us a feel for the line. The next is 3 times the length at about 290m. This one let's us gst used to a bit more speed and a feel for the breaking system. The next was both Chris and my's favorite. It is over 1000m long, about 45 seconds across. They call this on their 'scenic line'. This in the format line that goes over the 300m high valleywith views of mountains to the north and Kootenay lake to the south. The fourth line is the longest over 2000m long and you ride for well over a minute. If you canon ball off this one, you can get some incredible speed, which we both decided we should! The fifth line is the trick line. Chris started backward, locked his knees and did a trust fall. He obviously trusted our tour guide Kat because he fell with enough momentum that he flipped right over! I tried to trust fall and got scared and just jumped off. Kicked my knees up and rose most of the line upside down. The last line is the steepest and has an automatic break. Usually you make it to a point and one of the tour guides has to pull you in. This was the case for me. Chris made it right to the end and just stood up.
    It was a blast and we had so much fun! We continued en route to Nelson and saw a point where we were able to stop to observe the spawning salmon. They are a bright red color with green heads. They are very cool to see, and funny to watch. Walking through the trail we came across a skunk. Chris stayed to watch and I walked away because I didnt want to risk getting sprayed. Nelson, here we come!    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 3

    Nelson and Ferry

    August 29, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I wanted to add this footprint in the middle of the lake while on the ferry, so here we are!

    This afternoon in Nelson, we ended up on Baker St by fluke, which ended up being exactly where we wanted to be. We started walking and the smell of food got the best of us (well it was either that or he fact that we hadn't eaten since breakfast). We quickly came across a patio and grabbed a spot. We got some rain, we got a few acorns on the head, but we also got an amazing meal. Goat stuffed prawns, butternut squash ravioli with zucchini, golden beets, asparagus and more, and lobster mac n' cheese.
    We thought we would walk around more but with our full bellies, after a few blocks, we got quite exhausted. We decided to catch the ferry back now so we can get back to our cabin to relax.
    While on the ferry, we were mesmerized by the qay the sun was coming through the clouds and hitting the mountains.
    Looks like it's one more stop before we head back. To the Pilot Bay lighthouse!    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 4

    Day 4

    August 30, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    I know this footprint is called Day 4 but I thought I would add on a bit more from our 3rd day since it wont be long enough for an entire footprint.

    Last night we got off the ferry and drove to the Pilot Bay Light House. To our surprise, in order to get to the lighthouse, we had to do a 400m hike uphill through very dark woods. It was also later in the evening so it didnt start out very light to begin with. Chris grabbed a walking stick from the deadfall (he called it his 'bear beating stick') and we started our journey. We got to the lighthouse quite quickly, and although it was a nice historical point, it was a bit eerie. We didn't stay long as we knew it would get dark soon and the rain had started. We came back our cabin for a movie, and an early night to bed.

    Here is day 4!
    We woke up this morning and Chris decided that we should make alfredo eggs and it turned out to be another gorgeous day so we thought we should go white water rafting. We booked it at Nelson Whitewater Rafting Co. and headed off the the ferry.
    Yesterday we rode on the Osprey 2000. A lager ferry with a little diner/snack bar. Today we rode on the M.V. Balfour. It it much more crammed and there's not a lot of room to move around (I could barely open my door to let myself out). We stayed in the car, put our seats back, turned on a movie and had the surround sound playing through the car speakers. You see, the thing about the ferry is that you cant leave your car running so we ran in on accessory mode. Whoops. We went to start the car to leave and nothing. Obviously this has happened before because we just popped the hood, the gentalman working hooked up a battery pack and had us going in no time. Unfortunately the navigation system in my car didnt like that the battery died and wouldn't work for the rest of the day. No problem.
    We drove into Nelson and walked Baker St for the second time. This time, Chris did some shopping and in no time we had to go, to make it for our white water rafting reservation.
    We had one guide, Spencer, one assistant (who was just there to play around on his own Kayak - he was actually there incase we needed more assistance), and our driver, Fanny.
    We took a bumpy ride in an old retired school bus, to the location we put the raft in. Half of the ride we played music trivia, and the other half we watched a safety video which nearly scared me out of wanting to do this. In no time we were parked, putting on our shoes, life jackets and a spray coat for me (since I'm always cold). They fit us for helmets and had one pink helmet. They said this helmet comes along every trip and goes to the manliest man with the largest head. This was Chris (big surprise). They even gave him a pink paddle to match.
    We got into the water, learned a few paddling techniques and were soon in our first swimming area. Our guide, Spencer, Chris and I jumped in. We got back in and after a bit of paddling and a lot of beautiful scenery, we came upon another open swimming area. This time, Spencer tossed Chris a rope, he held on and stood on the nose of the raft. I, on the left side, paddled forwards, the 3 on the right paddled backward and we spun the boat until Chris fell off. I pulled him back in and then it was my turn! I lasted a lot longer, but Spencer called switch, the everyone reversed their strokes and that was it for me.
    The majority of the ride was mostly calm water, as it is late in the season and the river is lower in height and speed than it would be in June. At the beginning of the season the water runs around 600 cms (cubic meters/second) . At this point, 390 cms. We came the the Rapids and with no problems we made it through there. Myself and two other riders took turns going into the front of the raft while the others paddled directly into the rapids. This, in turn, covered us in a flood of water! Before we knew it, we were at the end of our ride, took off our gear and were back on the bus!
    We continued to play 90's music trivia (which Chris and I were not good at!) And got back to the hotel where we started. We had planned to come back and cook at the cabin but when we started to think about our long ride home, we opted to eat in Nelson and were sure glad that we did.
    We went to Sage, a tapas restaurant. We shared a few AMAZING dishes. Wagyu carpaccio was my favorite and Chris liked the charcuterie and cheese platter with house made crackers. Now, that is not to say the muscles and sticky toffee pudding weren't also amazing, because they were.
    We made our way back to the ferry, through the dark (Chris really enjoyed a change of scenery), and now we are waiting to board the last ferry back. I am looking forward to riding the ferry through the night!

    Day 4, was once again, a success.

    We dont have a lot of pictures to share because the ones we got from white water rafting are on a flash drive.
    The picture with the red circle is where the lighthouse is, where we can see it from the ferry.    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 5

    East of Kootenay Lake

    August 31, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today we decided that, even though, we have been enjoying the west side of Kootenay Lake, we should venture the East side. We set out early this afternoon!

    Stop 1: to take a mandatory picture with the Crawford Bay sign. We also continued to drive down the road where we pulled off and found a quaint little beach.
    Stop 2: to take a scenic picture in front of the lake and mountains.
    Stop 3: Pepper People. This was a cool little Artisian with stained glass, sculptures, pickled peppers, garlic scapes, pickles and hot sauce! This was my first time ever hearing about garlic scapes so we picked some up and continued on our way.
    Stop 4: The Glass House. I cannot, for the life of me, remember if we had stopped there before. It is a neat house. However it is also a bit morbid when you consider that it was made from 500,000 embalming fluid bottles. There is beautiful views, a lot of gorgeous gardens, and even more creepy gnomes. The lady who sold us the tickets gave us some info on what to do when we reached Creston.
    Stop 5: another scenic picture, overlooking beautiful farmland.
    Stop 6: Wynwood Winery. We walked into the tasting room, where another family was occupying all the seats. I am happy they were there because the young girl informed me of the wasp I had riding passenger in my hair. We went outside, Chris calmly swiped it out of my hair, while I panicked. We came back in and as the family left, we took our seats. The man helping us, Christoph, was very chatty which was nice. He told us about Dr. Bethune, a canadian doctor who helped a lot of people in China. According to Christoph, this is why Chinese people like Canadians. I have yet to know if this is who the village of Bethune is named after. We continued to chat about the bear problems in the area, the ground quality, and a bit of history with wine. They have a blood hound, named Tremour. He was very friendly and took a liking to us. He walked very funny and has obviously had a busy life protecting the vineyard from bears and cougars. We bought a couple bottles of wine, and made our way towards Creston.
    Stop 7: Columbia Brewery. This was a quick stop as no more tours were running today. We look forward to doing a tour on our way through on Monday.
    Stop 8: Skimmerhorn Winery. This winery had a completely different feeling than Wynnwood. Wynnwood felt very rustic, welcoming, and relaxed. Skimmerhorn, on the other hand, was more modern, and organized. That being said, both had friendly staff and great wine. We had read that Skimmerhorn has a bistro that runs from 12-3 Wednesday - Sunday and 5-8 on Friday and Saturday. Lucky for us, today is Friday. The menu is laid out in tapas style. This menu is all homemade (cheese included, YUM), and locally sourced. We started with marinated olives, lemon ricotta and toasted sourdough. Our next dish, and my favorite, was green beans, over a onion labneh, with candied bacon.. huge chunks of candied bacon. Onto the next dish, a carrot dish this also came with toasted sour dough and boursain. The sauce over the carrots was brown sugar, cinnamon and mustard. Patatas bravas was next, with a red pepper jam and paprika aioli. Another favorite of mine and Chris's favorite was a caprese salad. This was a bit untraditional, with bumblebee tomatoes, marinated olives and creamy cow feta. Let me remind you, it was homemade and AMAZING. (Chris also really like the patatas bravas, it was a very close second). We then had sweet corn, gnocchi, with paprika aioli. This was a gnocchi made with a pastry dough, instead of potatoe which made it very light. We finished with a chocolaté pot de crème (Chris's favorite) and a blueberry panna cotta (my favorite). We started at 5, in the light, with an amazing view of the Skimmerhorn Mountains. We finished around 8 when the sun had pretty well set behind the mountains to the west.
    We are now on our way back to the cabin, on the very curvy 3A. It was an amazing day, with no schedule, and plenty of time to soak in our surroundings.    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 6

    Cody Caves Tour

    September 1, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Another day on the west side of Kootenay Lake. Today it was Cody Caves Tour.
    We got up early, caught the 9am ferry where we had breakfast. This time, we took a right turn out of Balfour ans header towards Kaslo.
    This is a much more scenic drive. A lot of the drive is barricaded because it is a straight cliff off into the lake. We got to our turn off and started our 10.7km climb up the mountain. This road is an active logging road, very rough gravel and very steep. I wouldn't want to travel it in the rain. We arrived quite early so we read a few brochures, and played some games on our phones. Our tour guide met us, and another family gave us our helmets and gloves then we were on our way. We did an 800m hike, which brought us another 200m in elevation to the cave entrance.
    The caves stay quite cold, on average 6°C. Today it was 4°C. The entrance of the cave is on top of a pile of rock and mud due to an ice block. During the last ice age, a glacier pushed the ice block out, which caused rock and sand to collapse.
    Both Chris and I were expecting large open caves, but to our surprise, many of the openings, you could barely stand upright in. Our tour guide is obviously very passionate about this, as he had a lot of information and was very happy to share it with us. I wont bore you with all the geology facts, but basically, there was a lot of cool rock, different forms of calcium and calcified rock due to erosion inside the cave.
    Orian, our tour guide, took is into an extra part of the cave that isnt normally included in the Family Tour. We did a lot of climbing, shimmying and sliding to get into there, but it was well worth it.
    It was much easier getting out of the cave than getting in, but it was very cool to see!    Read more

  • TravelerOur Honeymoon
    Day 6

    Kaslo

    September 1, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    After doing the Cody Caves Tour, we continued north towards Kaslo. First things first, we wanted to grab a bite to eat since we hadn't eaten since breakfast on the ferry.
    We came to Front St, a beautiful street with a lot of cool stores and boutiques. We came to Buddy's Front Street Pizzeria, grabbed a spot on the patio and got comfortable. Unfortunately the people around us didnt get the feeling that we were in any rush and we ended up there for over an hour. The pizza was amazing, and we had the company of a lovely local couple. We also got to listen to local buskers playing accordian and fiddle.
    When we finished our pizza then we continued down the street. We finished eating around 4:45 and apparently everything shuts down at 5 so we didnt get to see much today for shops. We observed the S.S. Moyie from the outside (since they also closed at 5), got an ice cream and made our way back to Wedgwood.
    We are looking forward to a relaxing day at Ainsworth tomorrow.    Read more

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