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Amy Phillips

Joined April 2019 Message
  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day224

    Thats a wrap

     December 10, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    I’ve now been in Canada for a total of 20 months which has just been the best 20 months! Some of the places I’ve seen are indescribable, I’ve met some amazing and interesting people who are now friends, and I’ve learnt so much. Working on an alpaca farm, hiking through the Rockies, working on a ranch, learning how to ride a horse, and making my way to the north of the country to the Yukon - just some of the things most people will never be able to say they have done. I’ve been so lucky to have this opportunity

    It was nice to end my trip where it all began, in Burlington! And a trip to Burlington wouldn’t be complete without dinner at Demetre’s! Yum yum!    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day219

    Go Leafs Go!

     December 5, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

    I’ve been back in Burlington for a few days. It feels like being home!! It’s so nice to be home and see my friends. Last night I went into Toronto to a Maple Leafs hockey game. I lived in Ontario for a year and never made it to a game so made sure I got tickets for before I left.

    They lost :( but it has to be the best hockey game I’ve been to in Canada. The fan interaction was great, and the atmosphere was just something else!

    Even though it’s a good bit warmer here, it feels colder! I think it’s going to be really hard to say goodbye when the time comes.    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day207

    And I’m back...

     November 23, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C

    As we all thought, I ended up coming back to the ranch. I was just so so bored on the farm at the winery that I didn’t want to stay any longer. I felt more useful at the ranch :)

    It’s been good fun, even with the snow and freezing temperatures!

    The 6th picture is of a mini forest destruction by beavers!! It’s absolutely crazy how strong these animals are!

    I’ve been doing a lot of work with the horses as animals to cover other volunteer’s days off and I really enjoy that! It’s so hard when it’s so cold and the ground is frozen, but the animals make it worth it!

    Well I’ll be leaving the ranch soon (for good this time) and heading back East to Burlington for 10 days before heading back to Scotland.    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day190

    More wine time!

     November 6, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    Things are still pretty quiet here at the winery, but I have at least been helping in the winery a few times. It’s been really interesting and actually a lot of the work still has to be done by hand. I will definitely appreciate wine a lot more from now on!!

    I’ve been doing punch downs - using a big metal tool to push the grapes that are on the surface down to the bottom so they dont dry out. Of course we are doing the red wine so things got a little messy. We also took the juice of the grapes, so we had to pump the juice to another tank and then press the grapes one last time before discarding them. Some of the wines, we’ve been moving into barrels, and also preparing one new barrels by spraying them with water.

    I’ve been making the most of the warmer weather and beautiful location and going out for walks every day (as there isn’t much work to do), but it looks like I will probably beheading back to the ranch where I won’t feel so useless!    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day183

    It’s wine o’clock!

     October 30, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    I arrived at the winery yesterday after a bit of a long journey to find out the owners weren’t even there and that there isn’t a lot of work to do at this time of year - great!

    I must say, the place is stunning and a lot warmer than the ranch! Haha! There is a volunteer house with a big living room and kitchen which is nice, and even a resident kitten called Bruno.

    I really hope I will have some time in the winery to learn more about the production of wine..but it sounds like we at least get to drink free wine every evening 👍🏼

    Last night the 2 other volunteers went to a trivia night in the town of Osoyoos (the winery is about 20 minutes away), so I joined them which was nice.

    I will give this place a chance, but the people at the ranch already said I would be welcome back if things don’t work out here.    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day181

    Hay delivery and my last day on the ranc

     October 28, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 -5 °C

    So we’ve been expecting this delivery of hay bales for at least a month now. Every time we have good weather, we are all prepared and ready! And it never came...until today - my last day!

    By the sounds of their experiences from previous years, I was expecting to be at it all day, but a couple of hours and 280 hay bales later we were thankfully done! It was such a workout and my legs are scratched and bruised, but it was also (kind of) fun!

    I’ve had such an amazing time here on the ranch, it will be hard to leave and say goodbye. But I am off to see a new part of the province and try out something new by volunteering on a winery.    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day174

    Food, food and more food!

     October 21, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    After our early start and having dropped the rental car off, we went out for breakfast. It was really yummy! I had a fancy mushrooms on toast!!

    We had a wander round the city, went to see the steam clock in action and then I took Grace for poutine for lunch - you cannot come to Canada and not have poutine!! I think it was one of the best I’ve had so far!

    It was another (not surprisingly) wet day so we took shelter in a bar and had some drinks at happy hour before heading out to a nice restaurant for a fancy meal on our last evening. Grace has found this restaurant and although it was a bit pricier, we wanted to treat ourselves and it was so worth it! They have a family style sharing concept, so you order a few dishes for the table and you share. It was actually really nice because you get to try more things! And the food was delicious!!

    After dinner we went to the botanical gardens where there is a Halloween light walk. It was really fun but also really wet so we’ve come back to the Airbnb to get ready for leaving tomorrow. 🙁    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day173

    A day out of the city

     October 20, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Another early start this morning!! We headed out of the big city of Vancouver this morning and headed to Kelowna. We drove through a snow storm the way. We stopped in Merritt, had a coffee and a walk around the murals and handprints of the country music stars who have performed in the annual country music festival. Our next stop was a winery tour! Yes please!!

    We went to the Mission Hill Winery which is stunning and set on a hill overlooking Kelowna. The tour was very interesting and we tasted a few wines as well!

    Seeing as it is Fall and close to halloween, we did something very North American and went to a pumpkin patch which had a giant corn maze and lots of cool things to do. It was pouring so we didn’t stay for long before we headed to the ranch in Merritt...drove through another snow storm!!

    I showed Grace around where I’ve been volunteering and we joined the crew for dinner before heading back to Vancouver. It was a close call whether we would actually drive back that night or stay at the ranch because it was snowing again and we weren’t sure how the roads would be! We took the chance and drove, and it was fine. The roads were a bit snowy but safe enough!

    We have to drop the car off early tomorrow, so not much sleep again tonight!    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day172

    A day trip to Seattle

     October 19, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    We were up at what felt like the crack of dawn today to go and pick up a rental car and headed straight for Seattle! When we arrived we headed straight to Pike Street Market for some lunch and then went to the Space Needle. It was fun to see the city from up there and there’s even a revolving floor which is cool, but also messes with your head a bit!

    After that we went to the museum of pop culture which was really interesting, before going for a walk to the Olympic park and along the Pier to watch the sunset and ferry boats (Grey’s anatomy fans will know the significance!) We enjoyed some locally caught fish for dinner, grabbed a coffee from the original Starbucks before driving back to Vancouver! We really could have don with another day or two to see more of the city but it was still a really great day trip.

    We arrived pretty late and have another early start tomorrow morning... 😴    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day171

    Capilano Suspension Bridge & Football

     October 18, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    The Capilano Suspension Bridge was amazing! At this time of year they have lots of lights all around the trees and it just looks stunning! I was actually surprised when we arrived because I thought it would have been a bit further out of the city.

    After the bridge, we headed to BC Place for a BC Lions football game - Canadian football 😳 I had absolutely no idea what was going on for the whole game but it was a fun atmosphere so we enjoyed it nevertheless!    Read more

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