Oliver With Friends: Part I

As promised, here are a few notes (and pics!) of my trip to Oliver last week. There's so much to tell/show, I've decided to break it up into two parts:

Part I: Thursday-Saturday afternoon
Part II: Saturday night-Sunday noon

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Seven of us arrived Thursday night (Aug. 28), while 5 more arrived Friday night.

Thursday night was quiet and peaceful. Vero, Erwin, Juan, and I were the first ones to arrive, around 4:30. For dinner we cooked a bbq: burgers, steak, and corn. We also stopped by a wine store and picked up some very good local wine. Late in the evening, around midnight, Jen, Benja, and Alfonso arrived, exhausted. It'd been a long trip.

Friday was grand: the best day of my stay in the Okanagan. It was hot and sunny. No wind, very few clouds. After cooking a pancake breakfast (with coffee, of course), I parked myself at the beach, and except for a brief venture into the cool waters mid-afternoon, I stayed there, lying on my beach towel. I read, and I read a lot. I also slept. Below some pics.

Late in the afternoon Vero, Erwin, and I visited the Quinta Ferreira winery just around the corner from our place. I bought a dessert wine there, Vinho du Sol. Late in the evening, Hugh, Jana, Sanjit, Saranjit, and Nataliya arrived.

On Saturday the weather turned very windy. Still sunny, but windy. That was a downer, because it meant that beach-time was limited. Even so, we had a great day.

In the morning I took to the beach again, and read Thomas Merton's "The Seven Storey Mountain", a book I've heard so much about and finally got around to reading. It really is as good as I've heard. It's his autobiography of faith. I got hooked reading it on the way to Oliver in the car, and was keen to continue the read after arrival.

In the afternoon, we visited two more wineries: Burrowing Owl, and Tinhorn. The Burrowing Owl had the location (majestic views!) and atmosphere. In fact, if I ever want to get away for a weekend and exercise my vanity muscles, I think I know where I'd stay (the winery features a guesthouse)!

But Tinhorn definitely had the wine. In fact, I bought a case of their 2007 Gewürtztraminer white wine:

While at Tinhorn, I also took the opportunity to hike part of the Golden Mile trail with Alfonso. The trail passes right by the winery, so we hiked it for about an hour. It was spectacular. The earth is indeed God's playground!














































Upon our return to the cabañas, we braved the cool wind and went to the beach anyways. I brought out my book and read while walking along the beach, while the rest of the gang sat around and had a good chat.





































































That's all for today. Part II will include: Saturday night dinner and bonfire; Sunday breakfast and group pic.