After leaving Victoria, we drove up the east coast early to Nanaimo to catch the ferry across to West Vancouver and begin our trip on the mainland, initially heading to Kelowna to stay with good friends.

As we we approached land the houses along the shore were an interesting sight.

On a cloudy, dull day we traveled through mountainous territory (although not yet the Rockies) stopping off to have a look at the famous ski resort Whistler and then onto Lillooet, an isolated town overlooking the Fraser River, where we stayed the night. Lilloeet was one of the original gold rush towns in the area, dating back to the 1850s.

The next day we drove through the mountains along the Fraser River before turning east along its main tributary the Thompson, eventually reaching Kelowna in the afternoon. An impressive colourful pumpkin roadside stall prompted a picture.

We stayed on the steep banks of the Okanagan Lake in Kelowna with our good friends. Not having seen them for close on 30 years, we had a good catch up as well as a look around the area.

Lake side house owners have installed external elevators to access the waters edge from their houses.

We visited some of the wineries along the banks of the lake, as well as walked a section of the old Kettle Valley railway, in the mountains above the town which consists of 18 refurbished trestle bridges and two tunnels.

A visitor to our friends house:

After ten enjoyable days we hit the road for the Jasper Banff National Park……