Day 400
Workaway
Not long after we set off on our round the world tour, we decided to join Workaway. This does pretty much what it says on the tin, giving Tom and I a chance to rest up in one place for a couple of weeks in return for doing a few hours work a day. Nearly a year on and I received an email informing me we needed to renew our membership. Mmm, was there any point we wondered? Nothing for it but to give it a go. I keyed in the area we were in to the search bar and looked at what work opportunities were available. Pretty much straightaway I came across Jane and Matt’s profile. 3 hours a day, mainly gardening, in return for our own accommodation in the grounds of their property, oh and use of the pool. Sounded perfect, especially for Tom, who has so missed our garden.
Jane and Matt proved to be as friendly as their post promised. Though this was our first time with Workaway they have been hosting Workaways for nearly 10 years. On arrival we soon felt almost as if we were staying with close friends and just helping out in the garden. Tom’s face when Jane handed him a pair of secateurs was a picture of happiness. I was set to weeding paths as my ability to differentiate between weeds and plants is somewhat poor. We start our day with fresh brewed coffee made by Matt. We opted for starting at 7am so we are done by 10am, with the rest of the day to ourselves. Jane and Matt rent out small cabanas in their garden so we were soon caught up in a whirlwind of socialising. From dinners with Jane, Matt and any of their friends who happen to be staying, wine tasting by the pool, even attending the awards dinner for Jane's gardening club, in the stunning ‘Linden Gardens’, we’ve had a fantastic time. We even saw the rare Okanagan mermaid!
When not ‘working’ Tom has caught up with the blog and film editing. We’ve also behaved like normal holiday makers. We are just a short ride from Penticton which is set between two lakes, Okanagan and Skaha. The name Penticton originated from the Okanagan First Nation who settled in this area, it’s generally translated as ‘the place to stay forever’ which is easy to agree with. Originally the lakes were a means of access to and from the town, then in the late 1800s the Kettle Valley Railway was built, linking the town to Kelowna and the national rail network. Major road links arrived in the early to mid 1900s. The early white settlers planted fruit trees and soon the Okanagan Valley was producing apples, peaches, cherries, strawberries, raspberries and so much more. Though the area still produces lots of fruit many of the orchards now grow grapes and the resulting wines are sold throughout North America and the world. In the interests of research we have tried a few!
The lakes are linked by a canal, and locals and visitors alike float down this on various types of inflatables. Tom and I loved this, it was so relaxing. It can take between one to four hours, but as the river was high and fast flowing, we had just an hour or so to enjoy the experience. Fortunately, we missed the pirate parties where groups water bomb each other, everyone was in the mood to chill.
Nisa and Kate had told us of a few places to visit, Tickleberry’s for awesome ice-cream and one of the biggest second-hand book shops I’ve every seen. Ice-cream and books? For me a fantastic combination.
We also had time to meet an old friend from the UK. When I ran Richardson's Cycles, I was privileged to meet a young man called Mike Thompson. Aged 13 Mike knew he wanted to be a professional cyclist, and to achieve this aim the Olympic Development Team advised him to join a local club. As he matured his exceptional talent became obvious to us all, and Ian Richardson and I took the decision to help in a small way by providing Mike with a bike to race on. Mike went on to be trained by British Cycling and race for Bradley Wiggins’ pro-team. Now he is back in the real world, studying for a degree and discovering all the things he missed when his life was taken up by cycling 24/7. He is in Canada for a few months so made the journey to catch up with Tom and I. It was fantastic to see him again. We have just a few more days here then it’s back on the KVR as we head to Vancouver. Just time for another swim in the pool before we go!
