Cassandra (Kelowna)

Zen

Kelowna is still shrouded in smoke this morning. We walked into town in search of Pulp Fiction, a coffee shop that Dan had recommended. It was an excellent call as far as the coffee was concerned, not so the service from the distracted girl-child behind the cash register. I'm not sure how you muck up: a blueberry muffin, sausage roll, hot chocolate and an espresso to have here please. Maybe it's my accent. What size coffee, 12 or 18 ounces, she asked? Espresso only comes in one size, so I assumed she was referring to the hot chocolate. 12 ounce please. And what else did you want? A blueberry muffin and a sausage roll. I even gave her a tip.

We take a seat. The muffin arrives 'to go'. No sausage roll. That's cool, I'm patient. My name is called for the coffee. My espresso is in a giant cardboard cup. Sorry, the barista says, it's all we've got. I made no comment but stared silently at the plethora of cups on top of the coffee machine. I negotiated the queue and returned to the table with the coffee and hot chocolate. Still no sausage roll, it obviously wasn't arriving because vacant server didn't order it. Too much to hold in her brain at the one time. Jayne wanted to order another one but I had had enough. A quick calculation revealed that we hadn't been charged for the sausage roll and I'm not sure how she reached the costing she did - I couldn't make it add up. There was a bakery around the corner where I purchased a muffin on the return walk to the hotel. Jayne wanted to call tis post It's a long way to the (top) shop, if you want (to rock and roll) a sausage roll, an Australian spin on the ACDC classic.

Nice view through the vines

The sensational Cassandra at the Delta was wonderful when we arrived yesterday and deservedly has this post named after her and the 1973 hit by Australian band Sherbert. Not only did we get an upgrade to a lake view room, she organised a wine tour for us. I knew next to nothing about the Canadian wine industry and have been very pleasantly surprised by the quality and range of wines.

The wine tour was excellent. Jon from Kelowna Concierge was an excellent host and his local knowledge made the experience that much better. We began at Mission Hill, the 'go to' land mark winery of the area. No expense spared. A total commercial venture. It was everything one should expect. The wine was pretty good too. In terms of tasting, it is conducted differently in Canada. While there is an increasing number of wineries that charge for tasting, in Canada you purchase a set tasting palette for a price.

The next winery, The Hatch, interesting. A barn style space, pressed metal ceilings and equally interesting wines. It is totally cool and the people working here are real. The winery story is awesome and I'm not going to relay it here. Just visit, this place is worth it. The wines are funky and lurking behind the cool facade ... talent and taste and personality. Loved it.

Mission Hill roses. Beautiful. No perfume.

Rollingdale is an organic winery that produces, amongst other wines, ice wine. I've had ice wine from Tasmania that in retrospect was probably dodgy and wouldn't meet the expectations here. The ice wine in Canada needs to exist in 8 degree below temperatures. The ice wine is ace. The other wine was interesting but not our style.

The final stop was the Indigenous Winery. Canada and Australia have a lot in common. Treatment of their First Nation people is not one of those areas. While we wait for our pathetic government to make a decision about a treaty, Canada has moved so far beyond that and areas are owned and controlled by the First Nation people. That said, I wasn't keen on their wine. Sorry.

Piano in the park ... we saw a few of these.

Back at the hotel, it was dinner and drinks and stuff. Nothing special.

Tomorrow is another transit day, Kelowna to Lake Louise. There may be or not a post following the drive.

Until then ...