The landscape as we left Radium whilst still
mountainous was less snow covered and subsequently we saw more of the brown one
associates with early spring in this part of the world. We did however welcome the blue skies
and slightly warmer weather also associated with this time of the year.
Our first stop today was at a little town called
Kimberley. Winter time does not do
Kimberley justice I am sure. Shop
fronts looked tired with dirty streets and unkempt gardens. In the centre of town is the Platzl, a
pedestrian only strip mall that is home to the worlds largest cuckoo
clock. For a looney ($1) you can
watch as a little Austrian man (a dummy) comes out of the clock and yodels for
about a minute before sliding back behind two barn doors. It’s not exactly riveting but it did
provide us with a laugh or two.
Our coffee fix this time was at a great little café (the Bean Tree) at one end of the Platzl. The coffee was mellow and hot and they sold the most fantastic chocolate chip cookies I have tasted for a long time. The interior of the café was very eclectic with I think about 4 different styles of light fittings, chairs and tables that didn’t match and local artist’s work displayed on its brightly coloured walls.
We left the sleepy town and headed south. We drove through the bustling city of Castlegar and then onto Creston where we found out about the free (yep free!!) BC Ferry crossing at Kootenay Bay.
The ferry crossing is located at the end of a long winding road that hugs the coast line. The drive itself is quite beautiful but unfortunately for us we didn’t have time to take it in at a leisurely pace as we were on a tight timeline to get to the ferry.
We were surprised at how many people wanted to cross the lake – especially at this time of year. I can imagine that it would get extremely busy during the summer.
Crossing the lake was a welcome diversion from driving and gave us all a chance to take in the beautiful mountains that surrounded us. A 35 minute journey is all it took to get us to a tiny dot of a town named Balfour. With limited accommodation on offer here we headed north towards Kaslo. At the half way point in Woodbury we found some quaint cottages to stay in. Apparently the restaurant nearby serves “the best fish and chips in the world”. We didn’t get to test their boastful claim but they have a lot to live up to especially coming from Australia where we have AWESOME fish and chips!!!
Sorry Canadian friends but every fish and chips we have tried here has been very ordinary.
For dinner we drove to Kaslo a small town 20 minutes north of Woodbury. Here we had food that was WAY better than ordinary. It was fresh, organic and tasty. So much so we decided to come back for breakfast the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment