Sparkling Hill and Predator Ridge

Hello again and welcome to another adventure with the wayward Findlater's.

This blog is a little late in being posted, as this is what we got up to last weekend, but just so you all know we are still alive and adventuring.

This adventure was the first weekend that we had time to get out and go for a drive in our new car. We had some business to do in the Vernon direction (see map below) we headed down that way and thought to check out a local lookout spot that we had been told about.

 

The Look out was called Predator Ridge, and as we got closer to the lookout the reason behind the naming became apparent. There were heaps or predator birds soaring in the skies. 

To get to the lookout we had to pass though what seemed like a satellite golf town, out in the middle of nowhere there was a high class golfing community with big fancy housing (see below). As you progress through the golfing community you start up a winding road to a massive Swarovski crystal themed hill also known as Sparkling Hill Resort.  

A night stay at the Sparkling hill Resort will set you back between $455 to $1100 per night, needless to say we only popped in for a hot cupa!

If you would like to have a look at all the fanciness of the resort I have attached a link to their website for you perusal.

www.sparklinghill.com

That's enough back story lets see some photos!!

Above and Below: Swarovski crystal ornaments that lined the drive up to the Resort.

Above: Front of the Resort 

Above: View from balcony of cafe at the Sparkling Hill Resort

Above and Below: View from the front side of the resort

Moving on from the Resort and on to the rest of the weekends shenanigans. 

First up here are some random photos that were taken along the way

The following photos are of the rest of the drive we took till we ended up on some beach on some lake... jokes. It is marked on the map at the top of this blog, we got to Gable Beach on Okanagan Lake. 

It was so windy and cold that the lake had pretty decent waves on it.

There you go sun is out and shining and there is still snow on the mountains in the background

This sweet friendly dog from the nearby Bed and Breakfast came out to say hi!

And then there was the teddy bear that we found sun baking on the chair

Well that is all from us for another week/ time between blogs. Here is two last photo from the amazing walking tracks back at Sparkling Hill/Predator Ridge forests, near those golfing estates. A beautiful piece of nature!

All is well with us and we are planning some adventures for this weekend so hopefully I will get another blog entry up sooner rather then later.

I have heard some exciting news from back home and I would like to say a congratulation to Miranda and Ross who as I write this blog are in the process of bringing their baby into the world. Push Hard!!

Until next time I will leave you with a baby quote.

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. (Elizabeth Stone)

Cars and Waterfalls!

 
Hello and welcome to another blog with the traveling Findlaters. 
It's been awhile since our last blog as we have not had access to a vehicle and have not been able to get around and explore places. However that has all changed now and so we bring you our first blog from the the surrounds of Salmon Arm with the service of our new car (see below). 

It is a brand new (on a 2 year lease..) 2015 Ford Focus titanium 5 door hatchback with a black trim kit! Super sexy.

So enough about the car, this week has been hectic for me as I am in a change-over of jobs, however one afternoon we managed to sneak out to go see the close-by Margaret Falls. The falls are located on the northern shore of the lake from Salmon Arm.

 Route: Red dotted line.

The following are some photos we took along the way:

It's amazing because it is spring now, but as you can see in the background there is still snow on the mountains and it still snows up there sometimes (like last week). In the valley where we are it is quite warm at about 13-16 degrees during the day.

The following photos are some photos from the short walk we had to make in order to reach Margaret Falls.   

These trees are so tall and the whole environment makes you half expect to see a stegosaurus walk by any minute. Its the stuff you see in dinosaur movies!

The above photo was a fluke by Kyran but ended up looking somewhat artistic.

I was so excited with the size of the rock formations and the movement which can be observed in the layers.

When you stand out on the bridge, the rushing water is so fast and so cold that it's like standing in front of a giant frosty fan - there is a real gale blowing there! The rushing water is mostly from the snow melt further upstream. We hear that in summer it's less crazy, and you can climb up and go into the cave which is about halfway up the waterfall.

We had a healthy snack picnic at the car after the walk to see the falls, and then back home. On the way we stopped off at Walmart! Everything is so cheap!

 That's it from us this week! Hopefully we can get out and do more exploring next weekend, and have more to show you all back home.

Peace out - Mercedes and Kyran