Kelowna is located in the south of British Columbia. It’s in the Okanagan Valley, on the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake, surrounded by provincial parks, pine forest, vineyards, orchards and mountains.
Kelowna’s downtown area incorporates waterfront City Park and a lakeside cultural district, among many other things. Outside the city, more than 20 local vineyards offer wine tours and tastings.
There’s so much to do in Kelowna, and there is a strong emphasis on all-season outdoor sports and recreational living. There are Okanagan wineries and tours, beach life, hiking, golf, kayaking and canoeing, just to name a few. Summers there are hot and dry, although we didn’t see any evidence of this during our visit (mid-May).
We had been wanting to visit Kelowna for quite a while, and this seemed like a good opportunity; our former Toronto neighbour had moved to Kelowna a couple of years ago and spoke very highly of the city. It was time for a visit!
Harbour / Lakeside
The Ogopogo
Ogopogo statues and symbolism are everywhere in Kelowna. Native legend has it that the large lake creature now known as Ogopogo was originally a demon-possessed man who murdered a well known and respected local, named Old-Kan-He-Kan. To pay for his sins, the Native Gods changed the murderer into a lake serpent, so he would forever be at the scene of his crime and suffer eternal remorse. The serpent’s native name became N’ha-a-itk, meaning sacred creature of the water, water god or lake demon.
The Ogopogo was said to live in caves below Squally Point and Rattlesnake Island. According to folklore, locals feared the large creature who demanded food sacrifices from travellers in exchange for safe passage through the lake. If not appeased, the creature would churn the lake waters from calm to stormy. The fabled Ogopogo is now an iconic symbol of Kelowna and the Okanagan Lake area.
Kasugai Gardens
The Kasugai Gardens are Kelowna’s Japanese gardens. Located behind Kelowna’s City Hall, the Gardens were created to demonstrate friendship and union between Kelowna and its Sister City Kasugai, Japan. The Garden features traditional elements notable in Japanese gardens, such as stone lanterns, pine trees, waterfalls and a pond stocked with Koi. It is a beautiful integration of stone, pathways, plants and water.
A Few Kelowna Sculptures…
By Jock Hildebrand. Funded by the City of Kelowna, Public Art Fund, October 2002.
Designed and built by R. Dow-Reid of Kelowna. This sculpture was lowered into place by Okanagan helicopters on October 18, 1977.
By M. Jacobi, 1961. This sculpture is one of Kelowna’s oldest installations that many people may remember visiting as children. It is meant to remind us of the connection between “Kelowna” and its original meaning “grizzly bear” in the Syilx (Okanagan) language.
Designed and created by Robert Holmes, 2010. “Capturing the Signature Movements of Ballet and Modern Dance”.
By Jed Lind, 2011. Outside Kelowna Art Gallery. This installation features seven abstracted car bodies stacked vertically in a minimalist form. The cars, crafted from painted steel, disassemble and deteriorate as they rise, becoming indistinguishable by the time they reach their tallest point. Stripped of both form and function and standing at approximately 7.5 meters tall, the illusion of Gold, Silver & Lead transforms our familiar urban landscape into a contemplative space.
Lind uses the iconic 1979 Honda Civic as the model for his sculpture, capturing the spirit of its original design as a modern, yet humble, car of the future. Designed as a response to the Second Oil Crisis when much of North America was forced to ration available gasoline, the fuel-efficient Civic was seen as the way forward. Its slogan, “Think Simple,” lends itself to Lind’s action of taking this symbol of speed and mobility and pairing it down to the basics. Equal parts philosophical and architectural, Gold, Silver & Lead invites us to reflect on our own mobility, our destination, and our connection to the urban environment.
By Braden Kiefiuk, 2013
By R.Dow Reid. Dedicated May 9, 1993. The Lagoon system and fountain are a joint project of: The Grand Okanagan Resort Ltd., City of Kelowna, Lakepoint Management Corporation.
By Geert Maas
…And Some Murals
On wall of Dunnenzies Pizza Co, 1559 Ellis Street
Lake Okanagan Boat Tour
As a treat to ourselves, and to get a little more familiar with Lake Okanagan, we booked a 1-hour private boat tour with the company Ogopogo e-Boat Tours. The main offering of this company is parasailing, but we definitely opted out of that for fear of drowning or falling to our deaths. A guided lake tour on a pontoon boat was much more our style…
City Park
City Park is Kelowna’s beachfront public park on Lake Okanagan. It has a long sandy beach and offers attractions such as lawn bowling, a children’s waterpark, and aqua park, playground, picnic area, a skateboard park, running track and sportsfield:
Kangaroo Creek Farm
One highlight of our Kelowna visit was the Kangaroo Creek Farm. What a wonderful place this is! The farm hosts wallabies, kangaroos, capybaras, sugar gliders, porcupines, pigs, parrots, emus, goats and reptiles in the animals’ natural environment.
The Farm breeds and raises the kangaroos and some of the other animals, and they are kept in the open where people can fully interact with them. The staff at the Farm will supply animal treats/food and you can feed the animals if they are so inclined to eat (most were). The animals are extremely used to people but the Farm staff always keep a watchful eye on what people are doing with regard to the animals; we were warned repeatedly that some animals can charge if they feel cornered by humans.
We spent hours here and loved every minute. Vince interacted with the animals and fed a few of them, while I was behind the camera. I did manage, though, to befriend a few of the critters when I wasn’t manning the camera:
Capybaras
Here’s a little movie of the Capybaras having their morning snack:
Emus
A baby Wallaby named Teddy (too cute!)
Parrots
Porcupines
A wandering, rogue turkey named Winston
Peacocks
Goats
And, of course, the stars of the Farm: the Kangaroos
One of the stars at the Kangaroo Farm:
Saying Farewell to Kelowna
Here’s a little video I shot from the balcony of our hotel, just before we left for the Kelowna International airport:
And that about wrapped up our Kelowna adventure!
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