Peachland and end of Banff tour

I felt that Brad lost his energy after most of the people were gone. We, a small group, continued our last day's tour on a Greyhound bus with another driver. I couldn't even remember his name but he really enjoyed talking a lot.

The day started with a stop in a farm in Peachland where we had a touristy wagon tour. The farm raise few sheeps and mainly apples, peaches and other fruits. It makes those fancy apples with different "tattoos". Not only the lucky characters are "imprinted" on the apples but also companies' logos. Basically you could tailor make your design and logo for the apples.

We tasted the super sweet ciders and ice apple wines but I think I prefer regular table wines. But I found the dried cherries great and could make a very good snack.

It's a brief stop but we've seen more tourists from tour groups.

We reached Mission Hills winery which was located on the other side of the river. I had been to a few wineries around Niagara area but this one was simply huge. That reminded me the winery in California that I helped promote once.

The grand architecture showed everyone that we had money and and we had taste. The bell tower is carefully designed and pretty grand but it could be quite annoying. The owner also made one of the rooms as Marc Chagall's room with one of his painting inside and a piano from David Foster. Chagall should have much better painting but it's always good to look at real painting in front of you. I wanted to tell the bus driver to shut up, saving his time to tell me who David Foster was.

The cellar is having some new barrels and looks very commercial. After all, it's a touristy place though it's so grand. We realised later that it's sensible choice for the driver not to drink in the wine-tasting session.

I preferred to skip the expensive lunch at this winery but took a chance to enjoy a cup of tea with the amazing view. I guess I was not prepared to give Canadian chef the second chance even the restaurant was awarded to be one of the best in the country.

Well, the bus driver talked a lot about his passion on food and how he cooks the fish. I simply didn't enjoy the conversation and found it quite boring, maybe I don't like fish at all.

On our way back to Vancouver, we're stopped by an inspection team or the police to do an inspection of the coach. Thanks god, the driver didn't drink otherwise, who drives us back home?

So I spent the time talking to the English couples sitting in front of me, sharing our travel plan next. They are having a round the world trip, starting from Australia to New Zealand, San Francisco, Vancouver, Banff, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, London and back home. It's quite an adventurous trip for them as the customer service staff from Air Canada mixed up with their air ticket booking and then the hostel made a funny mistake when rearrangement their bookings. So plan your round the world trip early and be very patient when people make mistakes.

The couple even went to the South Pole a few years ago without being bothered by seasick. They took the medicine and wore those bracelets that helped them get through the unstable water. Even the chef on the boat was not feeling well.

Time flied and we almost noticed the delay with the traffic and the inspection. Brad asked me the last advice for his plan for Asia trip. Well, he should have plenty of time if he is going to teach in Korea. Once again, he recommended me to go to Lynn Canyon and check out North Vancouver.

We're happy that the rain stopped and back to Vancouver again. Once again, the hotel person welcomed me home and I couldn't wait to have a good sleep.