Assembled in hotel for breakfast at 8:15am and then headed to Kelowna Ice Rink for morning class. Said goodbye to driver Bren and presented him with some farewell gifts which he was clearly grateful for.
No curling today. I think a lot of our bodies will benefit from the break after 9 games in 7 days.
It seems whilst we were curling yesterday, we missed a real hullabaloo outside. Driver Bren said the coyotes in the hills behind the ice rink were all howling like crazy and a whole load of Canadian geese were making a racket with alarm calls. He thought the coyotes must have attacked the geese, which would be unusual apparently as coyotes don’t generally hunt during the day.
Bren left us with a parting story. Lord Strathcona drove the last golden spike into the CPR at Craigellachie, which is near Kelowna. After the ceremony the golden spike was removed and given to a jeweller who made some brooches out of it, and Brendan’s grandmother had one of those brooches.
Processed through the airport without too much hassle and in the air around 12:30pm, bound for Edmonton. Several of us noted that Kelowna Airport toilets had three options – ladies, gents and dogs. The dogs had a fire hydrant in it. You just couldn’t make this stuff up.
The skies were crystal clear as we flew over the Rocky Mountains which made for some absolutely spectacular views and plenty of photo opportunities.
Arrived safely as did all of our baggage which there had been some concern about. Quickly onto the somewhat more modern bus than we’ve been used to and met our new driver, Doron. Headed off for Sherwood Park, Strathcona County, whilst receiving a very informative description of the history and development of the area from new courier Ralph. New time zone. We’re now only 7 hours behind the U.K.
Back onto the bus by 5:45pm and off out to the Canadian Brewhouse to meet a few of the Sherwood Park CC board members for prime rib dinner. Alistair and Stephen were also treated to poutine. Bruce, Malcolm & David Hope had the dessert version. Tasty stuff and a significant improvement on breakfast. All of a sudden it feels as if we’ve received a Tour upgrade.
Temperature around minus 6, much warmer than anticipated. It seems that we have a few walking wounded amongst us. Some key selection decisions will need to be made tomorrow. Early start in the morning and a double header pending. Sensible night – for nearly everybody.
One of the girls in the Brewhouse suggested Jack Daniels and honey as a drink. Turns out it’s pretty tasty. There is a bar near the hotel still open.
Steven McClymont