Nut Farm, Parrot Island, Wineries & Thanksgiving Dinner, Kelowna, BC, Canada

We did lots of stuff today~

Gellatly Nut Farm Provincial Park – Today we started our touring of the area with a visit to the Gallatly Nut Farm Provincial Park . Our expectation was that this was a working nut farm which included the tasting and purchasing of various nuts. What we found was the remnants of an old nut farm containing many varieties of nut trees that is preserved as a provincial park. There are paths throughout the park where you can see the various nut trees. The entire park is right on the Okangan Lake and is a great spot for a relaxing picnic lunch. The only nuts to taste are those that fall on the ground.

Parrot Island – Our next stop was Parrot Island in Peachland, BC. This is a privately run facility where sick, unwanted or neglected birds are rescued, or the parrots are brought in by people who are no longer able to care for their birds. We toured the facility ($5 per person)and found that all the birds are very well taken care of and loved by the proprietors of the facility. They have an interesting program which loans a bird to a single senior citizen (usually recently widowed), and the parrot becomes their companion. This is a win-win situation for both – the person has a purpose in the love and care they provide the parrot, and the bird has a new home full of love and care. Once the human passes away, the bird returns to the rescue, and may again become a companion for another person (keep in mind that parrots can live well beyond the lifespan of humans - their average lifespan is 140-150 years ). This facility is not a showy tourist attraction, but rather a working bird rescue that you can tour to view the birds under their wonderful care and be educated to help reduce the need for such places. It is a place of hope for all the birds.

Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery – Next we stopped at the Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery. There is a tasting fee of $5.00, which is applied to the cost if you purchase a bottle. We tried a couple of whites and reds before deciding to purchase a nice Chardonnay. The staff here was not as enjoyable as we experienced at other wineries – in fact, we do not recommend visiting this place, in lieu of the other wineries you can enjoy in the area.

Thanksgiving dinner at Holiday Park – We concluded the day with a wonderful Thanksgiving themed dinner at the Holiday Park Eagle’s Nest restaurant. The meal consisted of all that you would expected from a Thanksgiving dinner…turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potatoes, salad and several homemade pies. We both greatly enjoyed the meal and walk away from the table in normal Thanksgiving fashion – stuffed.