Kelowna: plunge into family time for a taste of local life

I crept, crablike, down the slippery rock, intending to ease slowly into the waterfall´s icy pool. But with a brisk gasp followed by an extended “Ohhhhhh,” I slid and plunged up to my popping eyeballs. Swift immersion into local life, led by our son and his girlfriend, made our trip to Kelowna (Canada) memorable.

Travel often involves visiting family and friends in places you´ve never lived yourself, which changes the travel dynamic. Suddenly, you´ve got insider info into the locals´ favourite places, including out-of-the way spots no tourist would ever stumble upon. No need to consult maps or tourism websites or TripAdvisor – you´ve got built-in guides.

Our son, Tom, has enjoyed local life in Kelowna for 10-plus years, so we´d visited this British Columbia city on Okanagan Lake many times and seen the tourist hot-spots. Still, compulsive planner that I am, I´d made a list of places I wanted to revisit. Once we arrived, however, and met his girlfriend, Tasha, I tossed my list aside and followed their lead.

Mission Creek swimming hole

Rippling, gurgling Mission Creek threads its way along Kelowna´s south side.

Kelowna was hot during our August visit: 35°C+! So, we donned bathing suits, gathered drinks, snacks and camp chairs, and headed for Tom and Tasha´s favourite swimming hole on Mission Creek. This shallow creek that gurgles along Kelowna´s south edge has many spots where people have stacked rocks to dam the clear waters. The resulting pools are just deep enough to stretch out and cool down.

This was the perfect low-key activity for us as we recovered from jet lag (eight-hour time difference from Portugal).

In between dips in Tom and Tasha´s favourite Mission Creek swimming hole, we snacked on chunks of candied smoked salmon.

One of our snacks was chunks of candied smoked salmon (wild-caught Chinook salmon). Mmmmm. Delicious! It was appropriate, since kokanee salmon spawn in the shallow creek. The female uses her tail to swish out a nest in the gravel bottom. Overhanging trees provide shade and protection for eggs and young salmon.

The name “kokanee” comes from the indigenous syilx language, meaning “red fish.” Kokanees are landlocked sockeye salmon that spend their entire lives in fresh water, rather than travelling downstream to the ocean. Like all salmon, kokanees are believed to memorize the smell of the water where they are born, to later find their way back as spawning adults.

The orangey-red trunks of Ponderosa pines grow tall along Mission Creek trails.

I learned about the salmon from helpful information panels placed along the Mission Creek trails, which we followed on another day.

We hiked past tall Ponderosa pines and balsam firs that smelled like Christmas. In a nearby pond, we spotted a handful of painted turtles, swimming and basking on sunny logs.

Mill Creek waterfall

Cold! Both Tasha and I unintentionally slipped into Mill Creek´s icy water below the waterfall faster than we´d planned.

In another area of Kelowna, the Mill Creek Regional Park trail led to an enticing waterfall in the woods. Brave young people jumped from the mossy rocks above into the deep pool below the falls.  

I inched down the rocks while Tasha made her way along the edge in her dress that she did not intend to get wet. At the same time, we both took surprisingly fast dips into the cold water. Tom and Bill sat on the banks and laughed at us. Still, on a hot day, we didn´t really mind getting wet.  

I crawled out of the pool on all fours, butt in the air, with no dignity or finesse whatsoever.

Bill, Tom, and Tasha set off down the Mill Creek trail.

During our visit, we also took in other low-key family-style activities, including a campfire in their backyard, playing with their four cats, collecting eggs and feeding their chickens, and competing in a trivia night at their favourite barbecue restaurant. After a poor start, we climbed up the rankings and finished second! Our prize was four cans of local beer.

Live like a local? No thanks

Tom, who runs a demolition company, sat beside a Kelowna sculpture of a workman with his toolbox.

“Live like a local” is touted as the ideal, in-depth way to travel. Rather than drop in on a city for a few hours, the idea is to slow down, spend some time and enjoy local life like the residents do.

It sounds wonderful, and certainly we´ve found that slower travel suits us. But living like a local is impossible for so many reasons, the main obstacle being that locals must go to work! I don´t want to do that – I´m retired. Instead, I want a local to take me places I´d never know about if left to my own devices. A good bookstore. An ice cream shop. A secret garden. A swimming hole and a waterfall.

That´s what Tom and Tasha did for us.

Tom´s four chickens keep them well-supplied with eggs.

We even got a taste of Tom´s work experience. He co-founded Evergreen Hazmat Solutions and is Director of Demolitions. Evergreen, a division of TNT Trucking, handles hazardous material removal for demolition projects. Tom ensures the company also recycles and salvages as much material as possible.

He had, of course, told us about this multi-faceted business that he´s learned to run, but during our visit, we got to see it in person. He took us by his office and the company work yard, where he explained how various pieces of (million-dollar) heavy equipment work.

That´s partly how our boy lives his local life.

Peaches and beaches

A giant peach on Penticton´s waterfront dispensed fruity drinks and ice cream.

Kelowna sits midway along the north-south Okanagan Valley, known for its vineyards and wineries as well as countless orchards growing peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, pears and apples. Okanagan peaches – the size of softballs – are just the most delicious I´ve ever had. (Sorry, Portugal. Your peaches are delicious, but they come second.)

Tom had to drive south down the valley to Penticton one day for work, so we joined him and afterwards dropped by the town´s annual Peachfest along the waterfront.

One of Penticton´s beaches faces Okanagan Lake while the other is on Skaha Lake.  

Running since 1948 every mid-August to coincide with ripe peaches, Peachfest now includes musical performances (all free), a parade, amusement park, sandcastle contest, film festival, and, sadly, still a Miss Penticton contest.

We strolled amongst the amusement rides and then along the beach to the old steamboat, watching kids having a blast on the blow-up slides, climbing walls and trampolines in the water. Why hadn´t those been invented when I was a kid?

The S.S. (steam ship) Sicamous is now a museum.

The S.S. Sicamous steam-powered sternwheeler, nicknamed the Queen of the Lake, carried cargo and passengers to communities along Okanagan Lake from 1914 to 1936. Now it sits on Penticton´s waterfront and serves as a museum.

Travel on the Sicamous was luxurious for the times. Not only did the ship boast a five-star restaurant, but also electricity and hot running water, when most homes in the valley had neither. Steam produced by the boiler also generated electricity and heated water. Guests could pay an extra 50 cents and have a hot bath during their journey.

When we lived in nearby Osoyoos for two winters during Covid, the museum had been closed. I was excited to finally tour inside the ship. Alas, we missed the opening hours by 15 minutes! Next time.

Osoyoos… again

The lefthand balcony had been ours during two winters in Osoyoos.

While Tom and Tasha were at work one day, we drove down the valley, past Penticton to the town of Osoyoos, which sits a hair north of the Canada-U.S. border. We had experienced local life for two winters in Osoyoos during Covid and had done that drive along Okanagan Lake many times.

This time, the similarities with our adopted home country of Portugal, where we´ve lived since 2022, struck us. Dry, sandy soil, sparse underbrush in places, scattered pine trees, steep hills, vineyards and orchards. No wonder so many Portuguese immigrants settled in Osoyoos – they must have felt right at home! We had begun learning Portuguese there, from a teacher who had moved with her family to Osoyoos as a teenager in the 1950s.

Hunter, who had lost an eye since we saw him last, still lives in the Okanagan Valley, which reminded us of Portugal.

We drove along Main Street and across the causeway that cinches Osoyoos Lake like a belt. The town was definitely livelier than during our quiet winters there. But we didn´t have time to linger, since we were meeting some friends.

We had a lovely visit with Hunter, the gentle golden retriever who had lived in the apartment below us in Osoyoos with his people, Maureen and Wayne, who are also very lovely! We had fun catching up and seeing the new home they´ve built.   

Kelowna waterfront

The undulating figure of Ogopogo looks much like the Loch Ness Monster.

Of course, there´s nothing to say you can´t combine family time with some tourism fun. Kelowna´s western border is Okanagan Lake – a long slender shimmer of water running 135 kilometres from north to south.

We strolled along the waterfront, dipped our toes in the cool water, checked out big yachts, licked ice cream cones, examined sculptures, and visited with Ogopogo.

The cartoon-like sculpture of “Ogopogo,” akin to the Loch Ness Monster, is often described as a mythical lake creature. But within the indigenous syilx tradition, the being is known as the sacred spirit of the lake, and the spirit´s story reminds “listeners of responsibilities: to travel safely, to give thanks, and to uphold a relationship of reciprocity with the land and water.” All good tenets by which to live.

The sculpture of Chief Sw´kn´cut represents his legacy of perseverance, resilience and integrity when facing colonizers. The Japanese garden represents Kelowna´s friendship with the city of Kasugai, Japan.

I like a city with street art and information panels that explain your surroundings. They lead to a deeper appreciation for a place.

I admired a sculpture of Chief Sw´kn´cut, who protected and led his syilx people when colonization began in the area around Mission Creek. The sculpture includes the Four Food Chiefs: saskatoon berries on his loincloth, black bear claws in his necklace, salmon on the coyote´s tail, and bitterroot by the coyote´s paw.

Kasugai Gardens are a free respite from downtown Kelowna´s busyness.

We ducked into Kasugai Gardens that, while not exactly a secret, could easily be missed behind their tall walls. The trickling water, flowing orange and white koi, stone lanterns, gazebos, stepping stones, pretty bridges, and beautiful plantings form a cool oasis on a hot day. Wandering the paths or simply sitting on a bench are worthwhile activities.

Kelowna has, of course, many other touristy things to see and do. In the past, we´ve visited all the museums (dedicated to heritage, military, wine and orchards, and sports), as well as the Kelowna Art Gallery and the Father Pandosy Mission (the log homes, farm buildings and chapel that were the first permanent European settlement in the area).

On previous trips, we have also visited many wineries that litter both shores of the lake, and we´ve hiked along the Kettle Valley Rail Trail through the spectacular Myra Canyon section with its 18 high wooden trestle bridges and two rock tunnels.  

But not this trip. Instead, we enjoyed family time – living with our locals.

Jamming in Kelowna

The apricot tree in Tom´s back yard was loaded this year. We made two batches of jam but could have made many more.

We spent our last morning in Kelowna making apricot jam while Tom and Tasha were at work. First, we went to Canadian Tire (which carries a lot more than just tires!) to buy jam jars and pectin. Then, we picked the blushing apricots from the loaded tree in Tom´s back yard, sterilized the jars, cleaned and diced the apricots, then cooked the jam.

Tom came home during his lunch hour and created a wide-mouth funnel for me by cutting the end off a regular funnel. Just in time to fill the jars.

As the jar lids cooled and contracted with their characteristic “snick” sound, we packed our bags. Tasha arrived in time to say goodbye. Then we left them and Kelowna behind for our six-hour drive to Canmore, Alberta, to visit our daughter Rachel and her fiancé, Zach. More family adventures to come! 

We visited Kelowna in August 2025. Find out where we are right now by visiting our ‘Where’s Kathryn?’ page.