A day in Peachland and Summerland.

Last summer, with the wildfires and Covid19 still raging in BC, I couldn’t plan any trips. A little trip that me and my friends did manage to wriggle in a short interval of calm was a drive to the nearby towns of Peachland, Summerland and city of Penticton. It was not an epic trip nor was it a flop show. It was exactly what we needed at that time. A stress buster. A rejuvenating ride to some relaxing places. 

It was Divu, his wife Vani and I on that trip. Divu had booked a rental car and had set aside one day for a ride to someplace nearby. We had already been to the local favorite Myra Canyon before so we decided to check out the nearby towns with some pretty names, Peachland and Summerland. Our first stop was in Peachland which is a district municipality with a population of around 5000. Most of the town is situated on a steep hill very close to the Okanagan Lake. It is also home to Canada’s very own Loch Ness, the Ogopogo. We stopped on the waterfront there. Its a pretty stretch of road running along the side of the lake. We walked around here for a while taking in the views. It was a pleasant day. Not too hot and not too cold. Just a normal jacket kind of day. As we were walking we stumbled upon a small museum. Unfortunately the actual museum which was on the first floor was closed for renovation and we had to settle for the smaller portion which was on the ground floor. They had lots of trinkets and stuff from the town. There were posters detailing the history of Peachland and many artifacts which belonged to the locals.  At the counter, they had some small railway wagon models for sale. I bought one for 2 dollars. Made for a nice souvenir. 

Next stop was Summerland. The name has such warm positive vibe to it. That’s for everyone else though. For me it reminded me of the town of Summerisle from the 1973 horror classic ‘The Wicker Man’. And those who have watched the movie will know what I am talking about. In Summerland our first stop was the Museum here. It had some nice exhibits related to the local history but for us the highlight was definitely the railway model town they had. There was model train which completed a loop at the press of a button. This was my first time looking at a miniature railway model and it was fun. We also some interesting exhibits related to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) for whom I have a special interest. I like in trains in general. Add history to it and I am hooked. This was the reason I did the 4 day trip from Toronto to Vancouver. The museum here has some nice costumes of those times which we tried out. 

Our final stop for the day was in Penticton. Here too we headed off to the Museum and spent a good amount of time wandering inside. Lots of interesting stuff but for me two stood out. One was about the ferries that used to run in the Okanagan lake before the advent of the rail and road transportation. Especially cool was a model of SS Naramata which was a steam tug commissioned by CPR. It used to run between 1914 to 1967.  The second was a Penny Farthing cycle. This was owned by a local resident who had it donated to the museum after his death. This was the first time I saw a Penny Farthing in person. After the museum we headed to the Skaha lake hoping to go for a walk around but there was a strong wind blowing at the time. The kind of wind which feels like its slowly percolating through your protective layers and skin and reaching your bones. We headed back home from here. A nice, short and rejuvenating trip.