Did you know in 2017 Canada will be celebrating its 150th anniversary of confederation. Canada is a fairly young country when compared to most but the fever of excitement seems to be spreading across the nation. 2017 should be a big year for great Canadian road trips!

But as we trudge through the Winter – not my favourite season – there are plenty of things to keep us occupied as we count down the days to Spring.

 

Big White

Unlike me, if you love the snow then take in our famous Champagne power up at the Big White Ski Hill. You can ice skate, board, ski and sled to your heart’s content. There’s also a mountain of ice to climb in the Adventure Park. With decent dinning choices and vodka/wine events throughout the winter. Big White is ideal for a day trip from Kelowna if you haven’t booked your accommodations in advance. 

Wine Tasting

Many of the Okanagan’s wineries are open during the winter, although their adjoining restaurants may not be. The winery hours are cut shorter during the winter months for sure so be sure to check with your winery or wineries of choice before venturing out for your visit. Additionally, the Okanagan and Kelowna is particular have no shortages of wine tours available to select from. My wine tour company of choice is Distinctly Kelowna Wine Tours. You can book referencing my website.

If you’re new to the area and would rather do a DIY tour some of Kelowna’s wineries that I think you’ll enjoy during the winter can be found on my Okanagan Sip page, listed by location. 
And if you can’t get to any wineries at all you can visit the Laurel Packing House which serves as the Okanagan Wine Industry Museum, the Okanagan Orchard Industry Museum and a shop to pick up unique locally made items.

Cooking Classes

By far one of the most popular thing for foodies to preoccupy themselves during the winter months here in Kelowna is attend a Mission Hill cooking class. Last year I was able to attend the bacon themed class and this year I’ll be experiencing the Eastern European cooking class which will include German, Ukrainian and other cultural dishes. Book early as they tend to sell out fast!

If you prefer sweets, my favourite French foodie in the Okanagan, Sandrine offers macarons classes as well as Christmas bouche de noël, chocolate classes and much more. 

Canadian Culinary Championships

Each year during the first weekend in February Kelowna is host to the Canadian Culinary Championships. Three days of foodie events including
1) Friday: Mystery wine challenge where chefs are presented with a glass of mystery wine and must create a dish, served cocktail reception-style, to pair with it. Ticket holders get to vote on the winning chef. Food and wine included in the price.
2) Saturday: Black Box challenge held at the Okanagan College Culinary Arts department where chefs are presented with mystery ingredients and have one hour to produce a chef for the judges. No food or wine served.
3) Saturday: Canadian Culinary Championships main event, also served cocktail reception-style, where chefs prepare their choice of dishes for guests to try. However, national judges select the winner of this event. Food, wine and live music are included in the price of the ticket. Auctions to raise money for the Canadian olympians also take place.

 Hockey Night in Kelowna

You can’t visit Canada without attending a hockey game. The professional games can be rather pricy so if you’re on a budget check out the WHL teams for a more affordable evening out. The Kelowna Rockets have a great team and my favourite spot to watch the game is at the restaurant bar. For $60 (+ tax) CAD you can have the buffet dinner and one of the best views of the action at the bar seats. If you follow me on Snapchat you may have seen the view of the game a few weeks ago when we won against Kamloops.