We set off from Vancouver early in the morning toward our final stop on our tour of British Columbia. Kamloops was roughly a 4 hour drive northwest of Vancouver, which took us back up along familiar winding mountain roads.
We were a tad late for our lunch date with Tourism Kamloops at The Noble Pig Brewhouse, where we were treated to some classic but well done pub food alongside some unique brews. In season at the time was their signature Pumpkin Ale, of which we each enjoyed a pint. After eating we were taken on a tour of the facility by General Manager Maeghan Summers, who showed us the impressive setup used to craft their own in-house brews. We also learned about the interesting history of the business owner, David, who started out as a competitive runner, studied to be a radiologist and soon after moved to Germany to become an apprentice brewer before eventually bringing his craft to Kamloops.
Afterwards we made a brief stop at Hotel 540 to check ourselves in and drop off our luggage, then out we headed to Tranquille Farm Fresh, a good 15-20 minutes outside of Kamloops. As we pulled into the dirt parking lot, we noticed quite a number of buildings on the property beyond just the conventional farmhouse and barn. We checked out some of the fresh offerings at the farmer’s market in said barn - such as pumpkins and several varieties of peppers - before wandering for a while through the corn maze. As we made our way to the far end of the field, through the cornstalks we could see a number of old boarded up houses along a dirt road.
This piqued our curiosity, and inquiring lead to the fascinating discovery that the farm was the former site of a government medical facility that was abandoned in 1985, and furthermore, the owners of the property were currently offering haunted tours through underground tunnels beneath the facility! We couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so we arranged to come back after dark.
We returned to Hotel 540 to relax for a bit, checked out the swimming pool and workout facility, had a nap and woke up in time to shower and head back out to Tranquille Farm. The sun was already setting as we headed out, and had faded to twilight by the time we parked at our destination. In the small lodge by the front gate, we met the tour guide and the group of roughly 15 other people that were taking the tour with us, all anxiously waiting for things to get started.
By the time we stepped outside again, the last of the daylight had faded and the moon was casting an eerie glow overtop the ridge of a distant hill. Some of the nearby abandoned buildings we had seen standing passively during the day now had their windows lit with moody colours, making them look much more ominous.
A large truck pulled up in front of the cabin, towing a flatbed wagon trailer fitted with seats. We were loaded on, then whisked away down the dark road. We passed by many other buildings that were only visible by their silhouettes against the night sky, jumping out briefly in the periphery of the truck’s headlights.
They unloaded us by a dark building, then lead us through a door into a dimly lit stairwell and down several flights of stairs, into the underground tunnel. As the tour guide took us down the dark hallway explaining the history of the abandoned tuberculosis quarantine facility there were several, ahem, surprises that got our hearts pumping a little. Once me made it safely out the other side, we were shown to a dark garage where sat a collection of historic vehicles – a truck, ambulance, and fire truck - that had been restored to their former glory.
The truck and wagon picked us up again and took us all back to the front gates, but not before one final surprise...
Still buzzing from the experience, we headed back to main street Kamloops for a late dinner at the Commodore Grande Café and Lounge. The food was really fantastic – I tried some mussels for the first time since my childhood and quite liked them – and we sampled a number of their signature drinks.
As we sat chatting with our contacts from Tourism Kamloops, the bar staff began clearing the tables from the room, transitioning the space from restaurant to nightclub. The handsome DJ Abel started spinning and it didn’t take long before the dance floor was bustling.
After we left, we did a little exploring of the area, taking a few nighttime shots and making note where we should come back for more photos the next day. Then it was time to head back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep.
We started the next day by stopping in at the highly acclaimed Hello Toast, and we were lucky to show up as early as we did because shortly after sitting down for breakfast they were lined up with people waiting for tables. It is quite the popular place to be, especially on a Sunday morning! We enjoyed a filling breakfast, and were sent on our way with a delicious snack for later.
We spent a few hours exploring and photographing central Kamloops, walking down their main stroll (Victoria Street), crossing the railway line, and walking the foot paths and parks along the river. We made many interesting discoveries, including a train museum, and a decommissioned radar antenna now doubling as a lattice for climbing plants.
After checking out of our hotel, there was one final destination for us to visit on our way out of town: the BC Wildlife Park. Being so close to Halloween at the time, the park was set up with all sorts of scary scenes, from helicopter crashes to graveyards to alien autopsies. While a number of their animal exhibits were already closed for the season, we still were able to have a close-up experience with bears, buffalo, owls, bald eagles, wolves, cougars, and much more. We were also told the park had just acquired a Kermode bear cub – a subspecies of black bear that has a white coat, also known as a "Spirit Bear". Unfortunately the new cub, Clover, was not on public display at the time. That has since changed, now that Clover has settled into his new home, and he can be seen among their other seasonal exhibits.
We grabbed some lunch before departing Kamloops for Calgary, a more than 7 hour drive. We broke this up by stopping at some of the attractions in the national parks. The breathtaking Takkakaw falls in Yoho National Park was only a short walk from the parking area, the pools beneath the falls icing over due to the October temperatures. We also stopped at two of the Cedar Boardwalk trails in Revelstoke National Park which take you for a loop through the dense forest, but on raised platforms so that you don’t disturb the delicate plant life.
This concluded our weeklong tour through beautiful British Columbia: Kelowna, Victoria, Vancouver, and Kamloops. Our only regret was that we couldn’t spend more time at each of our stops; however we certainly plan to return and explore even further on our own time one day!
