ponylife

Hi, we are planning a recce trip next year and are mainly looking at Kamloops (cheaper house prices) but am tempted by Kelowna (bigger hospital).
Can anyone give any suggestions around East BC that are affordable (house prices) near a largish hospital (for work, nurse), not too far away from a ski resort (idealistic but we can dream) and with some trails (horses/bikes) around.
Sorry for hijacking thread but would like some towns given with personal experience that we can plot into the route.
Thanks !

Stinkypup

Well, I had a look at the map and, sorry ponylife, but I can't think of anywhere further East which fits the bill. Kamloops and Kelowna tick most boxes, Vernon ok. Further East, hospitals are way smaller but the skiing is pretty badass. I would thinks most places in BC outside Vancouver would probably be good for horse trails. There are some great biking trails for example around Vernon.
Trail has a large hospital but a larger Smelter - I wouldn't , unless you don't value your health

ponylife

Thank you very much! Will be sure to avoid Trail then, I quite like my lungs!
We are going to fly into Vancouver, is there any where outside of the city (too expensive) you/anyone would recommend we see enroute?
We have 3 weeks so would like to have as much as poss to compare.
So far the loose plan is a couple of days in Vancouver, a week in Kamloops, a few days in Kelowna, we would like to see a bit of Salmon Arm but not sure where else, (even if its for a holiday recommendation!) Thanks

BristolUK

I thought they had fins. Or is that going out on a limb?

the_tones_guy

A week in Kamloops is a long time in Kamloops, we were originally going to move to Kamloops, but after our recce, it was not for us. Personally I'd switch your Kamloops and Kelowna itinerary, there is 'much' more to do in the Kelowna area IMHO (No offence to those that live in Kamloops )

ponylife

I would like to try out what ever they're drinking to be able to see salmon arms!

Thanks the_tones_guy, Kelowna is out of our budget for buying a (dream) house which is why we set longer for Kamloops.
We are thinking of hiring an RV for the 3 weeks to be able to up and go depending on where we feel a pull to so we don't have to plan hotels before we arrive, planning in pencil as it were.

the_tones_guy

Yep, fair enough, and RV, great idea, when we finally sell our house (which IS a problem), we will drive from NL to Kelowna, we bought a motorhome and will do it in 3 weeks, make it part of the adventure.

On the other hand, having a dream home in a place with not much to do (unless you like 'not much to do'), is that better than a nice home in a place with loads to do?

We have a dream home in NL, but there is nothing to do and we're miserable, so we are moving.

I agree, Kelowna is expensive, so we are moving to Vernon, the house prices there are similar to here in NL.

(Again, no disrespect intended to folks that live in Kamloops).

Stinkypup

I am being traumatised by Snoop at the moment, being dragged around Blue Water, shopping but I have some thoughts which I will reveal once recovered from my traumatic trip

ponylife

Thanks everyone!
Dream place to me is miles and miles to ride with no roads, so the more money available to spend on a horse would be better compared to malls/cinemas/restaurants etc.
Other half likes cycling and running and we both love skiing.
We will also be taking our dog so a bigger garden and (I'm dreaming) a pool would be higher on the list than being close to town, but would still have to be within 30 mins of the hospital for work.
What is on your list for things to do which you found Kelowna has that Kamloops doesn't ?
Thanks Stinkypup, good luck, shopping is traumatic!

Stinkypup

It will mainly depend where you will be able to get a job after you have jumped through the qualifying hoops. Bed numbers - Kelowna 711, Kamloops around 200 and Vernon around 160ish. Clearly Kelowna streets ahead on that score. You could live in Lake country or at a push, West Kelowna but Lake Country is a little more wine country than wilderness so riding trails less good possibly.Skiing still very accessible at Big White or Silverstar.
Vernon , as Tonesguy says is cheaper than Kelowna. Great areas for you would be North, in Armstrong, great riding country, Coldstream,Lavington (or Lumby if you don't mind a bit of a drive to town). These are way cheaper and are situated in beautiful areas.

Skiing again very accessible at Silverstar as well as mountain biking up there in the Summer. Google Okanagan Rail trail- planned and will be great. Kal park has good riding both horse and bike. Penticton hospital is smallish and too much wine country probably for riding- Apex isn't I think the best of ski resorts, just ok.
The other places are beautiful, Nelson, Golden, Revelstoke, Fernie, either have tidgy little hospitals or none at all.
Other alternatives would be on the island (it is huge!), great for everything outdoors and has some fairly big hospitals. Fraser Valley probably would be ok but is getting pricier. Avoid Smelliwack.

I think your best bet if you could get a job is somewhere in the Okanagan. Or, as I said, the Island.
Gotta go have a lie down, I'm exhausted after all that bloody walking round a shopping mall

R I C H

I owned an equestrian business in Kamloops for a number of years, in a rural suburb (Barnhartvale) 20 min from downtown. There's access to Crown Land for days of riding/hiking or dirt biking without coming across roads.

Kamloops itself has a bike ranch (Juniper suburb) for downhill mountain biking and there are many other trails around the city. Sun Peaks is 45 min drive away and is Canada's 2nd largest ski resort. This time of year the lifts and trails are open for mountain biking (downhill and cross-country).

Kamloops hospital has recently undergone a multi million $ expansion and is generally considered an excellent resource. I've a number of friends that work there in the nursing professions.

Having spent a lot of time in both Kamloops and Kelowna, perhaps the major advantage of Kelowna might be the lakeside setting, whereas Kamloops Lake is 15 min drive west of town - Kamloops offers riverside residential properties as an alternative, or Tobiano golf course on Kamloops lakeside provides lakeshore property. Kelowna is a much larger city and traffic is far heavier, particularly during the summer. Amenities/shops and cultural events aren't dissimilar, and Kelowna's only a 2 hr drive if you find it necessary to visit.

the_tones_guy

Kamloops will be a long weekend destination with the motorhome and bikes now Thanks for thtis reply.

ponylife

Thanks a lot, so much info! A few more places to the list and good to know where locals advise to avoid.
Agree will more than likely end up on where the job offer(s!) come from, fingers crossed all goes to plan.

Theoldfields

Your best bet will be to check it out in the RV as you're suggesting. We visited the area several times before moving close to Vernon. It is certainly cheaper than Kelowna and we assumed we'd use Kelowna regularly when we moved here but have found Vernon has pretty much everything we need (except my job is in Kelowna 😄 ).

Despite a couple of visits we couldn't work out the attraction of Kamloops but it's a growing town so I suspect we just missed it.

BristolUK

Found this in today's Guardian
interiorbc
Funny stuff, now what about Kamloops?
Also fondly known to the locals as 'Fruitloops' on occasion.

KillerMarmot
Vernonites use the phrase with derision.

interiorbc
Not Vernon so much, we like Vernon, it's Kelowna we have a problem with.
"Kelowna gets everything" is also very likely to be heard around town.
We have better traffic patterns though, try driving through Kelowna in summer.

KillerMarmot
Kelowna <spits>