questions,questions??
 

were should we go, kelowna,calgary,vancouver or victoria.
we had set our heart on kelowna or vernon, maybe penticton, but it seems its expensive to live there and wages are lower, should this be a big concern???.

we were thinking of starting some kind of holiday lets, i.e b&b or log cabin operation, any ideas to were would be the best place???

i have read that some people are missing the uk tv, i think it could be the route of all evil, after all, dont we stay in coz its just so good, I'm pretty well travelled and the telly dont seem that important anywere else in the world, i now want to give the outside world a look, but, and its a big but, this satellite wizz kid reckons that the sky tv astra satellite is receivable in canada, i would miss me non prem football and the mighty england cricket team, does anyone get sky in canada????

whats the winters like in the okenagen valley, is it freezing??

thankyou for reading this and any replys would be good
cheers
leadman

Re: questions,questions??
 

I doubt you could get Sky. Sky uses the Astra satellites and they only cover western Europe: http://www.ses-astra.com/satellites/footprints.shtml

Re: questions,questions??
 

Victoria has the mildest winters in Canada. Yes, it does snow in Kelowna/Okanagan Valley (hence the busy ski resort - big white). they also have fantastic summers

this is a busy site to look at but does have B&Bs.
http://www.bchomesforsale.com/

Don't forget compared to the UK, Canadian B&Bs are cheaper to stay in.

good luck

Clare

Re: questions,questions??
 

[QUOTE=leadman]were should we go, kelowna,calgary,vancouver or victoria.
we had set our heart on kelowna or vernon, maybe penticton, but it seems its expensive to live there and wages are lower, should this be a big concern???.

we were thinking of starting some kind of holiday lets, i.e b&b or log cabin operation, any ideas to were would be the best place???

i have read that some people are missing the uk tv, i think it could be the route of all evil, after all, dont we stay in coz its just so good, I'm pretty well travelled and the telly dont seem that important anywere else in the world, i now want to give the outside world a look, but, and its a big but, this satellite wizz kid reckons that the sky tv astra satellite is receivable in canada, i would miss me non prem football and the mighty england cricket team, does anyone get sky in canada????

whats the winters like in the okenagen valley, is it freezing??

/QUOTE]

Leadman, check out The Weather Network online, they have historical weather reconds for each city. Wintertimes are mild. Snow for a few weeks here'n'there. Not as cold as AB ON etc but a wet damp kinda cold not a dry cold. But after summer temps of 35-40 degrees, whose complaining about a bit of cold ? Nice welcome relief I'd say.

Tourism is a happening thing here, The Okanagan area totally buzzes come summer but the rising $CA may hit US vacationers...next year will tell better. But a B&B can certainly provide a sideline in the right home, not a pure profit-maker but a good sideline with tax and cash flow benefits. There is a BC B&B website/organisation somehwhere that had B&B's for sale ? The right location would provide season-round occupation with the amount of ski resorts nearby, and they're all getting better and bigger. Word is, Whister-Blackcomb is so like yesterday, dude ;)

Seriously tho, if you'd really miss your cricket and footy and telly, then how serious are you about Canada ? Worth a thought. It's a total change of lifestyle and culture.

Ref telly, early days for us still but as we mainly watched CSI-crime progs and documentaries then we're missing nothing. Can't say I've seen a UK soap opera for years, they're all miserable bottom-of-the-barrel representations of the very worst of UK society. Everyone shouting, everyone angry :mad: News is a bit different here, less global, some Canada, mainly BC with Vancouver being the absolute centre of the BC television universe ;)

Rich.

Re: questions,questions??
 

Couple of thoughts.

If a B&B is in a good location, making money, why would it be for sale? People dont usually sell a profitable business?

Missing stuff like cricket etc.... its stuff you think you will miss, and if Canada is not what you hope you probably will miss it for psychological reasons. The reality is though that if you are happy here and immerse yourself in canadian life, you probably wont think about it that much, or you will transpose your enthusiasm onto Baseball or Hockey or something that the people around you talk about instead.

Re: questions,questions??
 

We have been in the Okanagan during part of 3 winters and none of those years have been particularly cold in my opinion.....certainly nothing like the winters in Ontario :scared: .

I expect you will do very well running a B&B pretty much anywhere in the Okanagan. Kelowna and Penticton are probably the more desirable places during the summer periods although there are Big White and Apex Ski Resorts on the outskirts of the respective towns for the winter season. Vernon has Silver Star Ski Resort which attracts a lot of people in the winter months and Predator Ridge Golf Course during the summer months. I loved Vernon the first time we went there, but on our last trip out there it had grown so much that it was almost unrecognisable! Property prices have shot up in the past couple of years in Vernon and the last time we visited we actually went further up the valley to Salmon Arm. If you are looking to buy property relatively inexpensively compared to the rest of the Okanagan then Salmon Arm is your best bet. It is situated right on the Trans Canada Trail so lots of passing thru traffic. It is also right on the border of the Okanagan and Shuswap regions so you could pick up trade from visitors to both areas.

B&B's seem to do a good trade in Canada - we have only stayed in two and both of those were over $150 per night, so I think contrary to what others may suggest, it sounds like you could indeed live quite comfortably on this income alone - I know a number of B&B owners in our relatively non-touristy (in comparison to the Okanagan) area of Ontario who do only this for a living and apparently do very well out of it.

As for TV - if this is an issue for you, then investigate all options available from the TV companies, I know a Brit over here who watches a lot of UK sport - not sure who he subscribes to though. I used to watch TV in England, but I have to say I very rarely do over here, even in the depths of winter I always have something far better to do than watch TV.

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B&B at $70-80 a night hereabouts, even during peak season $90 per night max. Unless it's a rellly upmarket log cabin on a mountain with fishing sauna etc etc. :scared:

Rich.

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Retirement ? death ? Fed up with running one after 20 yrs ? Divorce ?
Any one of these (and more) are reasons for selling a profitable business.

I do miss cricket and soccer, not just think i miss it, i get whatever i can from the net but i do miss it. I'm still happy here though and never had any thoughts of going back.

Re: questions,questions??
 

I have read a lot of posts were people said they have missed the football, rugby, and cricket. Well...you are in canada now, and those sports are not the national sports here, it seems to be hockey, and the US football and baseball.

We just don't care really, we have watched some of the hockey to see what the fuss is all about, but we mostly just watch CBC, makeover shows, documentaries, and the HD ( high definition ) channels we subscribed to with rogers cable.

Talking of which, football was on today, chelsea vs bolton, so what are people complaining about?

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The OP specifically mentioned non premiership. Some people actually support the teams in the town they grew up in...and then there is Leeds Utd :(

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What about leeds united? Don't really care much for football either way, too busy enjoying the outdoors for now. :p

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Even so, with just a regular B&B taking $80 per night; if they have 4 rooms available then they will take $320 per night x 7 nights = $2,240 per week. Say they only trade at full capacity for July and August in any one year then their income for just those 8 weeks would be just under $18,000. That is a pretty substantial income for only 2 months work a year.

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I agree, i don't moan about not seeing it, i just said i miss it. I never have and don't think i ever will get into North american "sport" so it will be a virtually sport free household (at least sheila will be happy)

Btw, Whats the HD like? worth the extra expense of buying a suitably equipped TV and box?

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And I believe if they are living there themselves ( the owners ), they can write a lot of stuff off on tax. phone bills, and other stuffs

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Just ianik trying to be funny, just goes to show that the famous scouse humour didn't bless all of them :D