British Columbia Canada

Sunshine Valley to Lac Le Juene – A Hauntingly Good Day

A good lay in for the boys and an 8am NCFC match on some dodgy website for Callum! Antler’s Hideaway in the quirky little hamlet of Sunshine Valley proved to be a great little stopover and we were actually quite sad to leave…

I had a breakfast time walk up part of Cascade mountain before they were all up and about … beautiful..even the ‘Better Days Bridge’ looked appealing with its babbling mountainside brook…

The Better Days Bridge

.. As we left the settlement and headed out to Hope I couldn’t help but look back for a second or two and marvel on the two conflicting guises of Happy Valley and it’s previous incarnation as Tsame the incarceration camp for Japanese Canadian prisoners… We were lucky to have visited.

After a 10 minute drive back to Hope we joined Highway 5 heading up to the exotically names Lac Le Juene. I choose Sunshine Valley because if sounded happy and LLJ because it sounded sophisticated and Parisian! Nothing like an informed traveller! 😂

We stopped for lunch in the amicable city of Merritt, located in the Nicola Valley of the south-central interior of British Columbia. Possibly the friendliest town I’ve ever visited! A town with a bit of a midwestern feel…Whilst the boys dropped off for sandwiches I got chatting to a lovely lady and we ended up having a picture perfect lunch in the garden of the heritage house she looks after. She plied us with chilled, fresh lemonade to enjoy and then one of her friends showed us around the supposedly haunted house…

A step back in time to the 1900’s, left pretty much the way it was when the Bailey family left 100 years ago… Although, whether they have ever actually left at all is debatable! The Heritage House is a favourite haunt of ghost hunters who visit in the hope of seeing one of the seven Bailey’s who are reported to still visit the rooms… with footsteps being clearly discernible… the boys have never been so keen to finish a visit! 😂😂 👻

After stocking up on food we completed our journey to Lac Le Juene Wilderness Resort… Cabin 12 was open and waiting upon our arrival … with a bold little prairie dog keeping watch!

The boys love the main lodge with its pool and games. I love its lake!

We finished the day with an evening ‘reconnaissance’ to the provincial park of Lac Le Juene where we hope to kayak tomorrow. 🛶🛶🛶

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Sacha Brakenbury

As mum to three sons (and auntie to ten!) Sacha is kept busy trying to keep the kids alive, safe, fed and watered. Having specialised in Child Psychology and Linguistics at the University of Reading, Sacha went on to complete her Postgraduate Certificate in Education before taking up her first teaching post as Head of Boys Sport and Year 6 teacher. After 6 years, Sacha was fortunate enough to awarded a travelling fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, enabling her to undertake an extensive research project overseas. Sacha has worked with some of the world's top professional sports and educational institutions across Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand - researching ways of engaging young people through the medium of sport and in particular how this can help to reduce drug use and gang membership. After returning to the UK Sacha became Education Director at Ipswich Town Football Club, leading in the government's 'Playing for Success' scheme. She went on to establish three highly respected Study Centres back in the East of England, each of which used sport as a means of motivating children and young people. After successfully completing her National Professional Qualification for Headship in Cambridge, Sacha went on to study for her Masters Degree in Education. With the arrival of her three sons, Sacha decided it was time to 'go it alone.' She set up her own business consultancy, supporting a range of charities and organisations across the UK. Securing funds in excess of £2 million pounds, Sacha was able to 'give wings' to a wide range of charitable causes close to her heart. She continues this today with work specifically for Child First Trust. It was her own kids that were the inspiration behind her establishing Learning Academies (www.learningacademies.co.uk) - a tutoring company that has the simple mission to motivate and encourage its students to become confident and assertive learners who are not afraid to 'take risks' and challenge themselves. As a passionate photographer, Sacha is never more at home than when she's travelling, camera in hand, boys in tow. As a qualified medic with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, she is able to combine her love the outdoors with her passion for wild animals.

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