Saturday, January 31, 2009

Life In Kelowna and Revelstoke

January has been a very busy month. The Nelson Weekly News office has been ticking along without an Editor whilst Rachael has been out and about around BC undertaking parts of her Dietetics Internship.
For the first two weeks she was based in Kelowna which is about 5 hours away from Nelson and the day she set off it was the biggest dump of snow across BC this Winter so far.
Needless to say it was a driving experience she is not wanting to repeat in a hurry - driving along the snowy highway, in the dark, skidding on ice and to top it off at one point having a herd of elks run across the road.
During this first week away the road access to Nelson was blocked in all directions due to avalanches. The stretch of highway from Kelowna to Nelson was closed for 38 km for 4 days until highway crews were allowed to go up the pass to clear the snow!

The first location was to provide experience of working and managing a large scale catering facility, this is a photo of the kitchen. It was a great experience.
The last two weeks have been in Revelstoke, which is about 4 hours away from Nelson plus a ferry ride across the upper Arrow Lakes. This experience was for community dietetics which included teaching various groups including Brownies, Guides, Kindergarten and Prenatal groups.
At this placement Rachael lived on site which was really convenient for commuting!
Here is a photo of Queen Victoria Hospital in Revelstoke the base for the community work. Over the last 4 weeks our truck has travelled over 2400km.

The weather in Revelstoke was slightly colder than in Nelson and they seemed to get more snow too, one night there was around 26cm. Here are a few photos taken from the ferry on the way home. The ferry was cutting through the ice on the way across the lake.


In Revelstoke was a micro brewery called Mt Begby brewery so obviously some bottles were brought back to Nelson for taste testing!
Shaun has been on full domestic duties for the last four weeks including animal care. He has been continuing Oscar's training. Now Rachael is back in Nelson for the last part of training which is much more convenient for normal life.
Rachael, Shaun, Harley, Phantom and Oscar