Thursday September 10, Rennie and Jacquie Anderson’s, Fernie BC

Thursday September 10, Rennie and Jacquie Anderson’s, Fernie BC

Finally the weather has cleared and today was just glorious, clear blue skies and pleasantly warm in the mid 20’s. This morning I drove Ruakiwi for the first time, but it was only around the roads in the park, and then out to the dump station!! Felt I needed to get the feel of her in case of an emergency and I had to drive. Surprised how easy she is to drive, but was very aware of the width of the vehicle, it would take some road driving to get relaxed. I was very happy to let Ian get behind the wheel again, and he looked much happier too!

Just down the road we stopped at the old restored town of Fort Steele, it had been a military barracks and a gold mining town and was in its heyday in the 1890’s. As with a lot of these towns, the decline of mining meant they slowly died. This town was taken over by a historical trust in the 1960’s and about 60 of the buildings are restored with a number of working businesses..the forge, saddlery, gold panning and bakery. It looked great as the building really still looked old, and there were some still in their original condition. The little cottages had flower and vegetable gardens planted with heirloom plants, and there were chickens, pigs and milking goats. As it is late in the season a number of the working displays weren’t operating. The smell from the bakery drew us in, the cinnamon buns cooked in the wood fire just had to be tasted!

The drive to Fernie was stunning, the Rockies rise up so steeply, and the crystal clear rivers are obviously good fishing by the number of fisherman we saw.

It was so good to finally get to see Rennie and Jacqui Anderson and their 2 little children Luke and Grace, and got a great welcome. Rennie’s family farmed in the Wairamarama and he is the same age as Dean, so have known him since he was 2, so somehow we all feel as though we are an extended family.

Their home has the most amazing views, the peaks of the mountains are just so close, and we could not have got a better day, the air was so clear. We all went for a walk along the Elk River, which is right beside their house, a delight to see the children running around and enjoying the early autumn sun. They are just such characters and Grace, at 18 months has such a personality, she looks so much older and is really independent, very happy to walk most of the way.

Jacqui cooked a great dinner and had a late evening chatting and catching up on all the news. We parked Ruakiwi outside the front door, so not very far to walk home.

....If you are wondering why I am a bit slow with the blog....life has been really busy with Viva...been to a rodeo and off this morning on a grizzly bear hunt with the neighbour..lets hope it is successful! Will get more loaded when I have time