adventure – Kolby Clunas

Okanagan Tour 2026

My second tour of the Okanagan – hitting a few different towns this time: Kelowna, Salmon Arm, and Sicamous.

KELOWNA

This was my first time being in Kelowna, I have some family in the city, and I got to meet them. We toured around the orchids, ate at a gorgeous lakeside winery, and visited a canyon.

The canyon (we didn’t hike it) but it was pretty to see

I played at the Mission Creamery in Kelowna – a cute ice cream shop tucked into a huge building that is a big boat vending machine.

All of the ice cream was hand made at a different location, but it was perfect, not to sugary. I also loved the garage door that was open. Some folks set up across the street in lawn chair to listen, it was super sweet.

We did more driving the next day and hit the apple orchids. My family was sweet enough to send us on our way with a trunk full of fresh picked fruit.

Dad and I hit a local coffee shop downtown, The Black Rabbit, and I tried an orchid coffee for the first time (I loved it).

SALMON ARM

To start the day Dad and I headed up the mountain top – we were looking for a viewpoint to get some good photos, and we ended up meeting Kasar. He was playing a Pershin drum called a Daf. He played us a song, and I gave him the information for the Salmon Arm show and invited him to come down and play.

Afterwards we headed to a little dairy farm that had open walking tours – we tried different cheeses and walked around the barns. There was a section where you could watch the cheese being made.

I love Salmon Arm, last year I played at a little cafe, and this year I played at a Night Cafe. This place was filled with painting, and they had such good ceasers and cocktails. The Night Cafe was right close to the big trouble clef downtown. Which I didn’t get a picture with last year!

The decor in this place was amazing – bear rugs, hydrangeas, everything was perfect here. I was set up right between a piano and an in the works painting with my drink and set list rested on a painter’s stool. Kasar ended up showing to play with me – check the video out below!

The next morning, we started hitting the markets – I can’t recall which one this was called but they had a petting zoo, so we had to go check out all the animals.

SICAMOUS

The houseboat capital of Canada (we didn’t go on one), we didn’t have much time to spend in Sicamous, but we spent the time right. We started the day setting up at Anvil Collective Coffee – which was a cozy cafe.

My dad’s getting to be quite the good photo taker.

This cafe was filled with cool maps – a lot of old train routes. I found the happiest looking yellow coffee mug that that to come one with me.

Afterwards we spent the day driving up an active logging road to this sketchy viewpoint although it was too foggy to see much. The platform was a direct drop off to the edge of the mountain and all the reviews online said it was seriously unstable. I don’t think I had ever been that far up in the clouds on a mountain so that was pretty cool to see.

We headed to Enderby to eat at the Small Axe Bar that we discovered on our last trip out here – then called it a night.

KELOWNA

We had a day before we had to fly out and I had one thing in mind – the Kangaroo enclosure and coffee. We hit a cafe called Pulp Fiction Coffee House, it was filled with vintage books and little antiques.

Then onto the Kangaroo farm – there was lots to see here.

The emus were giving out hugs and nestling into our necks

Capybaras – these guys felt like straw almost and were super relaxed.

An up-close shot

Despite the number of animals here the porcupine was the coolest to me – pokey and friendly and I got to feed her some celery right out of my hand.

A snake!

An albino kangaroo – these guys were smaller than I thought they would be, and a lot more relaxed

Heading Home

This weekend tour was a lot more relaxed than any other I’ve been on so far, which made it a lot better. This was my guitar case before we left and to keep the tradition, I got a few more stickers to add.

West Coast Tour (2026)

Mission, BC

I got to spend a few days visiting with my aunt before my weekend of shows started. It was great to be sitting in sunshine for the first time in months. I was trying to beat a snowstorm to the Regina airport before my flight took off – so no snow and everything in bloom was great. Mission was home base for majority of this tour, and my aunt helped out with so many little tasks (and bigger ones like driving in Vancouver) that made my life easier.

One of my aunts’ cats held a strong interest in my guitar case.

We went for coffee on the patio of The Penny.

Our little coffees.

We ended up having the time for a quick tattoo by Nathan, at Heart to Hand, right in Mission. A little fine line pear on my ribs.

Vancouver, BC

After a few days of enjoying the sun, we headed into Vancouver for the first show. We chose a little restaurant for breakfast that happened to be in on Granville Island. We were lucky to find a parking spot and started to explore.

We stopped at a music store that had instruments from all over the world – these singing bowls were my favorite.

I loved the colours of these little tour boats – everywhere I’ve been so far, and I haven’t gotten onto a tour boat – that’s on the list of things to do this year.

A sailboat from the marina.

The first show was at Kolm Kontrast, a Sauna and Cold Plunge Spa. This was an unique venue. The folks at the sauna were so kind, it was a great first show for this tour. This was my first time playing in Vancouver – I was nervous, but the environment was so laid back that the nerves did not last long.

Mission, BC

Back to Mission for a little show at The Penny, a cute cafe that we discovered when my brother and I were out visiting my aunt. There was a photo taken of me about a year ago on the same couch drinking a matcha – so of course we had to retake it again.

We had some time to kill before we headed to the cafe to start getting set up – so we drove around Mission, taking photos.

This was the first time this year too that I got to wear a sundress. There was just a snowstorm going back at home, so I did not take wearing a dress for granted.

The actual little show here was lovely, it was another laid back, open armed environment. Coffee houses are my soft spot for shows – when I had imagined myself being a musician it was in cafes and slow-paced environments. Previously to this tour I felt like it’s been a lot of bars and consistent upbeat fast shows. So, this whole weekend was a nice contrast to that, it is nice to be playing my slow songs.

I loved the old espresso machine – the first time I came to this place, I thought it was so cool. It feels full circle to be playing in front of it.

The bird on The Penny’s logo, I thought was super cute.

Victoria, BC

Aunty dropped me off at the ferry that would take me from Tsawwassen, a little city near Vancouver, to Swartz Bay, the ferry terminal outside of Sydney, BC. I took a cab from the ferry terminal down to Victoria – about an hour drive. This was a very relaxed night for me.

I did go for a little walk after supper and found this cat hanging out in the garden, who was very friendly.

The next morning, I took a cab to Ogden Point to get a nice view of the ocean. It was rainy and cold, and I was not dressed for the weather, but I wanted to walk around Victoria for the day before my show.

The fishermen’s wharf was gorgeous – I was here before everything was open, so I got to walk around the wharf peacefully.

One little shop had these wooden chickens outside of them.

Everything in Victoria was in full bloom.

There were little things like this old man bird house on random trees, in a lot of the streets.

The government building was so pretty too – photos do not do it justice. At this point it was starting to rain harder, so I found a cafe to warm up in.

Then I hit Chinatown, Canada’s oldest. It was smaller than I thought it would be but filled with good little spots.

Finally, it was time for my show. This was a crowd that contained a few good dogs – pictured here is Charlie. Him and his owner were super sweet.

This was my little stage set up – right tucked into the corner surrounded by gorgeous plants at VI Plant Shop.

Syndey, BC

My travel plans included going back to Vancouver from Victoria so I could catch my plane back.

I didn’t get up too much in Sydney – there was a Sea Glass Beach, that I went and picked some sea glass.

This was my first time staying in a waterfront hotel, with an ocean view, so that I was excited for.

The next day I took the ferry back to Vancouver – and only had a few hours in Vancouver before I had to call it a night.

Vancouver, BC

I hadn’t been to the aquarium in years, since I was maybe eleven – so I headed that way. I loved it. The touch tanks were almost closing – but I got to go stick my hand in a tank with some jelly fish.

This was my favorite video of the animals that I took at the aquarium.

Red Deer, AB Shows

Day one: travel day

This was a loooooong eleven hour drive. Until we were about an hour into Alberta it was a pretty boring drive.

We got to Red Deer and when I walked into the hotel I picked up this little art catalog (Red Deer has some insane murals downtown) and I saw my name in it.

DAY TWO: SYLVAN LAKE & TWO SHOWS

To start the day we headed to Sylvan Lake, after the long drive the day before a good walk was needed. Sylvan Lake is a cute spot, with super clear water and a lighthouse.

We walked through the little shops (picked up souvenirs) and I found my dream shirt in a shop that was unfortunately closed. We came across this little sculpture made for people to put locks on it.

Afterwards he headed back to Red Deer to start getting ready for the show. We ended exploring down town Red Deer before heading to the patio where I was playing. There was a cute little cafe with an art gallery in the basement.

ROSS PATIO SESSION: DOWNTOWN RED DEER

The patio session was really great, the weather was perfect to be playing in the sun. It was a welcoming very country crowd. We had about a half an hour to get over to the other venue, so this felt very quick.

VIN L DEN WITH AARON FROST & BOP N MOSS

Vin L Den was one of my favourite venues this year, a very rock record store with a stage (and a few couches) in the back. The owner was so chill and the girl who worked at the front was unbelievably kind – she took the fishbowl lensed picture.

Aaron Frost (another singer-songwriter from Brandon, MB – who I met at the beginning of July when I was playing in town, was so kind to set this up), his music has a very acoustic indie rock sound to it.

Bop n Moss consists of the cutest couple (it was sweet, it was their last show as fiancés) who play and sing, what I would consider folk rock.

DAY THREE: CALGARY, BANFF, AND TRAVEL DAY

We started the day driving from Red Deer Calgary to meet some family for breakfast (it’s been about two years since I’ve seen them, so it was nice) Afterwards we were so close to the mountains, we had to go and check them out.

Finally we hit Banff, we got a little market, took a little walk then started to hit the road home.

This was such a relaxing trip to end the busy summer.

Sunny Sask Tour

Four shows – Four towns – 7 hours of playing.

Before we left home

There was so much packing and organizing to do (I am pro at procrastinating laundry, so laundry day). Top priority was getting my nails done.

Done by Karla (Reflexology by Karla, Langenberg, SK)

Day One: Starting close to home; Music in the Park, Binscarth, MB

A lovely little set in front of a listening crowd. It felt like I haven’t been onstage for awhile so it was nice to have this crowd to start this weekend. These little shows really help put into perspective on what I’ve accomplished in this past year. This time last year I played here and sang The Mountain Lion Song for the first time. We did another photo like the one from last year.

2024 (the album cover of the first live performance of the mountain lion song).

Day Two: The Road Trip Out

The road trip mainly consisted of behind of the scenes work, making posters for shows, doing updates on my website, last minute set list changes, all that fun stuff. I added a piece of Merch this time around (that I plan on continuing) called Pocket Poems. They’re very small (four page) poem books that I hand sewn the spines too. I’m bringing two different issues out – Self Reflections of Twenty-One and The Garden Gnomes Smoke When The Streetlights Turn On. So excited to see how they do in the merch trunk.

We stopped in Moose Jaw to check out the world’s largest moose. On the way here I read through the history of this moose loosing and regaining his title. The information building was cool, I picked up a sticker for my guitar case, and looked at some local art.

We kept driving and hit Chaplin, we explored a little nature center on the side of the road. This was one of the coolest side of the road attractions I’ve hit, it’s right near a salty pond so all the shorebirds hit it on the migrations path for the shrimp that live there.

The amount of taxidermy birds found in this area is astounding.

Morse Museum – Morse, SK

When we got to Morse we hit a little bar to play some pool to kill some time. We got a private tour of one of the graduates from the Morse Museum (it previously was a school until 2009). One of my favorite parts of doing shows is the special opportunities I get to do like having a private tour of this museum. Performance wise this summer has been a lot of first time running into issues (breaking strings, technical difficulties, ect) in Morse when they were setting up the lights once it got dark – the lights blew a breaker. So, it made it extra interesting, but I think I played it off smoothly. I love a classic trailer stage but the cat tails behind me was one of my favorite stage set ups.

They let me jump the fence to get this picture

Another stuffed seagull (this was the 7th I saw in a day)

Day Three: SWT Theatre – Gull Lake, SK

We woke up in Swift Current and started the drive out to Gull Lake, once we got there, we had three hours to kill so we headed to the Eastend Dinosaur Museum. It was cool to see all the casts, and I ended up learning a lot about the history of Sask (never would have guessed there was crocs here at one point). I learnt about Scotty the Dino years ago in school, so it was kind of nice to see him in person. We passed through a small town full of murals, Shaunavon, that had a little coffee shop with the best coffee I’ve ever tasted there.

A little creek we stopped at on our way to the museum.

We headed back to Gull Lake, and it was a pretty quick getting set up and sound check until the show. This was my first theatre I got to play on my own and having my name on the sign was crazy. I discovered a Swift Current movie production company (Dead Prairies Production) which has a movie called “Gorephers”, a horror movie about killer gophers, which is on my list of things I need to watch this winter.

The crowd was smaller than ideal but a vibrant night, and I believe the folks who were there enjoyed it.

Day Four: Cypress Hills Winery – Maple Creek, SK

We started the day in Gull Lake and had a few hours to venture since I wanted to hit the little bookstore, The Yellow Canary, before we left. We hit a little cafe and found an ice fishing shack in someone’s yard that dad wanted to ask some questions about the build of it. Afterwards we did hit the bookstore. Lovely little place, really love the small-town businesses. I bought a book that’s been on my read list for a while and then we hit the road again. We found a little church that turned into an antique store, and I found a throw blanket by Laurel Burch (covered in cats). Had to grab it.

Maple Creek itself was such an old timey cute town. People were so friendly here, like anyone on the street would start chatting. We checked out the two busy streets with all the shops, someone told us that one of the toy stores has the largest collection of puzzles in western Canada – so we had to go and check that out.

The Cypress Hills Winery itself was the cutest little place – a long curvy pathway that bring you to the front doors (where two wooden bear statues greet you). The artwork in the winery was all oil paintings of livestock and wild animals which I always appreciate. I believe this winery is ran mainly by a mother-daughter duo – it was such an experience getting the behind the scenes of how the wine is made and of course trying as many wines as I could in a night. One of the waitresses hoped onstage and sang while I strummed along with her (which is something I want to start doing more, I love when other people take the mic for a while).

What was SO cool was someone from the Cypress Hills Grasslands Area organization came out and took a few videos.

It was a busy weekend, and an even longer drive home the next day but overall Western Sask is such a nice place to be.