British Columbia – 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.

Okanagan tour

Little journal of the tour, plus everything else we did with a weekend in the Okanagan.

Day one: Kamloops

When we landed in Kamloops I did not sleep a wink the night before – it was a rough day. We got our rental car and ran around the city finding equipment for the tour. We grabbed some supper and checked into our little cute motel.

Once we were settled in a little (we had to run back to the music store a few times because the system wasn’t working – every touring musician I’ve talked to has told me you’ll always have one mini heart attack on your first tour. I’m so happy I got mine out of the way on the first day). We met up with a photographer (@threevixonsphotography) and hit a little park to take some pictures. The photographer took us to a little natural sound thing, where if you stood in a certain spot and clapped, the sound would come back as a squeak. It was so cool. We headed back to our motel – it was a very early night for me.

Day Two: Kamloops shows & traveling to Salmon Arm

The day started early with two little busy cafe shows. The first show was at a cafe called The Art We Are. The walls were covered in art and there were raw wood tables all over. It was a very welcoming vibe. We had coconut curry and a breakfast wrap which was delicious. We came out a little early but I found the most gorgeous pair of earrings I had to buy.

The second show in Kamloops was down the street at He Brews Havanas. The vibe of this cafe was a lot more modern and spacious. We snuck into a few shops looking for souvenirs.

We packed up everything and started to hit the road to Salmon Arm. The drive there was so gorgeous. We passed by cliffs and Shushab lake.

When we arrived at Salmon Arm we checked into our hotel right away and went for a little walk. We hit the longest wharf in Canada, and did some hefty birdwatching. We came at the right time to see werbes and some cliff sparrows. It was another early and relaxed night.

Day three: Salmon Arm show and mountain drives.

The show in Salmon Arm was very special, my aunt drove from the other side of BC to come see me play, the cafe was so welcoming, and one of the waitresses came up and sang a song with me. The cafe was Sweet Magnolias, and I was the first musician to play there (which was so cool!!). This is where the “Live In British Columbia” album cover was taken.

Afterwards we drove around town looking for something to do, we found a wall with a pretty mosaic on it so we stopped and took some pictures.

We wanted to go for a drive and see some more nature, so we decided to drive down to Enderby. It was a gorgeous little town and we hit a retro restaurant that served caesars made with pineapple juice (10/10). Afterwards we ended up taking a very off road drive through the mountains following the hydro lines. It was definitely unexpected.

Day four: Canooligans Show & Hiking day

We started the day early and headed to Margaret Falls, it’s a short hike the falls and definitely a must hit. We walked all along the beach for a few hours and chatted with a lot of locals.

We realized we lost track of time and rushed back to our hotel to get ready for the show. Canoe, BC is right on the water so when we got there we walked all along the dock. Canooligans is such a unique little bar. The stages backdrop was my favourite, all old record covers.

Found this “Mayor of Canoe” painting in a gas station.

Day five: The long way to Monte Creek and my first winery experience

We started the day with about a two hour drive from Salmon Arm to Falkland. We stopped at a few little towns along the way for coffee and hit little shops where we could. Falkland was my favourite small little town we hit, the towns famous for the largest Canadian flag. We stopped at a cute shop and bought some fudge from a sweet lady selling it, I found a little spoon ring with a blue heron that I needed to take home.

We had to hustle to the Monte Creek Winery, because I had plans to try to wine before I got there. We did sound check in front of mountains – which the manager pointed out to me it’s shaped like a lion head. The Monte Creek Winery treated us so good, we had lunch and did a wine tasting (I had never done one before). The winery had amazing views. We ended up buying a bottle of blueberry wine – which are all grown in BC. Definitely one of the best wines I’ve had.

Afterwards we headed back to Kamloops and checked into a different little motel. There was a couple drinking outside that we hung out with for a while, while dad and I had some blueberry wine. We called it an early night and flew out the next morning.