Weekly Goose 119

Good morning!

Did you know? The St. Eugene Mission Residential School just outside of Cranbrook in southeastern British Columbia is the only residential school in Canada that has been reclaimed by the local First Nations community and transformed into a resort.

Speaking of the St. Eugene Golf Resort & Casino, we had the opportunity to spend a night there last spring as part of a multi-destination road trip we were doing with My Kootenays, which is also the sponsor for this newsletter.

The Kootenays in British Columbia are truly one of Canada’s gems and this newsletter is dedicated to the southeastern region that includes Fernie, Cranbrook, St. Eugene, Kimberley, Fairmont Hot Springs, Invermere, Panorama, and Radium Hot Springs.

So without further ado, enjoy the 119th edition of the Weekly Goose, which features videos and travel guides about the Kootenays, what’s new in this region, and more!

What’s New in the Kootenays

• The Iconic Fernie app allows visitors to Fernie BC to explore the many attractions, local arts and history within 6 self-guided, themed tours. Tour options include Explore Nature, Taste of Fernie, Family Fun & Yum!, among others. There is also the opportunity to collect points along the way and redeem them for local rewards!
  

• The St. Eugene golf course and RV park are now open for the 2023 season. Their golf course is already buzzing with activity, and they have a full slate of events planned, including local tournaments and other exciting happenings. You can find all of this information on their website.
  

• If you’re looking for some excitement in Radium Hot Springs, Valley Zipline Adventures opened their new 50-foot Aerial Park that features three levels of challenge and fun. After completing a short orientation through their training course, you can take on 33 different elements including X&O’s, Army Crawl, Hanging Buckets, or the Spinning Beams. They also have the Big Foot Kids Course for the little ones.
  

• Right next door to Radium Hot Springs is Glacier Helicopters, a new helicopter tour operator in Invermere offering sightseeing tours, heli biking, and heli camping. We can’t imagine a more beautiful place to see from the sky!
  

• Those visiting Cranbrook will want to check out Encore Brewing, the newest brewery and entertainment spot in the city. This is the ultimate place for adults to be kids again with a craft brewery, bowling centre, arcade, and tasting room with a full kitchen.

Beaver Bites

• The Canadian passports are getting a revamped design, including some pretty nifty security features. After all, the Canadian passport is one of the most powerful passports in the world, which makes them vulnerable to fraud. In addition to the new driver's licence-like page and anti-tampering features around the chip, information will be laser engraved and temperature-sensitive. They also have some cool artwork, which for some reason, is causing some backlash.
  

• Like taking photos of old homes? Canada’s most photographed home is at risk of being torn down, so you might want to get yourself over to Chatham-Kent asap. The Guyitt House, which was built back in 1845, is at risk of demolition after municipal inspectors deemed it unsafe.
  

• If you’re trying to come up with a truly unique Canadian adventure, why not go treasure hunting in New Brunswick? After all, a museum in Maine is offering a US$25,000 reward to anyone who can find a piece of a meteorite thought to have landed in a forest between New Brunswick and Maine. It would be quite the adventure and quite the story if you actually found it. However, do you know what a meteorite looks like?
  

• Those looking to visit Western Canada will likely want to look into the wildfire situation, especially in Alberta, which recently declared a state of emergency. Typically, fires like this are more common in July and August, but as of today, roughly 86 wildfires are active in Alberta alone. These fires have already burned more than 530,000 hectares of forest area, equivalent in size to Trinidad and Tobago. Even cities like Calgary are currently under an air quality advisory.

Photo of the Week