Ogopogo Tours - Award Winning Sustainable Tours

06/27/2024

I am very proud to announce the soft launch of Lost Animal Finder!

Website will be later but please visit me on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/LostAnimalFinder

Lost Animal Finder
How can I help?

Finding lost animals is my priority. This website will grow as time allows. My vision is to provide a permanent source of tips for owner/guardians including:
- Advanced preparation
- Prevent losing your pet
- Keeping your cool and working towards finding your pet
- Seeking help
- Putting up Lost Pet signs that will get notice
- Securing your pet once it has been located
- After care for both you and your pet once it has been secured
- Planning for and dealing with the chance that your pet may not be found, or may be found deceased.

An amazing dog named Barley convinced me to launch Lost Animal Finder. Barley jumped a high fence in Tonasket Washington and was hit by a car before crossing the border into Canada. In 3 days he made it from Osoyoos to Penticton. There were hundreds of posts and dozens of sightings, with him ending up in Sage Mesa. Following Facebook tips and working with an incredible team of volunteers, a plan was formed to trap him safely.

A sighting was posted near where I was out searching with my little consumer drone, doing what I could. I went door to door and found him sharing a sandwich with a homeowner, bringing in the amazing Jacenda, Ava, and Petra from Petra's Pawdicures. After several hours and bringing in Animal Control officers, Barley was finally gently lead into a truck.

Barley is now back in his loving home with 2 other large working dogs on 5,000 acres with cattle and loves his family. I have been invited to visit next time I'm in Washington.

Using predictive mapping techniques and modern thermal imaging on an Enterprise class drone, it's possible to locate lost pets and livestock by looking for their infrared heat output, day or night, even in stormy or freezing weather.

About me:
- 15 years of animal rescue with Animal Lifeline Emergency Response Team (ALERT), CDART and animal rescues
- Positive Reinforcement (R+) animal trainer with training from Karen Pryor Academy
- 8 years of flying drones with hundreds of pilot hours
- Advanced Pilot certificate - Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)
- Former Certified Spotter with Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA)
- Mortality and livestock hauling training
- Currently raising 3 abandoned kittens and fostering 2 others
- Have searched for everything from cats to humans to cattle

Call/text me at 250-490-6665 if you need my help or just need tips to get your search strategy going. Please don't wait, the best chance of me finding your pet is to be right behind them!

With 15 years combined experience in animal rescue and flying drones, I have "launched" a new service helping to locate lost animals from the air.

We are available for hire in addition to our volunteer work with emergency services.

06/18/2021

Paradise and a Sidecar Named Desire are for sale!! Check out our website: OgopogoTours.com.

Unique, boutique, inclusive and sustainable wine tours in the Okanagan. Shared, Private & Bespoke Tours for your best tour ever!

03/20/2020

What to do when self-isolating?

03/12/2020

Job Title: Tour Driver/Guide for Ogopogo Tours
Job Type: Flexible Part-Time, March-October with opportunity for some off-season work
Compensation: Start at $17/hr, fully trained guides earn $20/hour + Tips + Incentives
Job Location: Based out of Summerland, BC. Tour regions vary throughout the Okanagan-Similkameen.
Hours: Vary, see below

• Are you a social person who enjoys having fun, entertaining and educating others?
• Do you like meeting new people from around the globe?
• Do you have an interest in (or desire to learn about) inclusive and sustainable tourism?
• Do you have a "Beginner's Mind" and want to "Always Be Learning"?

Ogopogo Tours creates the “Best tour ever!” by being Unique, Boutique, Inclusive & Sustainable.

• Canada Tour Operator of the Year 2020
• Canada’s first certified carbon neutral wine tour operator
• First Biosphere Certified Industry in Canada/USA

The Tour Driver/Guide is dedicated to customer experience excellence. We’re training full and part-time guides for the upcoming tourism season, beginning in March/April/May. Hours are flexible and include days, early evenings, weekends, holidays, and possibly multi day tours. There may be part-time work over the winter.

The Job - What you’ll be doing:
● Have fun
● This is a people and a driving job
● Safely driving guests in a sedan or 14-22 passenger van to wineries & other venues
● Help guests and out of the vehicle, opening doors and offering a hand to everyone
● Make guests laugh and educate them about the region, the wines, the history and culture.
● Greet guests with a smile and ensure every little detail is covered
● Anticipate guest needs before they know they have them
● Enter venues with guests, make introductions, and attend to their needs
● Open doors, carry wine & purchases for guests
● Care for the vehicles including daily inspection and cleaning / detailing
● Take photos of guests and update social media while on tour
● Be responsible for guest safety
● Assist with concierge duties when needed
● Other duties as requested
What makes you an awesome fit for this job:
● Driving:
○ Class 4 Unrestricted Driver's Licence
■ Note: For the right candidate, Darren Sweet may help them obtain this requirement before commencing employment.
○ Clean driver’s abstract and insurance history
○ Criminal record check including vulnerable persons check
● Communication:
○ You are courteous, friendly, inclusive and appropriate
○ You tell THE BEST stories and know when to let guests to chat between themselves
○ You have superb written and verbal communication skills
○ You are an organizational pro and have a great attention to detail
● Physical and mental:
○ Able to safely carry a 20kg case of wine, including up stairs
○ Clean and detail vehicles following sustainable practices
○ Work well under pressure and changing conditions
○ Follow a dress code including neat, professional appearance
● Additional superpowers:
○ Own reliable transportation to and from Summerland
○ First Aid OFA Level 1 (or willing to train)
○ Self-starter, flexible and adaptable
○ You work well on your own and are willing to be mentored and trained
○ Interested in inclusive and sustainable tourism
● Bonus skills
○ Storyteller of the Syilx/Okanagan people
○ Top notch computer & social media skills
○ Knowledge of the local wine industry
○ Hospitality or education experience
○ Photography skills
○ Additional languages, particularly German
Why us?
● Dedication to sustainable tourism and relationships
● Small, growing business and team
● Staff ideas are important to us, grow with us
● Tips/gratuities plus training on how to increase them
● Incentives for outstanding performance and reviews
● Bonus for completing the season with us
● Flexible hours
● Scent-free, smoke-free work environment
● Supportive coaching by in-house certified leadership coach
● Equal opportunity employer, encouraging everyone including people with disabilities, youth, seniors and Indigenous peoples to apply
What now?
If you’ve made it this far, please tell us about you. Visit our website, then use your stellar written communication skills and send us your cover letter, resume and driver’s abstract. Tell us why you think you’re a good fit for our small business. How do your values align with ours? What do you bring to the table that will benefit our business and our guests? What skills do you have that are transferable to this opportunity? What can this job do for you? We’re excited to hear from you and will contact qualified applicants to set up a time to chat.

03/12/2020

We will be among over 40 employers seeking staff at the job fair tomorrow.

We're hiring Tour Driver/Guides, an Office Concierge to provide customer service and assist with tours, and an afternoon Vehicle Detailer.

We are a Certified Living Wage Employer and Canada Tour Operator of the Year for 2020.

03/10/2020

FACTS about the coronavirus.

03/01/2020

03/01/2020

had the privilege of attending the on Wednesday. It was a great fair with organizations featuring how they follow the UN Sustainable Development Goals ! Thank you all for helping make this a happy, healthy world!

02/28/2020

What does a grape say when it's squashed?...

02/21/2020

Jeanette & Vicki are the happy winners of a Wine Tour for 2 with Ogopogo Tours - Award Winning Sustainable Tours at the fundraiser Disco night at The Barking Parrot Bar. Congratulations! Thanks to all who made Disco night be another success! The work the Access Centre does is so important for ! www.accesscentre.org

02/21/2020

Pleased to be at Summerland Waterfront Resort celebrating with the nominees! We are nominated for Environment and Sustainability Excellence Award along with and .

02/20/2020

Local Company Winecrush is "crushing it"! Making tasty food products from the byproduct of wine production. Go Bill!

After a change in business direction, this Okanagan company hopes to turn vineyard waste into profit.Winecrush, which formerly was a gourmet food maker, has changed its direction. President Bill Broddy says they have &ld

02/16/2020

Woolly Mammoths roamed the Okanagan Valley, just 10,000 years ago.

If you see a mammoth on your wine tour (especially a pink one), it might be time to monitor your consumption.

Travel back in time more than 10,000 years, and you'll see giant mammoths roaming around the Thompson Okanagan.Evidence of two mammoth species, the wool

02/15/2020

How many local white wines are "fined".

02/06/2020

Why Women Are Leading The Growing Natural Wine Movement.

We see a "growing" number of natural and minimal intervention wines on our tours!

Women are opening their own wineries, bars, even bottle-of-the-month clubs devoted to natural, organic wine. Will the niche subsector soon go mainstream?

02/04/2020

Okanagan winemaker reflects on 30 years of the VQA

B.C.’s Vintners Quality Alliance is celebrating its 30th anniversary and an Okanagan winemaker who has been in the industry since the VQA’s inception believes it will help propel the industry into the future.

02/01/2020

19 Recipes That Call for Wine, So You Can Drink More Wine

We love cooking with wine…and yes, sometimes we do even put it in our food.

01/30/2020

Should you drink wine tonight?

a) Yes

b) a

c) b

01/28/2020

"You Can't Ask That!" is being added to our staff training program!

https://gem.cbc.ca/season/you-cant-ask-that/season-1/72c403c1-54c9-41c9-9608-e07f82bf4b84

01/17/2020

Interior Ink Works did a great job on our new branded items. We wore them during Summerland Festival of Lights and Summerland's Bottleneck Drive Light Up the Vines events. Adonica and Bonnie are shown here at SummerGate Winery.

01/13/2020

Our hometown of Summerland may seem like a sleepy little town (full of wineries), yet in 1909 we were the hustle of the Okanagan!
https://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/community/summerland-was-once-most-prosperous-community-in-the-okanagan-valley/

Fires in 1920s destroyed Lowertown businesses

01/02/2020

Happy New-Website-Day!!!

After 1000+ of planning, research & development, I can finally post our new website.

While it's a work in progress, it's entirely database driven including a tailor-made booking system, and accessible via keyboard, alternate data input devices & screen readers.

There are still some sections missing and some incomplete features. Have a look if you wish and please let us know what you think!

https://ogopogotours.com/

Unique, boutique, inclusive and sustainable wine tours in the Okanagan. Shared, Private & Bespoke Tours for your best tour ever!

01/01/2020

Happy New Year everyone! We hope 2020 brings you much joy!

12/27/2019

12 dog-friendly activities to do in the Okanagan

https://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Central_Okanagan/Dog_friendly_activities_to_do_in_the_Okanagan/

There's only one thing better than exploring all that the beautiful Okanagan has to offer and that is exploring it with your furry loved ones...

12/04/2019

Picking grapes for Ice Wine? Not so fast...

https://infotel.ca/inwine/recent-cold-snap-not-long-enough-to-complete-okanagan-icewine-harvest/it68227?fbclid=IwAR38JP4OmFGug68WFLv02iqtIK61eDmr4o579WwMJDgdI_k6H5rWu5VFECg

The Arctic blast in the Okanagan late last week lacked the duration and intensity needed for Okanagan wineries to complete their icewine harvest.Temperatures started rising on the weekend and icewine harvesters were left

11/29/2019

Tour with us to explore one of the most sustainable tourism destinations on the planet!

Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association wins top responsible tourism award again!

Thompson Okanagan
Visit Summerland
Visit Penticton
Penticton Chamber of Commerce
Tourism Kelowna
Similkameen Valley
Destination British Columbia

Thompson Okanagan Tourism Assciation wins second straight World’s Responsible Tourism Award

11/27/2019

Tour with us for a fun night at Light Up The Vines - Sat Nov 23, Sat Nov 30 and Sun Dec 1, the most festive nights of the year on Summerland's Bottleneck Drive

Join a Shared Tour and make new friends or book a Private Tour and enjoy the evening with your own private vehicle & guide!

Shared seats available Nov 30, Private Tours available both Nov 30 and Dec 1

Call/Text 250-490-6665 or visit OgopogoTours.com/luv for more info!

11/19/2019

Canada's First Wine Village set to launch in Oliver in 2020

Canada’s "first true wine village” is being built in the South Okanagan, bringing together small-batch wine, beer, cider and spirit producers under one roof as well as offering a unique event venue and c

11/19/2019

If you like Napa Valley, try the Okanagan Valley.

"Attention, Budget-Watchers: 4 Canadian Alternatives to U.S. Hot Spots "

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/travel/canada-budget-travel.html

From Toronto to British Columbia: culture, beauty, great food and savings everywhere you look.

11/18/2019

Can You Speak British Columbian? Aboriginal and Indigenous Languages of Canada

Chinook Wawa is intimately linked with the history of British Columbia. From its roots in the Nootka Jargon catalyzed by the voyage of Captain Cook, it devel...