WESTERN AUSTRALIA – I’m driving north along the lonely, quiet coast of Western Australia. I’m supposed to check into my hotel in the town of Kalbarri at 5 p.m. and it’s already dangerouly close to that. My schedule says I should motor on, but there’s a particular quality of light in the sky. I see a sign that points the way to a coastal section of Kalbarri National Park, and decide the schedule can go to hell. I drive down a winding road towards the setting sun and pull into looks like the closest parking lot. I quickly make my Read more
September 2022
Here’s a lazy Sunday Labour Day compendium of a few stories I found on the old Internet this morning about new world hotels, travel products for people with small children, Caribbean visits and more, plus a note about Toronto Pearson delays. First off, I’ve been tracking delays at Toronto Pearson Airport the past few days, and things aren’t a whole lot better. According to Flight Aware, here are the outgoing flight delay stats for the past few days. September 1: 205 delays (15 minutes or more), which is 33% of all outbound flights. September 2: 200 delays (34%) September 3: Read more
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – A small, deep blue pillow emblazoned with 124 Q in big, gold letters sits just below the pillows, setting off the crisp, white linens and light grey headboard. On the wall to the left, wide swaths of blue swirl across a pale canvas. There are two grey-blue area rugs, but what you mostly see are medium-dark wood flooring, which offers a clean, modern look that you might see in a fancy, midtown Toronto condo. There are plenty of places in this quaint little village with overstuffed furniture and chintz pillows and images of British royalty. The 124 Read more
I live less than an hour away, but somehow in all my decades living in Toronto I’d never slowed down enough or taken the time to admire north Durham Region. That’s a mistake I won’t make again. I visited recently over two days and found beautiful art and pottery places, sipped some of the goods at a tasty cider operation, witnessed a truly amazing bit of historic architecture, and enjoyed a nice visit to the Lucy Maud Montgomery Manse, as well as a tremendous play about Montgomery’s time living in the region. I was extremely impressed by the creativity and Read more
Is ArriveCAN Killing Canadian Tourism? Also, Airport Delays Continue + Porter Expansion Edges Closer
Is the ArriveCAN app killing Canadian tourism? A new CBC story quotes a border city tourism operator and the mayor of Niagara Falls, Ontario as saying the app has done tremendous damage to a region that relies heavily on American visitation to keep people employed. “When you talk to any businesses in town, they’ll tell you there’s a very small amount of American dollars coming in,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. “It’s been hurtful, especially after two years of COVID.” Anna Pierce, vice president of Niagara Helicopters, told the network that she’s had several calls from potential U.S. visitors Read more
