The Canadian women’s soccer team begins its quest for a FIFA Women’s World Cup title in Perth, Western Australia on July 20, and there should be a fair number of Canadians on hand for the game. With that in mind, here are some ideas from Tourism Western Australia (and from me) about what to see and do in Perth. I was there in May of last year and loved the city. Also, you can click HERE for a slide show of Western Australia. CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT FOOD TOUR Downtown Perth, Australia, on a walking tour with Oh, Hey, Read more
Australia/New Zealand/PAC
A new look at the world’s best cities puts Vienna on top, but the top of the charts is dominated by cities in Canada and Australia. The Global Liveability Indes from Economist Intelligence looked at a variety of quality of life factors in cities around the world, including such issues as stability, health care, culture and environment. The list is for liveability, not necessarily what’s the best place for a tourist to visit. But it’s still instructive. Vienna was tops, with a score of 98.4 out of 100. Here’s a link to a short item I posted about Vienna recently. Read more
Ladies and gentlemen, step right up to the weight scale and get ready to board your flight. It may sound, um, heavy-handed, but Air New Zealand is planning to ask passengers to weigh themselves before climbing onto the plane. Now, before you get your knickers in a knot, please understand that the airline says this is a once every five years measure that would be purely voluntary. My friends at Open Jaw Network report the weigh-ins would not be a permanent policy, and that the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority is requiring the move so it can properly determine airplane Read more
Hawke’s Bay in New Zeaand today was named a Great Wine Capital of the world, setting it alongside eleven other prestigious wine regions such as Bordeaux, Napa Valley California and Adelaide, Australia. Admission to the Great Wine Capitals program (Hawkes Bay is the 12th Capital worldwide) comes after a stringent selection process that looks at a region’s winegrowing industry, its history, its wine tourism, educational opportunities, business, and travel, as well as the cities and region itself. In announcing the news, Hawke’s Bay Tourism CEO Hamish Saxton said the significance of being named a Great Wine Capital of the Read more
Time Magazine (remember them?) is out with a list of its top 50 destinations for 2023. Some of my fave places made the list, including Vancouver, Vienna, surprising Tampa and the Caribbean island of Dominica, where I spent five days in January. Also making the list on the Canadian side of the ledger was Churchill, Manitoba, which I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting. For Australia, placements went to Kangaroo Island in South Australia and Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. There are six U.S. places on the list but none from the United Kingdom or Ireland, which is a little Read more
