ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND – A crazy mountain bike event with more flips and mid-air whirls than a Donald Trump-Ted Cruz debate. Deep forests radiant with redwoods shimmering in filtered sunlight. And a wonderful lakeside spa. The Rotorua region of this wonderful country offers an embarrassing number of fun and entertaining things to do, as I discovered during a recent visit. I was there in part because of a mountain bike event called Crankworx, which began in Whistler a few years ago and draws thousands and thousands of dedicated cyclists and adrenaline junkies. It’s a fantastic event with smart and dedicated Read more
Australia/New Zealand/PAC
NEAR MATAMATA, NEW ZEALAND – Magic. Sheer magic. Even if you don’t know Frodo from Bilbo or Gandalf from George Clooney (they do bear a certain resemblance if you think about it), a visit to the Hobbiton Movie Set in the middle of New Zealand’s North Island is a great experience; with fantastic gardens and fascinating glimpses into how movies are made. On the other hand, if you’re a lifelong fan of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings like I am and cried when the final Hobbit movie was over because it’s the end of the Peter Jackson-produced Read more
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – You gotta love the Kiwis. They have a reputation of being something like we Canadians. But when it comes to tourism, they certainly seem to be more “out there” than we are. I’ll have some examples of this coming up in the next week or two, as I take you on a tour of Matamata (where they filmed much of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit), Rotorua (where I rode a sail-powered go-kart and a spinning contraption called a drift-kar), Picton and Marlborough (a wine tour and a kayak trip), Kaikoura (a chartered plane Read more
There’s a new app in town, and it makes easier than ever to book that trip you’ve always dreamed of. Aeroplan recently unveiled a new (and free) app that makes it dead simple to book flight rewards using your Aeroplan miles. Customers with iOS, Android and Blackberry mobile phones (still lots of folks using Blackberry) may now download the app from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and the Blackberry App World. “We know it’s increasingly important for our members to have useful travel tools when they’re on the go, and making our app available for flight reward bookings Read more
The Canadian dollar is in freefall, dropping below 70 cents the other day for the first time in more than a decade. It’s great for the Canadian tourism industry, but not so wonderful for snowbirds who’re looking for greener pastures in winter. Luckily, there are ways to soften the blow. Here are some tips from a guy who’s been a full-time travel writer for the better part of 10 years and has spent a good many nights on the road in his lifetime. 1. STAY HOME: I don’t mean build a man (or woman) cave in your basement and pry Read more
