ESPERANCE, WEST AUSTRALIA – Our six-seater plane is swooping and soaring over perhaps the most striking coastline I’ve ever seen. The water is an insane shade of aquamarine that I’ve never imagined, with beams of navy blue and bands of brilliant green running along the coast. Under a brilliant Australian sun, the sand is a dazzling, pure, blinding white, and nearly deserted on a beautiful day just three weeks before summer. After a good 20-30 minutes of enjoying the heck out of our bird’s eye view of the southern coast of Western Australia, our pilot with Fly Esperance, the young Read more
breweries
A Dragon’s Den star who heads up a massive beer, wine and spirits empire. The only female master distiller in the province. And production manager at the 2021 Canadian Brewery of the Year. The spirits and beer scene is going strong in Calgary, and women are front and centre, as I discover during a recent visit. . An hour’s drive south of Calgary, in the bucolic town of Turner Valley, Winnipeg-born, Scotland-raised Caitlin Quinn is the master distiller at Eau Claire Distillery, the first boutique distillery in Alberta. Quinn got an undergrad degree chemistry, but quickly realized it wouldn’t lead Read more
Had a chance to catch up with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, while he was in Toronto yesterday talking up his great state, which technically is known as a Commonwealth and not a state. Just so you know. It was quite a hoot, actually, as he’s a hugely entertaining fellow who tells a good story and has got a lot of get-up-and-go. “Last year we had 40 million visitors. We shattered our old records last year in the Commonwealth. We noted the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War this year. Right now as we speak we Read more
I’ve been lucky enough to explore most corners of this vast country of ours. I’ve kicked around Quebec City, cycled around Calgary and even take a motorcycle sidecar tour of Halifax. I’ve also found more than a few places that I think deserve more attention than they get. Here’s a look at some of them. WOLFVILLE, NOVA SCOTIA With a tidy downtown that stretches only a couple blocks, this is a town you want to pick up and hug. There’s good local wine (try Luckett Vineyards on a nearby hillside with great views) and, of course, fresh seafood. I’ll probably Read more
GRAND BEND, ONTARIO – I’ve spent many a day kicking down the streets of Lahaina on Maui. I’ve paraded down Duval Street in Key West and strolled the piers of California from San Diego to Santa Cruz. I’ve been lucky enough to hit the beaches of Thailand and Sardinia, of St. Lucia and Senegal. Yet somehow, despite some three decades living in Toronto, I’d missed spending any time in Grand Bend. It won’t happen again. Because there are few things I love more than a good beach town. And because Grand Bend might be the best beach town in Canada. Read more
