ON THE BRUCE PENINSULA OF ONTARIO – Zane Davies is guiding me on a hike to the Lion’s Head Lookout in Lion’s Head Provincial NatureReserve. “I went to a beach place in Mexico and it was nice,” he tells me as wind our way along the ancient Niagara Escarpment, sunlight slanting through the deep green trees overhead. “But there weren’t any mountains.” Later, after showing me a rock formation that’s basically a hollow, vertical tube with an opening at the top and a space you can crawl into, he tells me he’s also been to the Rocky Mountains of Canada. Read more
hiking
Yesterday I handed out my Jimmy Awards for my best/favourite spots of 2015 in Canada and the U.S. Today, it’s the turn for the rest of the world. Again, thanks to everyone for reading. And Happy New Year! BEST OVERALL MOMENT: I might live another 60 years and not do better than watching the sun come up behind ancient stone Moai statues on Easter Island. Truly the most wondrous place I’ve ever been in my life. COOLEST CITY DISCOVERY: Georgetown, Malaysia. Colonial buildings, old fishing villages on piers and funky, urban art combine to make this one of the world’s Read more
I’m in the south of Chile for an adventure travel conference, the Adventure Travel World Summit. It’s a fantastic event with people from around the world representing cool adventure travel products. Part of the deal is a pre-trip, which I took to Easter Island. More on that soon, I promise. The other trip was billed as a Day of Adventure. I didn’t think there was time to see the Andes so I opted for a cultural program and a short hike near the Pacific Ocean southwest of Puerto Montt, an area that doesn’t get much tourism. The hiking was wonderful, Read more
MINETT, ONTARIO – Gorgeous lake views from a beautiful lodge high on a hill. Boating and swimming activities galore. And first-rate food. Muskoka might be the best place on earth to spend a summer’s day. And JW Marriott The Rosseau is one of the best places to enjoy Ontario’s Muskoka region. You’ll find a lovely, breezy lobby upon your arrival at the resort, located north of Port Carling near the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hamlet of Minett. There are tons of spaces to sit and sink into a comfy sofa and enjoy the warm summer air, or you can walk out onto the Read more
WOODSTOCK, ONTARIO – Shep Ysselstein makes some of Canada’s best cheese at Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese. They get their milk from handsome, contented cows that dot the rolling hills around the cheese shop and factory, just south of Woodstock. But if anything were to go wrong, Ysselstein says he knows who to blame. “My Dad,” he says with a laugh. “My parents own the dairy farm and provide our milk, so I don’t have to go very far if there’s an issue.” Gunn’s Hill is on a dirt road about five minutes south of Woodstock. But it’s only a short Read more
