Here’s a post from a great trip to New Zealand a few years back. Awesome golf, great food and unforgettable scenery… NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND—You drive down a dirt road a half hour outside Kerikeri, a town of maybe 6,000 permanent residents. Suddenly there’s a plain, wooden gate that looks for all the world as if it’s meant to keep sheep off the road, which it probably is. It’s a level of modesty that befits this country that one local described to me as “second-gear.” But the golf resort that lies behind the plain fence is sheer glory. Kauri Cliffs Read more
hotels
LOS ANGELES – It’s impossible to encapsulate a city of such diverse neighbourhoods into one, so I’ll keep this focused on Hollywood and downtown L.A., which has seen an incredible resurgence – resurrection, even – since the bad old days when this correspondent toiled nightly in what was then a wasteland at Fifth and Figueroa. SLEEPING The Roosevelt, a Thompson property, was home to the first Academy Awards ceremony, which lasted only minutes (if only). Marilyn Monroe used to do photo shoots at the palm-surrounded pool and used to sleep there regularly, amongst other things. There’s a cool, old-fashioned, two-lane Read more
NAPILI BAY, MAUI – Arguably the best beach in North America. A fabulous, small hotel founded by Canadians. A terrific restaurant with awesome ocean, neighbour island and sunset views. Lush grounds filled with manicured lawns and tropical flowers of every colour. And a weekly show that brings together the funniest and most talented musicians in Hawaii. Yeah, it must be hard to market yourself when you’re the Napili Kai Beach Resort here on Maui. I’ve stayed in a lot of fancy places around the world, but there’s no hotel I’d rather come to than this one. Mind you, I first Read more
