A new list of the world’s most liveable cities puts three Canadian places in the top ten. Calgary came tied with Zurich for third spot, while Vancouver was fifth and Toronto eighth. No other country had three cities in the top ten, although Switzerland did have two. No Canadian cities made the top ten in 2021, so this is pretty cool. The Global Liveability Index is an annual ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that rates 172 cities around the world on over 30 factors, from healthcare, infrastructure, education and crime rates to access to cultural and sports pursuits Read more
Melbourne
Australia is open again for business, and Air Canada is an ideal way to get there. Australia has long been a top destination for Canadians dreaming of fantastic scenery, sunny skies, indigenous travel experiences, and amazing culture. The borders were pretty much closed for two years, but international visitors began to be welcomed again in late February. Air Canada has daily flights from Vancouver to Sydney on posh, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. They’ll add direct flights from YVR to Brisbane starting July 1. (Air Canada also will resume flights from Vancouver to Auckland, New Zealand in November of this year.) Vic Read more
By Ted McIntyre Twenty million years ago, give a day or two, the lower lying areas just south of modern-day Melbourne, Australia, were submerged beneath a few hundred feet of seawater. When the ocean eventually receded, it left a roughly 210-square-kilometre corridor covered in a sandy loam—as deep as 80 metres in spots. This geological event is clear proof that long before the evolution of mankind commenced, the Good Lord was already considering the evolution of golf, for there may not be a more perfect recipe of soil and terrain for course design than this unique Sandbelt region of Read more
Aussie spirit is alive and well at Goway and growing stronger in anticipation of Australia’s projected reopening later this year. As a leader in selling Australia and the South Pacific, Goway is marking Australia Day this January 26 by rededicating itself to sharing Australia with the wider world. Over the past 22 months, Goway has continued to support its Australian partners and worked to foster excitement for travellers who are dreaming about visiting Australia in the near future. To this end, Goway has reimagined its travel packages to Australia and polished its collection of best-selling vacations. Goway has also tapped into Read more
I’ve been lucky enough to visit Australia three times. I had a month there in 2000 for the Sydney Olympics, then went back in 2010 for the Toronto Star and then to an Australia Tourism Exchange meeting in Brisbane. I haven’t been everywhere, not by a long shot. But I’ve been visited Sydney, Melbourne, Uluru (formerly Ayer’s Rock), Brisbane/Gold Coast, The Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, King’s Canyon, and remote Lord Howe Island. Here’s a mix of some of my photos along with others from Unsplash, to help cover off places I haven’t yet visited.
