Travel
Island hopping in Greece
By STEVE MACNAULL on April 23rd, 2022
Is Hydra famous for its donkeys? Or, are the donkeys famous because they live on Hydra? Essentially, the answer is moot, as this Greek island (pronounced: EE-dra) has notoriously never succumbed to motorized vehicles. So, the only ways to get around this 64-square-kilometre paradise in the Aegean Sea is on your own two feet or ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!It’s always summer in Orange County
By STEVE MACNAULL on December 24th, 2021
Somewhere between Emerald Bay and Seal Rock we achieve ocean-kayaking nirvana. The sun is burning off the morning marine mist and we’re slicing through the smooth Pacific, at one with nature, counting ourselves lucky to be in this surreal Southern California setting. My son, Alex, and I are on La Vida Laguna’s two-hour Ocean Kayak ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Big-city French flair in Montreal
By Steve MacNaull, Special to the News on August 27th, 2021
After being starved of travel for the past 17 months, we board an Air Canada jet and reclaim our joie de vivre in Montreal. This return to travel is as much a spiritual reawakening as it is the logistics of flight, hotel, activities, sightseeing, eating and drinking. My wife, Kerry, and I have desperately missed ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Kayaking with seals in Victoria
By STEVE MACNAULL on August 13th, 2021
Harbour seals certainly know how to make an entrance. This particular playful, silver-and-black mottled marine mammal unexpectedly pops up to say hello just a flipper length away from the left side of my kayak. Harbour seals are a friendly and curious sort and love to gracefully follow paddlers and have some fun gawking at our ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Bajan beauty abounds
By Steve MacNaull on February 8th, 2020
The Bajan Queen partied too hard. And now she’s at rest on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. But, all is good. This 45-metre tugboat, which toiled for years at the port in Bridgetown, Barbados and finished out her above-water life as a tourist-party boat, was sunk deliberately in Carlisle Bay in 2001. Now, in ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Appetite growing for Indigenous tourism
By Mansoor Ladha on January 25th, 2020
Now is the time for Indigenous tourism in Canada. The Canadian public seems to have suddenly cultivated an appetite for Indigenous tourism and the industry is initiating programmes and itineraries highlighting different aspects of Indigenous tourism. The Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria has been fortunate to hire a First Nation Cultural Liaison Officer who has ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!A perfect day of rain in New Zealand
By Steve MacNaull on January 4th, 2020
At first, the rain is barely a mist on my face. Feather-soft and refreshing, the tiny droplets have somehow navigated their way through the thick canopy of trees, massive ferns and vines. Before long, the precipitation is a steady drizzle, which quickly morphs into a savage downpour. I pull up the hood on my rain ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Your Travels: Beautiful Santorini deserves its reputation
By Neil Harris on November 23rd, 2019
Santorini (Santa Irena, Saint Irene) is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth. It is the southerly-most island of the Cyclades Islands of Greece in the Ionian Sea. The island is roughly the shape of a reverse C, the remnant of an enormous volcanic eruption in the mid-16th century BC. The Minoan Eruption ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Hockey in the palm trees
By Steve MacNaull on November 16th, 2019
As we emerge from the urban, palm tree forest, there it is. The 17,500-seat SAP Centre, a silver-sided edifice better known as the Shark Tank, is the home rink of the National Hockey League’s San Jose Sharks. This is definitely going to be NHL hockey, California-style. Me and my son, Alex, have walked three blocks ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Things are hot and cold in Dubai
By Mansoor Ladha on October 26th, 2019
I was in Dubai in July. We were visiting Ski Dubai, a 22,500-square-metre indoor ski resort in the Mall of the Emirates, the largest shopping “resort” in the world. The temperature outside was 109 F, or 43 C! Inside the temperature was a chilly -4 C. It was like a miracle. We found it hard ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Monkeying around in Gibralter
By Steve MacNaull on October 19th, 2019
We affectionately name him Gib. Admittedly, it’s not a very original moniker for an adorable baby monkey on the little peninsula of Gibraltar. After all, Gib is the nickname of this seven-square-kilometre chunk of rock in the Mediterranean, which is an overseas territory of the U.K. dangling from the southernmost tip of Spain. And, by ... Read More »
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