EXOTIC ADVENTURES

GREENLAND None of us expected our voyage to make history, not when we boarded the Clipper Adventurer in Kugluktuk (Coppermine), near the west end of the Northwest Passage. True, our cruise was billed as an expeditionary adventure. Nobody even dreamed of achieving a first of any kind. We forgot that climate change has made a difference. full story >>>	TURKEY Ever since I read Agatha Christie’s intriguing crime novel ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, I wanted to travel on that train. To indulge in the gilded luxury of the train itself, let the mysterious landscapes of the Balkans glide past my window and alight at the final destination: Istanbul, the city which straddles two continents. full story >>>
ROMANIA Romania was for us a wonderful commingling of past and present, history and myth all wrapped into one pleasurable experience. Our small dint in the sights to see and our brief immersion in the culture left us wanting more – and a resolve that for us there will be a next time in beautiful Romania. full story >>>	MADAGASCAR We were the only guests at Residence LaPasoa, as we would be elsewhere. There’s nothing quite like the threat of cyclones and a coup d’etat to keep the tourists away. It was all quite wonderful for us, but not for those gentle people who lived from tourism. After the coup, the journalists poked their noses into the pub, Ku De Ta, just for the name. full story >>>
FRANCE For many years, we dreamed of escaping to sun-drenched Provence and recently fulfill this fantasy. And our stay at Chateau de Boussargues proves the perfect ‘base camp’ for launching journeys back in time in southern France. “The Romans first grew grapes here…and not long afterward, Christians built that little stone chapel in the woods,” owner Olivier tells us. full story >>>	FRANCE It is May, and the weather remains blissfully warm and dry. Welcome to the Canal du Midi, which crosses Languedoc in the sunny South of France. My wife Annie and I are among only four guests travelling on a lovely hotel barge, the Caroline, as it wends its way slowly westward for six days along one of the world's most remarkable canals. full story >>>
AUSTRALIA All over the world, railways are coming out of use. But, in many cases, although they’re uneconomical, some people are reluctant to let them go, and form Preservation Societies, to maintain the trains and run the line. The main purpose is to show people how things used to be. I’ve seen many a child watching them in fascination, for, on an old-fashioned steam locomotive, you can actually see the working parts, and work out how they run. full story >>>	SLOVENIA “What is a Pletna,” I asked? “It is a boat similar to a gondola,” he said. “It is about 21 feet long and 6 feet wide and has paddles that are used to propel it. It is used to carry passengers to the Church on Bled Island that is situated in the middle of the lake. ”Lake Bled is in Slovenia, a small Alpine country of a little over 2 million inhabitants located directly south of Austria. full story >>>