By Rick Millikan 

Above Iroquois Falls stands a bronze statue of Father Labelle, one of Quebec’s early enterprising priests. Labelle established the 200-kilometer P’tite Trend u Nord in the 1800’s to transport wood from the Laurentians southward to Montreal. Montrealers later rode this rail line packing skis into what became a famed winter playground. Now from early June to October cyclists of all ages soft-pedal upon its solid rail-bed communing with nature with stops to savor European cuisine.

Parking at kilometer 0 near St Jerome’s old station, my wife Chris and I are shuttled upward to cycle back on the lower section of this popular linear park.  In Labelle the van drops us off and quickly disappears carrying our baggage to the later en route B&B.  Toting only bottles of cold water and cameras, we soon beeline southward through forests of white-barked birch, long-needled bull pines, stately maples and tall firs. We proceed into a countryside opening into plush green meadows. Serenely we breeze along its 2% slope. Spotting some woolly critters, a drama enfolds.  A huge heroic sheepdog springs forward, loudly woofs…and proudly escorts his flock away. Meanwhile brown Swiss cows graze on grassy nearby knolls. And further along the trail a brave Bambi poses for some pictures before bounding into the bush.

Signs declaring Les Jardins de L’Achillee Millefeuille and Cyclists Welcome draw us into a rustic B&B just off the trail. The smiling owner emerges, telling us about her piece of Eden. Resuming our pedal, we pass its campground complete with teepees.

The trail winds around Lac Mercier to the village of Mont-Tremblant and our B&B, Auberge La Porte Rouge. Above its bustling beach, we pose victorious under a banner announcing the weekend triathlon. The golden afternoon ends with a refreshing swim in its placid lake and a celebratory dinner on the Auberge’s wide terrace.

Early next morning I cycle along the river into famed Mont Tremblant, named by natives believing this mountain trembled when their god Manitou passed. Fantabulous homes dot its mountainside. Upon leaving, I photograph Mont Tremblant’s town center with a pond and beaver lodge in the foreground. Evidently Bucky Beaver resides among the rich and famous…

Our ride continues into Val David, an artsy community of many galleries and two busy outdoor shops.  We lunch off the trail at its La Maison de Baviere perched above the cascading Riviere-du-Nord and Lover’s Park.

The trail follows the river past sheer rock bluffs, which attract sporty climbers, then twists into shady forests. As the green valley narrows, Riviere-du-Nord becomes a white torrent. Descending through narrow granite canyons carved over a century ago by TNT toting railroaders, we exuberantly coast through the woodsy landscape.  Here Chris declares herself “Downhill Queen!” Eventually Riviere-du-Nord slows and flows into Lake Raymond, where fellow cyclists cool off in its clear waters.

On the outskirts of Saint Adele, a steam-engine façade welcomes us to Auberge de la Gare.  Our host Michel soon serves two of his ten stocked Belgian-style brews. Sitting above floral gardens on a large breezy veranda, I savor an icy Canadian variety with a patriotic hint of maple syrup and note its label featuring a rosy maple-leaf-cheeked girl. Having explored trails around Quebec City and Montreal, we chat about La Route Vert, Quebec’s awesome 5,000 kilometers trail-network. Michel tells us about a newly paved link to Montreal.

Our days of carefree, car free fun ends the next afternoon in St. Jerome.  Filling up with costly gas, we navigate our return to Montreal through North America’s regular traffic snarls.  For us La Belle Province of Quebec and Laurentians is best enjoyed on two-wheels.

By Ursula Maxwell-Lewis

VANCOUVER, BC:  Grand Hotel: Redesigning Modern Life, the new Vancouver Art Gallery exhibit offers what a good hotel should – opportunities to relax, travel, dream and depart refreshed.

Featuring four main themes – travel, design, culture and social impact, Grand Hotel  is stimulating, enlightening, and delightfully entertaining.

Historically, authors, musicians and film stars have left a little lustre on their favourite accommodations. VAG’s exhibit playfully points out that – plush or pathetic, pension or penthouse – hotels, and those who frequent them, stamp their identities on our cities, our histories, and our lives.

Take the Strand Hotel in Yangon, for instance. Located in a former Burmese capital, the hotel was once a favourite with George Orwell, author of Animal Farm. Reportedly based at the Strand while writing Burmese Days, Orwell’s stopover in 1934 played a pivotal part in shaping his affection for the area. It also shaped his criticism of colonial prejudice prevelent at the time. Burmese Days reflected this, resulting in it being rejected by British publishers.

For me, Singapore’s legendary Raffles has always conjured up images of romance, history and mystery. Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Hemingway and Alfred Hitchcock all stayed there. Joseph Conrad described it as a “straggling building as airy as a birdcage”.  Author of The End of The Tether, Conrad frequented the Raffles bar, But, did he actually stay in the hotel? No one is quite certain. Undeterred, Raffles has named a suite after him with a turndown service which includes a four-page excerpt from the book.

Conrad Hilton’s far-sighted decisions to build hotels in Europe and the Middle East during the Cold War encouraged travel to previously war-torn regions, and stimulated economies. A picture of Hilton signing a document under a sign proclaiming ‘World Peace through International Trade and Travel’ reminds me that jet travel brought Europe, the middle East and North America closer. Hilton was determined that Hilton International would profile the American way of life with a combination of local architecture, canny American marketing…and surreptitious secret service surveilance opportunities.

A picture of the rock band, Led Zeppelin, in the West Hollywood’s legendary Chateau Marmot is a reminder that Annie Leibovitz, Dorothy Parker and F. Scott Fitzgerald were among the many film folks who favoured this elegant property. It is also where John Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982.

In Vienna, composer Richard Wagner and his family chose the Hotel Imperial in 1875 for its proximity to the Vienna State Opera. Years later it became the Soviet headquarters after World War 11. It was returned to the state in 1955. Throughout the intervening years, assorted diplomats and dignitaries came to stay. It is believed that the Hotel Imperial was the essence of what we now call the coffee-house culture.

I fantasize about reclining on a chintz chaise longue at Raffles, or the Waldor-Astoria, surrounded by the rich and famous.  But, for now, my trade-off is lunch on the VAG Gallery Café terrance basking in Spring sunshine and classical music. My journey has been worthwhile.

Grand Hotel: Redesigning Modern Life is open until September 15. As a value-added bonus it offers ‘guests’ a subtle walk down memory lane. Check in, and stay a while. I heartily recommend it – and the price is right. Senior admission is $15, or, by donation after 5 p.m on Tuesdays. The Vancouver Art Gallery is located at 750 Hornby St., Vancouver. Open daily. Tel: (604) 662-4700.

The greatest Big Band of all time finally returns to perform their two-hour greatest hits show at Vancouver’s

 Orpheum Theatre

— July 6 at 8:00 p.m. —

ON SALE NOW!

Vancouver, April 15, 2013 – The legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra from New-York will perform one night only in Vancouver as they tour the world, bringing timeless classics like In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, Chattanooga Choo Choo, Pennsylvania 6-5000, String of Pearls and Tuxedo Junction back to the stage. Even 75 years after founding his famous orchestra Glenn Miller’s music is alive and well.

On Saturday July 6, 20 musicians and singers will bring the unforgettable Glenn Miller sound to the Orpheum Theatre, performing timeless songs that everyone remembers. This is a must-see show for jazz and swing fans alike or the incurable romantics who want to step back in time. The legendary Glenn Miller was the most successful of all the dance bandleaders back in the Swing era of the 1930s and ’40s.

Producer Didier Morissonneau is proud to bring the most famous orchestra of all time to the Vancouver music scene, to perform their classic two-hour greatest hits show, directed by their new leader, the young and dynamic Nick Hilsher!

Saturday July 6 at 8:00 p.m.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra

The greatest hits show at the Orpheum

884 Granville Street,  Vancouver

Tickets on sale now at www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling

1-855-985-5000

Tickets: $52.75 and $58.75 (plus applicable charges)

Media contact:  Barb Fraser

P:   (604) 904-7934 barbfraser@telus.net

I discovered the best way to enjoy the downtown waterfront and parliament areas of Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city at the south-western tip of the North Island, is on foot. I reported at the i-Site Visitor Centre in Civic Square for their daily 10:00am-2 hr. walk and was thrilled to have Marcia Isles, a most informative and enthusiastic guide show me her home city.

We strolled along Cuba St. Mall with its Bucket Fountain, a series of buckets that fill with water and tip on to a pool and when “it’s windy Wellington” sprays people popping into the cafés and retail stores.

Located across Wakefield St. in Civic Square is the old Town Hall, housing the Mayor’s office, the Michael Fowler Centre and Convention Centre, home of the NZ Symphony Orchestra, and the City to Sea Bridge with stunning public sculptures created by Paratene Matchitt. Te Ika Maui, the fish of Maui, portrays the legend of Maui fishing up the North Island, with the bridge representing the fish’s tail and the Civic Square, the fish’s body.

There are also 2 birds to the south opening their wings in welcome. Maori believe the birds brought the sweet potato or kumara to NZ (Aotearoa). Opposite on the north side are 2 wooden whales or the legendary sea monsters (taniwha) where you may sit.

Sparkling in the sun, was Tanya Ashken’s huge, white Albatross sculpture and fountain.
Along the waterfront, The Wellington Writers’ Walk has incorporated Typographer and Graphic Designer, Catherine Griffith’s 19 sculptures of text and quotations from well-known writers, such as Katherine Mansfield, James K, Baxter and Denis Glover, associated with Wellington.

On the 10th. April 1968, during a terrible storm, the TEV Wahine, a NZ Union Company ferry, capsized near Steeple Rock at the entrance of Wellington Harbour, resulting in the deaths of 53 people. The Wahine fore-mast stands as a memorial in Frank Kitts Park.

On the waterfront is a plaque with thanks from the Polish community to the Government and New Zealanders who welcomed on Oct.31, 1944, 732 Polish refugee children aboard the USS General Randall. The children lived at the Polish Children’s Camp in Pahiatua and became respected and distinguished NZ citizens.

The Water Whirler, designed by Len Lye, was installed by the Len Lye Foundation, on the pier off Frank Kitt’s Park, after his death.  The hollow, central tube has nozzles on its exterior, to allow the water to pump up from below and circulate out of the tube in wave-like designs. Len Lye’s kinetic art refers to sculptures and mobiles that move naturally or by machine.

A dramatic new sculpture of 9 kina-shaped (Maori for sea urchin) shells of varying sizes with the biggest being 3 metres in diameter had just been installed. In NZ the kina is a delicacy, traditionally eaten raw.

The $375,000 NZD red “lobster loos’ or public toilets on the waterfront are functional and certainly have an artistic flare!

The Meridian building, NZ’s  1st Green Star rated building, is unique with the horizontal slats or louvers on the floors facing the sheds, angled to admit light and air. The building is constructed from partially recycled cement, has solar heating and rainwater harvesting to collect water for use in the toilets.

The Museum of Wellington City & Sea, housed in the historic 1892 Bond Store shows highlights of 20th Century  Wellington.

The Nikau is the only species of palm endemic to NZ. Ian Athfield sculptured 15 stylized copper, zinc and steel Nikau palm trees, 9 of which structurally support the Wellington City Library and 6 free-standing Nikau palms are in the Civic Square.

Don’t miss the Old Bank Shopping Arcade on Lampton Quay which is built over the remains of the 3 masted sailing vessel Plimmers Ark that was discovered during the 1997-1999 renovations of the former head office of the Bank of NZ. The beautiful, musical clock suspended from the banking chamber opens to reveal animated scenes, recounting the history of the arcade.

The Old Government Building, built in 1876, was the first smoke free building in the world and the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere. It resembled an Italian stone palace. Initially it housed the entire Wellington based Civil Service but by 1990 the building was vacant. Restoration took place from 1994-1996 but the Kauri timber could not be duplicated, since NZ’s remaining Kauri forests are protected. Now the Victoria University Law Department occupies the building.

The Beehive, reminiscent of a traditional beehive, is the Executive wing of New Zealand’s Parliament building, housing the Cabinet room and Prime Minister’s offices. Parliament House with the Debating Chamber

is the Neoclassical building next door.

My guided tour was over, but Marcia kindly drove me to the Wellington Airport, renamed “the middle of middle earth” to gasp at the 13 metre (46ft) sculpture of Gollum, from Peter Jackson’s  first Hobbit film “ an Unexpected Journey”, suspended from the ceiling. Gollum makes a great “photo op” as  he tries to catch three  4-metre fish amidst the bubbles.

I took a public bus back to the waterfront in the city, to visit Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum and Art Gallery of New Zealand.. I learned that the saying,“ a cloud, a cloud, a white cloud, a long white cloud” is attributed to Kuramorotine, wife of the legendary Pacific Voyager Kupe, on sighting in 925AD  New Zealand or Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud!

I only had an hour, so I headed for level 4, and was enthralled at the intricate, Maori carving on the  magnificent 1820-1840AD Teremoe canoe  prow and the Te Takinga Pataka traditional storehouse.Also on display were traditional Maori musical instruments, such as the nose flute and conch shell trumpet and a Kahu Kiwi feather cloak. So much to see and so little time. Haere ra and goodbye. I shall be back!

Article & photos by Lenora A. Hayman.

The 11th year of the 2013 Dine Out Vancouver expanded to 241 events, including the $18, $28 & $38 three course meals with suggested BC VQA wine pairings for an extra cost, and extending to the Speaker Series including a food and cocktail tour, the Street Food City with 14 food carts in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and communal dinners.

During Dine Out the tea salon at The Urban Tea Merchant, the exclusive Canadian distributer of TWG tea, the Wellness Group, at 1070 W. Georgia St. introduced their tea-flight service for $38. There was a choice of 6 tea-flights consisting of 3 different teas under the categories of black, green, white and oolong teas and the Pu Erh flight of teas from Yunan, China which was my choice. Pu Erh teas undergo some oxidation during sun drying and then are fermented with microbes without the presence of oxygen. Regular black tea, as we know it, is only oxidized and doesn’t involve microbial activity.  Pu Erh tea, like wine is classified by the vintage year, various processing methods, whether it’s wild or cultivated, the grade, the season and where it’s picked.

Reza Nasoot, the tea sommelier, said that Pu Erh and black tea require 95ºC (203ºF) hot water with 4-5 mins. steeping time, whereas white tea requires 85ºC (185º F) and 5mins steeping. For optimum flavours, the tea leaves are only used once and not re-infused with hot water a 2nd time. The 3 pots of tea were brought to the table simultaneously and each was drunk from separate cups to not confuse the flavours.

I started with the lighter flavoured Pu Erh 2000.  The small, twisted leaves have strong, floral overtones that lingered on the palate.

The Pu Erh 1998 was darker in colour with a mushroom and earthy aroma.

Pu Erh 1993, the darkest in colour was sweet and flowery on the palate.

A selection of tea-infused open-faced crackers, cakes, sweets and fruits paired nicely. Chef Michael Batoux, who had worked on the Seabourne Luxury Cruise Line filled a wee, waffle cone with “lapsang souchong” smoked, chicken salad. A “Weekend in Hong Kong” sesame tea cracker had slices of “lucky tea” braised tofu, garnished with threads of duxell black mushrooms. My TWG Grand Wedding tea macaroon with passion fruit filling had been baked and flown from Singapore and the chocolate imported from France was infused with Sakura tea.

Large photos of India’s Taj Mahal, a Chinese bridge and a Japanese tea ceremony gazed down on other patrons, enjoying a peaceful time, during their 3-tier signature tea service, and pouring tea from a design teapot covered with an aluminium teapot”cosy”.

I also browsed through their retail boutique with its brightly covered boxes of haute couture teas, French Earl Grey tea jelly and tea truffles.

My friends Judy, Anne and I had experienced French bistros in France-those small restaurants with nice simple, uncomplicated menus. So we chose John Blakeley’s Le Parisien with the bright red awning at 751 Denman St. The red theme continued inside with the holding-bar stools, couches and table linens.

We accompanied our $28 menu with a bottle of the English Strongbow cider with its bold and fresh apple “zing”.

The aroma of the truffle oil, drizzled over Judy’s and my potato, leek and crispy bacon soup and the saffron aioli and oven dried tomatoes on Anne’s crispy calamari was a nice enhancement.

My Classic Bouillabaisse, the traditional French Marseille fish stew was filled with cod, prawns, mussels and clams and topped with a rouille spicy , garlic crouton.

Judy said her Grilled Steak Frites with the cognac peppercorn sauce and their famous pommes frites, the twice fried, narrow, French fries were “trés bien”.

Their Crêpe Normande filled with apple, caramel and vanilla sauce made a nice conclusion. One of these days I hope to go to Le Mont St. Michel in Normandy and taste the original crêpe!

Chef Chris Whittaker at the Forage Restaurant in the Listel Hotel at 1300 Robson St promotes locally grown, seasonal food. Lili and I  both ordered the BC spot prawn and seafood chowder with soft poached egg, pork hock and smoked chicharron(the crunchy, sweet, fried pork skin) on top. It was delicious and well deserving of both Gold Medal Awards from the judges and people’s choice at the Aquarium’s Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown. We too celebrated with a glass of the fresh, clean and bubbly Neck of the Woods Blanc de Noir Brut from Langley.

Gelderman Farms in the Fraser Valley, feed their pigs with a vegetable based diet with no animal meat by-products or hormones in the feed. My moist, main dish of a nice slab of Gelderman Farm’s pork belly enveloped in crackling with the turnip-rooted celery or celeriac, pomme purée, ambrosia apple and braised red cabbage was excellent. Lili’s Pacific Provider salmon with a red wine and balsam fir cure, sitting on kelp pasta and roasted squash purée, went well with the drier, fruity Okanagan 2011 Tinhorn Gewürztraminer.

My organic chocolate and raspberry cake with Agassiz hazelnut macaroon and raspberry caramel was not too sweet and Lili’s summer berry preserve frozen parfait with lattice of Meyer lemon gel had a delicate blending of flavours. A good $28 menu.

We cheered Dine Out with the apricot, quince and honey flavours in our Okanagan 2010 Arrowleaf Special Select Late Harvest Vidal wine

The Urban Tea Merchant: www.urbantea.com   1070 W.Georgia    604-692-0071

Forage Restaurant: www.foragevancouver.com  1300 Robson St.   604-661-1400

Le Parisien: www.leparisien.ca 751 Denman St.  604-687-1418

All 4 photos by Lenora Hayman.

By Chris Millikan 

While visiting the Big Island of Hawaii, my daughter Jessica, husband Rick and I sign up to horseback ride. From Keauhau, Kona, we head north to the Kohala peninsula, the oldest part of this still-growing island. Kohala Mountain Road takes us 3000 feet above the Pacific and into plush green ranchlands.

Arriving early, we city slickers check out the situation. Breathing in fresh mountain air, we watch an earlier group return…reassured to see that everyone enjoyed the ride. Saddles and bridles removed, their horses roll enthusiastically in the grassy pasture. Meanwhile, handsome rested horses stand patiently in the stable…curiously looking us over!

Another couple joins us as wrangler Janna introduces herself and offers everyone an amazing gear selection: leather chaps, cowboy boots, hats, jackets…and stylish Australian rain slickers! After debating jaunty cowboy hats versus riding helmets, our rookie group fastens on helmets.

Outfitted and outside on the porch, Janna begins our orientation, “Surprising to many, Hawaiians were raising cattle long before their mainland counterparts. Even today, four of the USA’s biggest ranches thrive here. We’ll be riding across the Ponoholo Ranch, an 11,000-acre working cattle ranch.”

Demonstrating how to hold and properly use the reins, she instructs, ” Hold ’em like an ice-cream cone; firmly pull the reins right to go right, left to go left…” Calling us forward one-by-one, she introduces us to our horses, all handpicked according to our height, weight and experience. Janna winks at me, “Meet Ipo. His name means sweetheart!” With flowing blond mane and tail, he becomes my new boyfriend. She grins at Rick, “Named for this solid mountain, Kohala’s gonna be YOUR all terrain transport!” And Jessica falls in love with Ali’i, her royal beauty.

Launching from a handy step, we each settle into our saddles. Tying rain slickers behind our saddles, Janna adjusts our stirrups just right and we ride our mounts to the water trough in the paddock.  At first, Ipo has my number, sneakily snatching mouthfuls of grass. Reining him in, we pick up our pace and join the others heading toward open range. With confidence increasing by the minute, we soon begin to feel like Hawaii’s famed paniolo cowboys.

Passing through several gates, we ride upward into emerald pasturelands dotted with   black cattle. A magnificent panorama appears from the top of the rise. Jana notes, “On clear days up here you can see the Kohala and Kona coastlines, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai volcanoes…and sometimes even Maui’s Haleakala. Early Hawaiians grew sweet potatoes here, later sugarcane flourished!”

As the terrain becomes more rugged and windswept, Ipo and I enjoy our comfortable pace, sometimes trotting; others try cantering or galloping. Circling a rusty-red cinder crater, we dismount among ancient ruins…our legs surprisingly wobbly. It seems surreal to be munching delicious deli sandwiches sitting along a wall where Kamehahameha I once trained his warriors.

Janna tells us about Hawaii’s cowboy heritage. “When Captain Vancouver gave Kamehameha I five longhorns in 1798, the king made them kapu, untouchable. Escaping a stone corral in Kona, they thrived, multiplied into thousands…and rampaged over native crops for years. The king brought in Mexican vaqueros to teach Hawaiians how to rope and wrangle the mavericks. Paniolo traditions emerged integrating Spanish and Hawaiian cultures. And over time, modern ranching methods developed.”

A light, misty rain begins to fall.  Buttoning on our slickers, we mount up. Our horses readily trot us back to the stables. A rainbow arcs magically across the horizon.  With sweeping pasturelands, spectacular upcountry views and ancient ruins, this paniolo adventure reveals a different side of paradise…and bumps up our Big Island fun.

When You Go:

” Paniolo Adventures: www.panioloadventures.com

” Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort &Spa: www.sheratonkona.com

 By Chris Millikan

As first-timers to Arizona, we set out to explore the wonders of the Sonoran desert. Our investigations begin with a horseback ride just outside Scottsdale.  Slapping on cowboy hats, lots of sunscreen and armed with bottles of water, we settle into our saddles aboard Gem and Big John.

Wrangler Josh leads us into the blazing afternoon sun at a leisurely pace. “This ranch was once over 17,000 hectares, stretching eastward to the McDowell Mountains and south to the Camelbacks,” he explains. It seems impossible that cattle could survive here…until told each steer had 17 hectares for grazing that included nutritious bean pods from palo verde, mesquite and other plentiful legumes.

Pointing out cacti, Josh notes, “The barrel cactus always leans southward, so locals call it compass cactus…and that fuzzy-looking golden cholla looks friendly, but wicked barbs earn it the nickname desert Velcro.” A Great Horned Owl eyes us from her nest in a stately saguaro. “She swiped that prime spot from Harris Hawks,” Josh says. “Mama owl and Ms. Hawk perched in that ironwood tree, motionless for an entire day…deciding ownership in a stare-down!” I found it interesting to learn these hawks are very social birds that hunt cooperatively. Some offspring live with their family for up to 3 years, helping raise later broods.

Cottontail rabbits and comical Gembal quail scurry into ragged underbrush. Above, untidy nest-like tangles inspire a new spin on my favourite tradition! “That’s our native mistletoe stranglin’ those trees,” Josh winks. “Y’know, I never understood kissin’ under mistletoe! It’s a parasite, suckin’ life from its hosts! And growin’ in thorn-filled palo verde, ironwood and mesquite trees, you could even get hurt smoochin’ under Arizona’s mistletoe!” Picking some tiny leaves, we roll them between our fingers and inhale the creosote shrub’s oily perfume. “After a rain, desert air smells exactly like that,” grins Josh.

Though sighting not one rattlesnake during our ride, we learn they’re pretty common, as are gopher snakes that mimic rattler behaviours to discourage predators. Josh leaves us with a sobering thought, “Remember one thing about desert life: everything wants to stick, sting, bite…or eat you! Or pretends to! Otherwise, it’s a place of rare beauty!”

A cacophony of lively birdsong awakens us next morning for an early beat-the-heat hike in McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Trail guide Randy leads us along one of many routes in this desert mountain park. Starting up the rugged 7-kilometer loop, he advises, “Walk, don’t gawk!” Sweeping views of Scottsdale below us, vultures swooping above and surrounding desert landscapes make this difficult!

Puffing our way up to the 732-meter summit, we frequently pause to delight in purple flowers on teddy bear chollas, woodpeckers pecking nest-holes in soaring saguaros and fiery red blossoms on the ocotillo’s whip-like branches. Randy informs us that the Sonoran Desert’s uniquely diverse vegetation and animals survive here because of two annual rainy seasons and no overnight frosts.

On another sunny morning, a stroll throughout Desert Botanical Garden further expands our desert discoveries. Winding pathways lead us past endless varieties of cacti and succulents from around the world, many abloom in orange, yellow and red.  A rainbow collection of desert wildflowers attracts hoards of fellow photographers as well as many darting hummingbirds.  A glass enclosure showcases delicate butterflies, some ready to hitchhike outside on unsuspecting visitors like us!

A pathway loops through desert, oasis, mesquite bosque, semi-desert grasslands and chaparral habitats. Displays in each area demonstrate how native families survived this challenging landscape. We see the labeled plants that provided food, basket fiber, shelter and medicines.

Arizona’s Sonoran Desert reveals an unexpected and intriguing diversity.

Article & photos by Lenora A. Hayman.

I am happy to report that I had less jet-lag, after my 14½ hr. overnight, direct, non-stop flight on Air N.Z. from Vancouver to Auckland N.Z. I also noticed that in the pressurized cabin, the white wines seemed to loose their flavour and the reds tasted more astringent, so I had a glass of the white West Brook Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2011 with its lemon aromatics.  A bonus was that the tomato juice actually tasted sweeter in the higher altitude as well!

The following day, an 8:00a.m. ride on the Sealink car & passenger ferry from Half Moon Bay in Auckland, took my cousins & I on the 17.7kms (11mls), 45 mins. trip to Kennedy Point on Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf. The walk-on Fullers Ferry sails 40mins from Downtown Auckland to Matiatia  wharf, Waiheke where you can pick up a taxi.

Waiheke with 8,730 permanent residents & 3,400 folk with holiday homes is N.Z’s third most densely populated island after the North & South islands.  We saw fluffy, white seagulls with bright red feet and beaks strutting amongst the shells on Onetangi Beach, recently opened, red flowers on N.Z’s Christmas tree, the Pohutukawa,  at little Oneroa beach, and Phoenix Palms on Palm Beach where there was a huge, red wind sculpture. Oneroa, the largest of the Waiheke villages has a good beach, and a variety of restaurants and accommodation.

However we were heading to Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant on Church Bay Road to first visit their Cellar Door for both standard & premium wine tastings with Tom French. Tom said that the vines were first planted in 1992 by the present owners Nick & Robyn Jones who now have 2 Waiheke vineyard sites. One at the Mudbrick Vineyard at Church Bay with the North Bay clay slopes & salty, sea-air influence  and the other at Shepherds Point at Onetangi, within the Stony Ridge Valley, providing a different terroir.

After tasting a variety of wines in the sunshine, we moved into the Mudbrick Restaurant, built from mudbricks, which we were told “do not vary their internal temperatures by more than one degree in any 24-hour period-creating perfect conditions for aging and storing wine”!

While soft rays of sunshine cascaded on us through the opened slats in the roof, we dipped the housemade bread and olives into the extra virgin Waiheke olive oil and freshly chopped rosemary.

Our shared entrée( appetizer in Canada) of Atlantic King Scallops & Prawns, wrapped in shredded, crunchy Kataifi pastry went well with the gooseberry  hints of passionfruit & grassiness of my Mudbrick Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011.

We ordered sides of truffled potato mash & beans to go with our main courses.

To accompany his twice cooked pork belly, Roger chose a glass of the Merlot/Cabernet 2010 Waiheke that won the Trophy & Pure Gold Medal Air NZ Wine Awards 2011 with cassis, blueberry, plum & fine chalky tannins.

His wife Margaret Anne said the aromas of cassis, cracked pepper & dark plums in her Shepherds Point  Syrah(Waiheke) paired well with her Alpine Merino Lamb rump.

Chef Mathias Schmitt prepared my pan-seared, longline-caught snapper with the white sausage, Boudin Blanc, filled with both  prawns & snapper & a garnish of squid in ink, angel hair pasta with curry foam.

For dessert, I sipped a chilled passionfruit soup with spiced macaroon & coconut sorbet and the others had a rich Black Forest cake and a crème brûlée.

After lunch we strolled by their potager, the French term for an ornamental vegetable garden, where the fresh produce is grown. While a group, with wine glasses in hand, were strolling through the vineyards, we worked  off our meal by huffing and puffing up the hill to view a worthwhile, magnificent panorama of Hauraki Gulf Marine Park with the iconic dome of Rangitoto Island, a dormant volcano, linked by an artificial causeway, to the older Motutapu Island.

When you go:

www.mudbrick.co.nz  Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant, Waiheke Island, N.Z.

www.sealink.co.nz       Car & passenger ferry for flexibility to see & do more.

www.fullers.co.nz         Fullers  Passenger Ferry Auckland to Waiheke Island, N.Z.

All 4 photos by Lenora A. Hayman.

By Ursula Maxwell-Lewis 

RON DUNKLEY MEMORIAL BLOOD DONOR CLINIC LANGLEY FIREHALL #1

Sandy Dunkley (right), seen here with Canadian Blood Services supervisor, Mae Willoughby, at the Ron Dunkley Memorial Blood Donor Clinic Firehall #1 last  month.                            

“It’s in you to give”. Happy New Year!

Story and photo: Ursula Maxwell-Lewis

Welcome to 2013! May it treat you well, and often. Resolutions can be pretty dodgy, and discouraging, so I’m playing it safe this year: love more, want less; observe more, fear less; listen more, talk less; read and write more…and value the day. Seems like a fairly safe list. Right? Note the ‘fairly’.

Speaking of ‘love’, that’s an intangible Canadian Blood Services staff and volunteers freely dispense, and accept, at province-wide blood donor clinics.

Friends and I regularly volunteer at Langley’s Murrayville mobile clinic.

While dispensing refreshments, cookies, ‘Be kind to me, I donated blood today’ stickers, and general camaraderie, the reasons folks donate blood never fails to motivate and reward  us.

Sandy Dunkley (67), and husband, Gene (70), lost their 35 year-old son, Ron, on Jan, 4, 2011 after a Seattle car accident which took place in Nov, 2010.

Blood donations helped keep Ron alive for 60 days, giving family and friends extra cherished hours with the 15-year Langley firefighter.

Last month firefighters and Canadian Blood Services staff converted a bay at Langley Firehall No.1 into a clinic. The resulting 118 donors topped BC clinic charts for the month.

Sandy and Gene, who also donated, enthusiastically circulated, explaining what donations had meant to them, and their son.

Between serving cold drinks, and delectable donated Frostings Cupcakery treats, my thoughts gravitated, as usual at clinics, to my son’s best friend, Dave Sirec, and Cathy George, my friend’s daughter. Both battled cancer, aided by donated blood from similar province-wide clinics. Despite sad results, we partnered with them – and many strangers Canada-wide – to fight for their lives.

Following my shift, I spent an extra hour banking my Scottish blood.

As the nurse assisted me off the mobile cot, she smiled, and said; “Thank you for saving a life today.”

The pleasure was all mine – and it wasn’t just for the extra cupcake!

Call 1-888-236-6283 to book an appointment to donate, or volunteer, at a clinic near you.

If you are not eligible to donate, encourage friends and family to do so.

Ursula Maxwell-Lewis is a travel writer and photographer. Find her on Twitter @YouTravel; or at utravel@shaw.ca

By Chris & Rick Millikan

Smiling broadly, Captain and crew welcome 85 of us aboard MSS Yangtze Angel, kicking off a five-day journey upstream from Wuhan, city of revolution to Chung Ching, an industrial city of 8 million and home to panda bears. Exotic delights and magnificent natural beauty await us along the way.

Next morning we’re passing through sweeping agricultural lowlands. From our balcony, we exchange smiles and waves with locals along the banks, watch fishermen try their luck and farmers tend water buffalo in the shallows. That evening, our ship passes through Gezhouba, a series of 5 locks raising us into eastern Xiling Gorge, historically the most hazardous and longest of China’s three renowned gorges. Hours later we disembark and visit Sandouping’s Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project.

Following Tai Chi stretches on deck each morning, we choose onboard activities, including foot or body massages, acupuncture sessions, traditional medicine seminars and silk embroidery demonstrations. An informative lecture justifies and explains details of the Sandouping dam construction. Following luscious evening buffets, entertainment features delightful folk dancers, singers and acrobats in traditional costumes.

One afternoon, a dozen of us assemble in the lounge to test out medicinal teas. Mistress Mae Lin smiles, “My father was a distinguished herbalist who, having no son, passed his ancient remedies on to me…” Explaining our persistent ailments, she nods knowingly and concocts beautiful herbal remedies for individual indigestion, headaches, muscle tension and heart problems. Sipping soothing, aromatic drinks, we feel revitalized!

Another morning, a sleek launch takes us into the smallest gorge along the Daling River. Little monkeys scamper through greenery covering rock faces and cliffs. In one section, wooden coffins are spotted in high caves. The Ba placed ancestors there to be closer to heaven. As this river canyon narrows, waterfalls and magnificent peaks dazzle us at every turn.

Back aboard ship, we head for Wu Gorge to see its famous rock formations and soaring mountain peaks. That afternoon our ship enters Qutang Gorge, shortest but most dramatic of the three gorges. One huge stone’s shape earns its title: Rhinoceros Looking at the Moon.

Another day at Fengdu, a rumbling bus carries us through morning mists toward Ghost City, where spirits gather after death. On the way, we see stonemasons dismantling the city brick-by-brick and reassembling it on higher ground to escape rising river waters. Our walk follows a cobblestone pathway up Ming Mountain through venerable gardens and past towering temples reflecting 2,000 years of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. The statuary becomes increasingly grotesque and foreboding as we climb higher.

Ghosts traditionally scrutinize visitors like us at three notable places. Nothing-To-Be-Done-Bridge first tests our morals; having ‘good,’ souls, we cross the middle span of three identical arches…without tumbling into the pool below! For luck, we also cross the gold and silver bridges. Eighteen demonic sculptures line Ghost-Torturing-Pass into the courtroom, where Yama, King of Hell, judges us as new spirits. And on the boulder near the 33-foot wood and stone archway into Tianzi Palace, we take turns balancing on one foot for three minutes. Fallen failures are immediately dispatched for torture!

From the palatial courtyard, we gaze upon the largest and oldest temple in Ghost City. Inside, centuries-old artisanship further conjures the wrath gods give to the wicked and rewards bestowed for good behaviours. On our return at day’s end, we thread our way through a gauntlet of dockside vendors and re-board our Angel Ship.

After traveling 800 miles through lowlands, highlands and industrial areas, we   disembark at Chung Ching and take a whirlwind city tour. In its large zoo all whimsically feed apples to adorable pandas, nicely capping off this spectacular river cruise!