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See the Authentic Australian Outback with Spirit Safaris

One of the most challenging, yet favorite itineraries I ever worked on for a client was a weeklong trip to the remote Aboriginal art colonies in the Australian Outback. Called the “Central Deserts Aboriginal Art Tour,” the trip started in Alice Springs and ended in Adelaide. My client loved the itinerary, traveling with the owner of the tour operator, Spirit Safaris, a 5th-generation Australian explorer, Richard O’Neill. If you’ve read Bruce Chatwin’s Songlines (probably the one book that most inspired me to become a travel writer), you quickly realize that to see the real Australia, you have to visit the center of the country. Yet, few outfitters actually go there. That’s why I was delighted to find Richard, who will go anywhere in the Outback, from Alice Springs to Darwin to Broome. Let ActiveTravels get you to the most authentic part of Oz. 

 
(Photo by Peggy Morrison)

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Yoga Atop New England’s Tallest Peak

Carlene Sullivan, owner of Symmetree Yoga in North Conway, New Hampshire, has just introduced a 2-night Yoga Adventure, where you take a guided hike or drive to the top of 6,288-foot Mount Washington, and top it off with yoga and meditation on the summit surrounded by the other ridges of the White Mountains. Prices start at $260 per person and include two nights’ accommodation, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, yoga class, breath work, and meditation, and transportation to the site from North Conway. Carlene also offers day-trips, where you hike to a serene spot in the Whites and have your own private yoga session next to a waterfall or rambling stream. 
 

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Snow Village To Open In Montreal

It’s hard to think about snow right now, especially when I was walking barefoot through a bog yesterday in mid-60s Boston temperature. Yet, when I picture Quebec in January, how can I not think of snow? Once the temperature turns a wee bit frosty, Montreal will be home to a very special event this winter. On January 6, 2012, the city plans to unveil the continent’s first Snow Village at Parc Jean-Drapeau. This is no miniature dollhouse or a series of ice sculptures. No. Montreal’s Snow Village will include a 30-room ice hotel, an outdoor spa, ice bar, ice restaurant, ice chapel for marriages, a maze, slides, and much more. Indeed, you’ll find a replica of Montreal made entirely out of ice. The show’s promoters first encountered the Snow Village concept in Finland and wanted to recreate the idea in North America. The village will be open through March and rates at the hotel start at $175 per person for a limited time. While in the city, check out Le Bremner, the hot new restaurant from Iron Chef winner Chuck Hughes, owner of one of my favorite restaurants in town, Garde-Manger.

 

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Clayoquot Partners with Rosewood Georgia to Present Luxury Gone Wild

Take one of Abercrombie & Kent’s luxurious tented African safaris and plop it down on the northern fringes of Vancouver Island in British Columbia and you start to understand the sumptuous wilderness experience that can be had at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort. On the shores of the Bedwell River under the canopy of a temperate rainforest, you can spot bear, whales, porpoises, moose, and bald eagles as you choose to sea kayak, hike, or go on horseback. Then it’s back to home base for a hot tub or massage at the spa, and a fabulous dinner that features the bounty of British Columbian goods. There’s halibut, tuna, and every type of salmon available, from the pink Coho to the cherry red smoked sockeye salmon, and loads of fresh fruit like figs, blueberries, gooseberries, and yellow golden berries. Now Clayoquot has teamed with Vancouver’s classic Rosewood Hotel Georgia to combine city with country in their Luxury Gone Wild package. Spend at least one night in Vancouver and then fly via floatplane to Clayoquot for a 3 to 4-night adventure. Make sure one of those nights at Clayoquot is atop Cloud Camp, a private retreat overlooking the terrain, replete with private chef and guide. 

 
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Three Mainers Complete the 100-Mile Wilderness Trail in Winter

April is usually the month when Appalachian Trail thru-hikers give themselves a nickname and start the 2,190-mile five to seven-month trek from the southern terminus, Springer Mountain, Georgia. For many, the most grueling 100 miles will be the last, on the notorious 100-Mile Wilderness Trail in Maine. This is an arduous up and down grind where the occasional logging road is the only sign of civilization. That’s why I love this story out of the Bangor Daily News, which reports that 3 Maine hikers completed the 100-Mile Wilderness Trail the beginning of March. Using snowshoes and backcountry skis, and carrying hefty backpacks, they trekked in hip-deep snow, summited 4,000-foot peaks in howling winds, and often had to clamber over downed trees. A remarkable inspiration, which I hope to remember when I next climb a mountain in summer. 

 
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Kicking Back in Aruba

If you dream of a Caribbean getaway with blinding white sands and aquamarine waters, a destination that has year-round temps in the mid to upper 80s, less than 15 inches of rain a year, a steady breeze, and absolutely no threat of hurricane, then it’s hard to top the Dutch island of Aruba. Only 16 miles long and 7 miles wide, this speck of land, just off the South American coast remains a popular escape year after year simply because you’re guaranteed a week or two of a warm, therapeutic climate. It doesn’t matter that the interior is mostly arid desert, not nearly as lush as other Caribbean isles like Jamaica or St. Lucia, because travelers come here primarily for that glorious 7-mile stretch of beach. To find out about activities, restaurants, and hotels in Aruba, please check out my latest story for Global Traveler. 
 
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Spending a Night at the Shaw Festival

Long before people headed to Niagara on the Lake to sample the world-class chardonnays and rieslings, and prior to outfitters like Butterfield & Robinson arriving on the scene to design exceptional day rides, there was the renowned Shaw Festival. Held from the beginning of April to early November, the theatre festival celebrates the works of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries. More than a dozen productions are performed each year at four stages from works created by Noel Coward, Arthur Miller, Oscar Wilde, Lillian Hellman, and a slew of other noteworthy playwrights. This year, expect to find Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls, Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan, and Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara. Last night at Royal George Theater, I took in Our Betters, a rarely performed play by one of my favorite writers, Somerset Maugham. Set in 1920s London, the play is based on a familiar story line from the popular television show, Downton Abbey, where a down on his luck British aristocrat marries a well-to-do American gal for her money. Yet that’s where the similarity ends. Our Betters is much more of a satire, a predictable romp that gets big laughs. Though it’s not Maugham at his finest, it’s still a delight to watch due to the exemplary acting, absorbing sets, and the art deco costumes that take you back to the Roaring 20s. Kudos to the Shaw Festival for continuing to produce plays where biting wit and rapid-fire repartee entertain. 

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