Our friends arrived around the same time at Villa Ivana on Saturday to begin our 7 day stay in the Cortona area. The 9 bedroom Villa is an historical property that is nestled on a hillside within minutes of the old town. It is very spacious and reasonably comfortable with outdoor pool and a large pergola covered patio. It was fortunate that the large facility allowed some space for isolation, although 3 out of the 5 couples ended up positive with Covid, some showing mild to no symptoms. For the first few days, our plans were somewhat restricted but eventually we were able to get out and enjoy some of the attractions in the area. Cortona is on the south east portion on Tuscany, close to the Umbria border. The old town’s origins can be traced ... read more

In our final couple of weeks, we have focused on a few areas not yet visited. St. Kilda’s Beach is on the south east side of the city centre and a short tram ride (assuming you get off at the right station) from the main railway station at Flinders Street. There is a nice board walk with a few restaurants and a well maintained beach. We were there mid week and the weather was “coolish” so it wasn’t busy, however, it was easy to imagine the area would be packed in prime time. The surrounding area was a little tired and disappointing. A promenade close by was lined with 2nd and 3rd tier retail shops and a carnival facility with a Ferris wheel and roller coaster was somewhat distracted from a reasonably nice waterfront location. The ... read more

Mornington Peninsula is on the south east side of Melbourne and at its most extreme westerly tip is Point Nepean National Park. As opposed to our last visit to the peninsula, which required us to drive through the city, we took the 40 minute ferry ride from Queenscliff which is on the opposite side of the narrow channel protecting Port Phillip bay. The National Park includes numerous hiking trails, the remnants of a quarantine centre and Fort Nepean, a 19th/20th century military installation. The quarantine centre, established in mid 1800’s, contained numerous outbuildings including a hospital and other facilities in which new immigrants were screened for communicable diseases. For example, the “Foul Luggage room” contained a semi automated method of decontaminating all luggage using formaldehyde and other chemicals. We hiked the fairly easy 11 km return ... read more

Australia has 28% of it’s population foreign born (Canada‘s is 23%) and with the largest segment of immigrants from China, it’s unsurprising that Chinese New Year is a big celebration in Melbourne. On a pleasant Sunday afternoon, we took the train to the city centre and attended the launch of the big celebration and parade. The crowds, mostly unmasked, were large and concentrated around China town. Its estimated 80,000 people were packed into a few streets to watch the parade and participate in other activities . In the Chinese Zodiac calendar, 2023 is the year of the Rabbit. According to the BBC; ”2022 was the Year of the Tiger and decorated as a positive and active energy in Chinese ... read more

After almost forty hours (door to door) travel time, we settled into our accommodations at Sanctuary Lakes which is about 1/2 hour drive outside of Melbourne. Despite all the news coverage on disruptions, our travel through 4 airports was seamless and we arrived on time at destination, with our luggage and golf clubs. Most flights were with Air New Zealand which we consider the best of any airlines we’ve taken. Their service and efficiency was excellent. Not sure it’s an appropriate linkage, but airlines tend to reflect on their country of origin. I hope Air Canada's passengers don’t assume that Canada operates the same way as our national carrier!!! It‘s hard to understand why cell phone costs in Canada are so much more expensive than many other countries. In Australia, which is quite similar to Canada ... read more