Our plan for today was to head for the Hop On Hop Off bus (red route) which goes to Table Mountain, and go to the top of the mountain in the gondola - however, there were even more clouds covering it than yesterday! Change of plans - swap the red route for the blue route (and the purple route). So after a lovely breakfast at the hotel, walked back to the Hop On Hop Off bus office (that we had found yesterday) and set off on the blue route. This goes through the centre of Cape Town, including Long St (the main street?) and then heads around behind Table Mountain. We got off at the Kirstenbosch gardens, a botanical garden on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. Wandered around through various parts of the garden (it's ... read more

Feels like we have been waiting forever for this holiday, even though we only decided to go after the Travel Expo in February. Departure day finally arrived, but unfortunately, so did a text from the airline saying our Sydney to Perth flight had been delayed. Not normally an issue, but we only had 1 hour and 25 mins in Perth, and had to get from domestic terminal to international (in the same building in Perth) and go through immigration and security so a delay was going to make this very tight. We made it, just, with an escorted sprint (well a brisk walk) with 28 other passengers, through the aiiport. Then, only 11 hours to Johannesburg!!... read more

Started our day in Paris, then went to Venice, New York and back to Venice for dinner and a show, then back to Paris! Breakfast in a Paris cafe this morning, then we braved the heat to see some more of the strip. Bruce (bus driver from the Rockies) had told us about the Deuce Bus, a double decker, air conditioned, bus service that runs up and down the strip (Las Vegas Boulevard) 24/7, only $8 for a 24 hour pass, so bought our passes and got on a north bound bus, right in front of our hotel. Only rode two stops, but was a lot further than it looked on the map, so pleased we didn't walk. Got off at The Venetian. Another wow! The outside has canals, complete with gondolas and many other famous ... read more

Did not wake up to blue sky and sunshine this morning because we were up before the sun! (But it was blue sky and sunshine later!) Apparently if you have a flight out of Toronto Pearson International Airport before 10am, you need to be there 3 hours beforehand. Our flight was 8am (it changed from 10am) so needed to be there at 5am. Decided to live dangerously and get the 5am shuttle from the hotel which would get us to the airport at 5.10am. Took us a whole 25 minutes to check in and go through security, immigration and customs. So glad we set that alarm for 4.15am! A 4 1/2 hour flight to Las Vegas, and a 3 hour time difference meant we landed in Las Vegas about 9.30am (Vegas time). They have poker machines ... read more

Had a wine tasting tour in Niagara on the Lake booked today, including a visit to a lavender farm and a ginseng tea shop. Weather forecast was awful, so set off with rain jackets and umbrellas to the pick up point (which was the hotel next door). Ended up with a group of eight, in a small bus, a mother & daughter from Michigan, two couples from Orlando, Florida and us! First stop was Neob Lavender (were a little concerned when the guide/driver said we were going to a lavender shop, but there was more to it). They have a lavender field, a greenhouse where they grow different sorts of lavender and other essential oil producing plants and a distillery for the essential oils. Had a tour of all of this, very interesting, then into the ... read more