Beer spa offers "relaxation and libation" in the one spot

If you love drinking beer and relaxing in hot tubs in the outdoors then Canada's biggest beer spa might be worth adding to your travel "to do" list.

The Muskoka Beer Spa, part of Clear Lake Brewing Co, is a two-hour drive north from Toronto. 

Opening officially on April 7, the beer spa proclaims itself as the "biggest in the world" and will feature an outdoor pool, two large hot tubs, a music stage, an ice rink during winter and four saunas.

The Muskoka Beer Spa is nestled in the woods surrounding the the Clear Lake Brewing Co. and offers "relaxation and libation" - as well as cabins with their own draught beer tap. 

Guests will be able to grab a beer from the outdoor cocktail hut or attached brewery and drink it in lounge areas or hammocks around the pools. 

The facilities will all be open to both overnight guests and day visitors. 

Accommodation includes complimentary snacks, a wet bar, beer on tap, as well as TV and wifi, along with old school VCR machines and tapes. Each cabin has queen-sized beds, a living room area and a kitchen; and fresh pastries will be delivered to your door each morning. 

There are plans to host beer and music festivals from small gatherings to big events on the eight-acre site. There will also be massage treatments available on site. 

Once open, the beer spa day rate will cost $40+ (£23+) for one day’s access, not including the price of any extra treatments.

LATAM resumes Sydney-Santiago flight schedule

 After almost two years of pausing its passenger services from Australia and New Zealand due to the Covid-19 pandemic, LATAM has announced it will resume its passenger operations between Sydney, Auckland and Santiago starting from March 29. 

LATAM will operate a Boeing 787-9 aircraft three times a week and is looking to increase the schedule to five flights weekly from July 1. 

"We are extremely excited to recommence our flights between Australia/New Zealand to South America (Chile) on 29 March," Chris Ellis, country manager- Oceania for LATAM Airlines (someone should maybe tell Chris's bosses that Oceania is not a country). 

"We are ready to give our passengers a warm welcome back on board, reconnect them with their loved ones and showcase all the beauty and wonders that South America has to offer. 

"LATAM operates the largest network in Latin America and we know that many of our passengers have been patiently waiting for flights to resume so they can tick off their bucket list destinations such as the Atacama Desert, Iguazu Falls, Machu Picchu, Patagonia and many more."

Passengers must meet specific entry requirements for entering South American nations and can use this link for more information:

https://www.latamairlines.com/us/en/experience/coronavirus/restrictions.

LATAM Airlines Group S.A. and its affiliates is the main group of airlines in Latin America with a presence in five domestic markets in the region: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, in addition to international operations inside Latin America and between it and Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean.

The group has a fleet of Boeing 767, 777, 787, Airbus A321, A320, A320neo and A319 aircraft.

Let there be light: Vivid Sydney returns

Vivid Sydney, one of the most colourful festivals in Australia, returns in 2022 with what is promised as "a fusion of creativity, innovation and technology".

To be staged over 23 nights, the winter festival will feature art displays, 3D light projections and live music performances from May 27 to June 18.

The festival will span the streets, parks, venues, and buildings of Sydney and is set to boast the longest continuous Light Walk, which will stretch continuously for 8km, linking the Sydney Opera House to Central Station with 47 installations and projections.

“After a two-year hiatus I am delighted to launch the 100-day countdown for Vivid Sydney 2022, which will be a fantastic celebration of a return to life,” said NSW state minister for tourism Stuart Ayres.

“The 2022 program will be the biggest and brightest yet, with many festival-firsts, providing even more reasons for Sydneysiders and visitors from around the country - and all over the world - to immerse themselves in our city at its creative best.

“Vivid Sydney makes a vital social and economic contribution during winter. From our creative industries to entertainment and hospitality venues, accommodation and retailers, it supports the entire ecosystem of the NSW visitor economy.”

 


Designed by Sydney artist Elliott Routledge, who is also featured in the 2022 festival program, the Countdown Clocks will be located outside Sydney's Queen Victoria Building at Town Hall and Gateway Plaza, Circular Quay.

A virtual version will also feature on vividsydney.com.

Festival Director Gill Minervini, who will direct her first Vivid Sydney in 2022, said this year's program captures the essence of Sydney's soul, and what makes the city so unique.

“Vivid Sydney tells the compelling story of Sydney's creativity and innovation, shared with a distinctive narrative that resonates around the world," she said

"We are innately drawn to Sydney's urban landscape as a unique canvas, bringing us together to celebrate, reflect and immerse ourselves in this charismatic, surprising and intriguing city.

“This year Vivid Sydney will deliver fresh experiences for festival-goers. We are proud to have such an impressive collection of Sydney's most prolific and world-renowned artists involved in the 2022 program. 

This includes the work of artist Ken Done, delivering the Customs House projection with For Sydney With Love; and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran's multi-limbed avatar Earth Deities, featuring animated fire and electricity.”

Vivid Sydney 2022 will energise the Sydney CBD, Circular Quay, The Rocks, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, Goods Line and Central Station, as well as city structures including such as Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, MCA and Customs House.

Suddenly everyone wants to fly

The sales of airline tickets around the world have soared in recent weeks as more countries open up following the the Covid-19 epidemic.

Sales of international tickets jumped to 11% above 2019 levels between January 25-February 8 2022, the fastest rise for any two-week period since the pandemic started, Travel Mole reported.

"Momentum toward normalising traffic is growing," said International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general Willie Walsh.

"Vaccinated travellers have the potential to travel much more extensively with fewer hassles than even a few weeks ago. This is giving growing numbers of travellers the confidence to buy tickets.

"Now we need to further accelerate the removal of travel restrictions. While recent progress is impressive, the world remains far from 2019 levels of connectivity."

IATA says 18 markets are open to vaccinated travellers without quarantine or prior testing, while 28 markets are open to vaccinated travellers without quarantine but with testing or other restrictions.

The airline trade group called for "a stop to the singling out of the travelling population for special measures".

It says it wants the removal of all travel curbs - including quarantine and testing for fully vaccinated passengers, which seems a little extreme.

It also advocates for quarantine-free travel for the unvaccinated with a negative test result. Which many people would disagree with.

IATA has 290 airline members in 120 nations but in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, it has also organized tariff conferences that served as a forum for price fixing. A very sore topic among frequent flyers.

A slice of cannonbear cheese with your glass of wine?

Foreign food names can make life very difficult for monolingual Anglo Saxons - and linguistically challenged gourmets around the world. 

While just about everyone can get their head around pizza and satay; Australians (and many others) find several hard-to-pronounce (and spell) words in the kitchen and on restaurant menus. 

The experts at Top10 Meal Deliveries decided to discover if there is a correlation between mispronouncing and misspelling famous foods by analysing global search trend data from Google with help from Ahrefs.

Out of all the most commonly mispronounced foods, gnocchi (nyoh-key) is the most misspelled with 295,800 searches a month for gnocci (170,000), gnochi (118,000) and gnochhi (7,800).

Bruschetta (bru-sketta) is another commonly mispronounced food, along with kombucha, daiquiri, prosciutto, macaron, and camembert, which, believe it or not, is frequently searched for as cannonbear.

I also remember being offered some horse rubbish (horseradish) with a steak dish in Asia.

Italian foods are clearly the toughest to spell, while tzatziki, chipotle and phở all missed out on making the list. 

But at least Australians can pronounce Worcestershire sauce; a feat which is beyond most Americans.  

A link to the original data can be found here.

Back to the future for Barossa wine legend Burge

Grant Burge and Ian Wilson, two young guns in their 20s, created the Krondorf wine brand in 1978. 

Just two years later the Krondorf Cabernet Sauvignon 1979 won the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards. Krondorf was established as a worthy  brand

Now, over four decades on, Burge is once more the owner of the Barossa winery, having sold his stake to Mildara Blass in 1986. 

It was an emotional purchase for the wine industry veteran. He and his wife Helen (above) live just 50 metres from the winery. 

It marks the third time in its history that Krondorf Winery has found itself in the Burge family’s hands. 

He re-purchased from Mildara Blass in 1999 and then sold to multinational Accolade Wines from whom he this week purchased the facility. 

“It’s a very special homecoming,” says Burge. 

“I have effectively bought back a significant part of my past, having first acquired Krondorf Winery– which, to add to the poignancy, sits alongside our family home in the Barossa – as a 27-year-old. 

"Now, at the age of 70, I’m looking forward to both the person and the wine ageing well.” 

The purchase will allow Burge Barossa – an integrated wine and tourism services company – to produce and bottle some 178,000 dozen bottles of white wine per annum for its growing contractor base, more than doubling previous output of 60,000 dozen and establishing the winery as a medium-size player in the region.

 

It further sees Burge Barossa invest some $1 million in a new, soon-to-be-constructed bottling plant and warehouse. 

The sale of Krondorf Winery follows Accolade’s decision some 12 months ago to close the site. 

Burge Barossa, with family roots in the region dating back more than a century-and-a-half, is privately owned by Grant and Helen Burge. 

The company also operates bed and breakfast properties Tanunda Cottages and Wilsford House.