Jetsettersblog

Growing international trend of human powered activity drives British Columbia growth of outdoor adventure parks

www.wildplay.com

Maple Ridge, B.C.,- MLAs, mayors, local councillors and children’s groups were all invited to be the “First to Go Wild” at WildPlay’s fourth new location in Maple Ridge. Riding the wave of interest in human powered activity and outdoor adventure parks that are springing up quickly around the world, this is BC- based WildPlay’s third new element park this year.

The new WildPlay Maple Ridge location features a Monkido course, a name that comes from “monkey see – monkey do”. Its features include a combination of Tarzan swings, zip lines, scramble nets, swinging logs and other elements between six and 60 feet above the ground.

“It’s a big deal”, said Tom Benson, WildPlay co-owner and chief experience officer. “This is a phenomenon that is growing worldwide and we are thrilled by how much interest we are getting right here in BC. Maple Ridge offers a fantastic base for our fourth adventure park and we look forward to working with the municipality as we attract more families, visitors and kids of all ages to engage in active adventure experiences, where they are challenged to evolve beyond their self-perceived limits.”

WildPlay is planning more sites in the Lower Mainland and is getting interest from the interior and franchise inquiries from the US. The Element Park visits have jumped 25 per cent annually, bringing last year’s visitor total to about 50,000.

From its creation, with only the two founders running the company, WildPlay has grown to about 150 employees. The Maple Ridge location has already hired nine Guest Services Agents, 15 Tree Guides and one supervisor, for a total of 25.

The philosophy of WildPlay is also centered on nurturing environmental stewardship that flows from being connected with nature.

“A key part of what we’re doing is exposing people to fun in beautiful natural places,” said Benson. “Our feeling is that once people feel a sense of kinship with these places, they will be more likely to protect them and relate to them in the future.”

Like WildPlay’s parks on Vancouver Island and in Whistler, WildPlay Maple Ridge’s Monkido course is integrated into the forest environment.

Each course is designed to conform to the landscape, rather than modifying the landscape to fit the course. Monkido is attached to trees using a compression system that allows sap and tree nutrients to flow, so it is sustainable and supportive to the natural environment that surrounds it.

“We are pleased to welcome a WildPlay park to Maple idge,” said Mayor Ernie Daykin. “This initiative will support the community’s tourism, Leisure & Parks Services, and economic development goals and will serve to generate positive awareness of the community across the Lower Mainland, enhancing its reputation as a destination for outdoor recreation adventure, family fun and fitness.

This park is a key addition to the community, promoting a healthy, safe and sustainable region with a wide range of recreation and cultural activities while protecting natural assets.”

WildPlay Maple Ridge is located in the old Maple Ridge Park Campground, located approximately three kilometres from the entrance to Golden Ears Park.

“Maple Ridge is an exciting youthful region, dedicated to sustained growth and family-friendly community development,” says Benson. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining Maple Ridge at such an exciting time.”

WildPlay Maple Ridge is open seven days a week, with activity departure times from 9 am to 5 pm. Prices are $39.99 for the youth/adult course and $19.99 for the kids course (7-13 years of age) for hours of fun in the outdoors.

Ridge Meadows Parks & Leisure Services Participation Program, which strives to ensure every recreation program is available to all, will benefit from $6,000 worth of free passes annually as part of the agreement with WildPlay Ltd. Passes will be used to benefit local community programming.

Wildplay Maple Ridge will also take part in Wildplay’s Charity of Choice program which provides complementary activity passes to a non-profit group every two years. A Charity of Choice recipient for Maple Ridge will be announced in the next two weeks.

About WildPlay

WildPlay Ltd. was created to make exciting outdoor experiences more accessible to people of all ages and fitness levels and aims to reinvigorate the concept of play for children and adults, encouraging families to play together. WildPlay’s first park, WildPlay Nanaimo, opened in March 2006 and in 2008 was awarded the Nanaimo Economic Development Group Leading EDG Award and the Tourism Vancouver Island Raising the Bar Award.

Hankering for an End of Summer or Early Fall Bromance Trip?

Check out these British Columbia Manly Escapades.

Guys who feel overdue for a roadie can still hit the open road on a late summer or early fall bromance date and experience the best of BC’s raging waterfalls, outdoor recreation and ocean swells by celebrating their manliness at any one of these epic destinations.

Comox Valley is a guy’s playground. Chest pounding mountain biking and hiking trails, an abundance of golf courses, a legendary 10.5 metres of annual snowfall at Mount Washington Alpine Resort and a range of accommodation choices are all surrounded by some of the best eating experiences in BC, thanks to a long, rich growing season.

www.discovercomoxvalley.com

Ranked by Michelin as one of the top three drives in Canada, the trip to Tofino’s Long Beach Lodge Resort from Victoria, BC is a perfect destination for road trippers.

The awesome 60-room resort, with 40 lodge rooms and 20 Cottages, is located on 8 acres facing one of the best surfing beaches in North America.

Dude experiences include everything from literally jumping out of bed, grabbing your board and hitting the waves, to ocean fishing and kayaking. Long Beach Lodge Resort also offers surf lessons on property and the architecturally recognized Great Room is ideal for bonding over beers.

Room rates starting at $229.00

Surfing Rates: $169.00 for each instructor, for a 2.5 hour private lesson (for up to 5 Bros) and $29.00 for equipment rentals for each person per day (includes board, wetsuit and booties)

Fishing Rates: $120.00 two adults, $130.00 three adults and $140.00 four adults. All tackle and bait is provided for a six hour minimum trip

www.longbeachlodgeresort.com

As BC’s youngest municipality and unofficial waterfall capital of the North – boasting stunning water falls and 37 marked hiking trails – Tumbler Ridge begs exploration and recreation year round.

Located in the Alaska Highway corridor, Tumbler Ridge is becoming known as a great destination for trail running, music fests and the gruelling Emperor’s Challenge half marathon.

It is also home to a hot bed of dinosaur foot prints and excavation discoveries sure to entice the boy in every man. Camping and RVing is a good way to go, and Tumbler Ridge’s Newest Hotel has rates starting at $139. www.visittumblerridge.ca

Lower mainland guy-pals can take a quick drive up the newly enhanced Sea to Sky highway to Whistler’s Scandinave Spa.

Owned in part by former NHLers Vincent Damphousse and Eric Desjardins, Scandinave is no girly spa, but is spread over three acres of natural land at the crest of Lost Lake, overlooking Whistler’s incredible mountain landscape.

Bros can relax over a hard day of golf, early season skiing or hiking in the hot baths and cooling waterfalls, available year round. Rates for spa visits start at $55.

www.scandinave.com

Guys looking for a more competitive challenge over a shorter time frame can take on any one of four Wildplay Element Parks located in B.C.

Offering outdoor exhilaration for all fitness levels via ziplines, bungee jumping and its signature Monkido courses, Wildplay Element Parks are available in Nanaimo, Victoria, Whistler and Maple Ridge, and well within reach of road trip bragging rights for Lower Mainlanders and Vancouver Islanders.

Rates start at $39.00 per person.

www.wildplay.com

In Northern Kenya Offer An Unforgettable Wildlife Experience

Bush and Beyond
CONTACT: Elizabeth Bean Crookston
TEL: 647-344-9492
E-MAIL: info@bush-and-beyond.com
WEB: www.bush-and-beyond.com

NAIROBI, Kenya–Sarara Camp, a tented camp located in the Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust of Northern Kenya, offers tailor-made, camel-assisted walking safaris in the fabled Mathews Mountain range of Northern Kenya.

Guests of this unique safari method get off the beaten track, giving them an opportunity to explore areas that are rarely visited by tourists and untouched by human development.

From the rainforest of the mountains to the sheer beauty and remoteness of the lowlands, guests of the Sarara Camel Walking Safaris enjoy intimate insight into one of the wildest and scenically beautiful areas of Kenya.

Based in the Namunyak Conservancy, guests explore wild and exciting Samburu tribal grazing lands on foot, where wildlife lives in harmony with the local people, and where a new and exciting model of conservation is taking place.

The Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust works with communities to create awareness and education as to the benefits and revenue opportunities of conserving wildlife.

A camel-assisted walking safari is the ideal means by which to travel.

Free of the constraints of a vehicle, travellers gain flexibility and freedom that allows them to explore new and untouched areas. The camels carry all of the supplies and equipment required to camp comfortably in the bush.

Guests move from camp to camp by foot, following traditional game trails, as well as Samburu livestock trails. This kind of safari also offers a great alternative to flying between luxury camps, saving on the cost of the flight and spending a few days exploring the land in between destinations.

For more information about Sarara Camp or any of the Bush and Beyond properties, contact Elizabeth Bean Crookston at 647-344-9492 or by e-mail at ebean@bush-and-beyond.com

Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth’s will have a 13,000-square-foot Royal Spa on two levels.

The Royal Spa will be the first at sea to provide Remède products and treatments.

A new fixture is the Royal Bath House, a covered space that includes a thermal suite and hydrotherapy pool. Plush robes, slippers and other amenities will be provided. Day passes are available for guests not booking a treatment.

New treatments include the self-scrub in which patrons work with the spa’s “mixologist” to create a blend of exfoliants and the “Cellulite Reduction and Revitalizing Leg Therapy” by Ionithermie.

The hair and nail salon will offer Phyto Hair Cocktails, bliss waxing, St. Tropez Sunless Tanning for the face and body and Brazilian Blowout.

The fitness center includes a work-out facility and aerobics studio and offers classes, including Walkvest, when guests burn calories while wearing a weighted vest of two to 16 pounds while walking. Also offered are Aqua Tone classes that incorporate movements with water equipment, such as dumbbells, floats, aqua gloves and fins.

The Royal Spa also offers services using the ancient traditions of Chinese medicines and Ayurvedic techniques.

A professionally trained acupuncturist, registered by the British Acupuncture Council, offers six treatments to assist in alleviating stress or pain, or helping with weight loss.

For more information, call 800-728-6273 or visit www.queenelizabeth.cunard.com

VisitDenmark’s website now features a new Jewish Heritage online guide, www.visitdenmark.com/Jewish, revealing points of interest along Denmark’s Jewish Heritage Trail in Copenhagen, and beyond.

The guide provides historical background, useful facts and suggestions for things to do and places to see, including a Top 5 list, that highlights the Danish-Jewish experience, past and present.

The online guide also provides a comprehensive primer on the history of the Jews in Denmark from the first refugees in the 17th century, to the waves of immigrants who passed through the country during the 20th century, and as recently as the Polish Jews who arrived during the 1970s.

The history of the Jews in Denmark begins long before those traumatic days of the 20th century. Denmark’s Jewish community, the oldest in Scandinavia, dates back to the 1600s when King Christian IV founded the city of Glückstadt on the River Elbe near Hamburg (now in Germany, but then under Danish rule) as a safe haven for Sephardic Jewish merchants from Spain, Portugal and North Africa.

The online guide also provides inspiration for planning one’s own Jewish heritage tour of Denmark, which might include The Danish Jewish Museum, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind;

The Judaica collection at The Royal Library;

The Museum of Danish Resistance; Copenhagen’s Round Tower;

Trinitatis Church (where the Torah scrolls from the Great Synagogue were hidden during the Nazi occupation of Denmark);

and Copenhagen’s Great Synagogue.

For more information, visit www.jewish-copenhagen.dk  or www.visitdenmark.com/jewish

Emperor’s Cathedral, one of Frankfurt’s most popular attractions, has reopened.

Visitors of the city will once again be able to climb up the 328 steps of the cathedral that were closed to the public 11 years ago because of structural damage.

Having been reconstructed, the stairway is once again open to the top of the tower, from where visitors have available to them an unmatched view of the surrounding old town, including the Römer, the city’s town hall, St. Paul’s Church, Frankfurt’s skyline in the background, and the museum embankment along the River Main.

Emperor’s Cathedral’s historical significance and range of artifacts on display have played an equally important part in making it one of the city’s foremost sightseeing attractions. Consecrated in the name of St. Bartholomew, the Gothic-style cathedral was erected between 1315 and 1358 where a dilapidated palace chapel built by Louis the Pious in the 9th century had previously stood.

During the Middle Ages, the cathedral served as the official seat of the imperial chapter of St. Bartholomew.

In 1356, Emperor Charles IV declared Frankfurt to be the new electoral site of German kings and from 1562 to 1792 as the coronation site for 10 emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

Today, the “electoral chapel” remains as a place of prayer and silent contemplation.

Emperor’s Cathedral houses many artistic treasures, including the Sleeping Mary Altar, created by an unknown artist in the 15th century, a painting depicting the Lamentation of Jesus Christ by Antonius van Dyck, the tombs of various famous Frankfurt personalities and a frieze of the cathedral’s namesake, St. Bartholomew.

Those interested in finding out more about the life of Bartholomew or the history of the cathedral are urged to pay a visit to the neighboring Cathedral Museum, which offers a chronological tour highlighting the history of the cathedral.

A collection of burial objects found in the tomb of a Merovingian maiden, discovered in the 1950s and dating back to the 7th century, is of particular interest.

The cathedral has also endured its share of hard times over the years.

It was ravaged by fire in 1867.

Nearly a century later, in March 1944, it burned out again and also suffered heavy structural damage during a series of Allied air raids.

The reconstruction necessitated by these two events has influenced the appearance of the cathedral. The present-day cathedral presents itself as a three three-nave hall church.

Its western tower, built in the 15th century, is one of the most important representations of the German Gothic period.

The belfry is the home of “Gloriosa,” Germany’s second-heaviest church bell, weighing 26,290 pounds.

The cathedral tower is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year, the tower will remain open until Oct. 1.

In 2011, the tower will be accessible once again from April 1.

For more information, visit www.germany.travel

The Rezidor Hotel Group and the Regional Hotel Chain (RHC), the leading dedicated regional hotel developer in Russia, will open the 160-room Park Inn City Centre Sochi in 2013, in time for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

RHC is one of Rezidor’s most important partners for future business development in Russia. In 2009, both companies signed an agreement for up to 20 Park Inn hotels centrally located across major cities in the country.

The Park Inn City Centre Sochi will be located in the heart of Sochi, adjacent to the main railway station. The hotel will offer a restaurant, lounge bar, fitness room and business/meeting facilities.

Sochi, on the “Russian Riviera,” is emerging as a trendy destination for travelers, evidenced by its ever-rising number of visitors and its selection of American and European retail shops.

Developers have ambitious plans for Sochi and, in coordination with government-funded Olympic development, numerous projects are underway to make Sochi an international destination. In addition to its ski slopes, Sochi also attracts visitors in the summertime to its Black Sea beaches.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) plans to reopen the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres on time and on budget in November, following a four-year redevelopment as part of the £112.8 million ($175 million) transformation project designed to bring actors and audiences closer together.

The company will reopen its doors to the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres on Nov. 24, inviting people in to rediscover and explore the building, which will have a new 1,000-seat thrust stage auditorium, 118-foot-high Tower, new exhibition spaces, new places to eat and drink including Rooftop Restaurant and Riverside Café and terrace, restored 1930s features and improved public areas including the new Weston Square.

Visitors will be able to take part in a series of preview events and activities which will help test the spaces, while throughout the opening period “Matilda, A Musical” plays at The Courtyard Theatre.

In February, the current RSC ensemble will perform the first productions on the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage when they return from London’s Roundhouse to revive “King Lear” and “Romeo and Juliet,” directed by RSC Associate Directors David Farr and Rupert Goold.

The company will also perform Artistic Director Michael Boyd’s production of “Antony and Cleopatra” in the Swan Theatre and both Young People’s Shakespeare productions of “Hamlet” and “The Comedy of Errors,” before going back to London to premiere three new plays at Hampstead Theatre which run from April to June.

The RSC will celebrate its 50th birthday and formally reopen the theaters with new companies and a new season next April.

The reopening will unfold over a four-month period, and visitors will be able to explore the building from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. most days.

The new Rooftop Restaurant with views of the River Avon, Stratford and the Warwickshire countryside will also be open during the evening, offering in-house catering for the first time.

Visitors can book theater tours or take the lift to the viewing platform at the top of the new Tower from where they can see key Shakespeare landmarks, including where he was born, where he went to school, where he lived and where he is buried. On the way down, visitors can view contemporary art exhibitions housed in the Tower walls.

The opening program of events includes tours, exhibitions and activities designed to encourage people to explore the transformed building.

For more information, visit www.rsc.org.uk

Yamagen Restaurant at the iconic Gold Coast International Hotel offers diners an authentic array of fresh, mouth-watering Sushi prepared daily by the talented sushi master Mitsuo Yoshino, spectacular Teppanyaki or tempting traditional A La Carte fare.

Diners can experience the restaurant’s famous Teppanyaki grills, headed up by award winning Head Chef Chris Radecki.

Chris and his team showcase each dish with precision and flair, the menu is extensive enough for newcomers to Japanese cuisine to enjoy their first tastes, or perfect for our regulars who keep coming back for the food and service. Sushi Master Yoshino has specialised in the fine art of sushi and sashimi preparation for over 35 years and is regarded as one of the best and most highly-qualified chefs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Not only creating delicacies but for personally selecting market fresh ingredients for each night’s offering.

The expertise and artistry of the Yamagen’s highly-talented chefs has long been recognised as the key to the restaurant’s enviable reputation.

Ideal for all occasions, or for a more intimate dinner for two, the Yamagen Experience is the place to experience traditional Japanese fine cuisine on the Gold Coast.

The restaurant, located at 7 Staghorn Avenue, Surfers Paradise, is open Monday – Saturday from 5:30pm and those wishing to book can call 07 5584 1225.

www.gci.com.au

The Escarpment is the perfect destination for your next short break. Escape to our luxurious mountain retreat, set in four acres of lush botanical gardens on Tamborine Mountain, we offer five star private villa accommodation, with the emphasis on privacy and relaxation.

Your secluded split level villa features a sunken lounge room, feather couches, cedar floors, a wood fireplace, vaulted timber ceilings, private balcony, four poster canopy king size beds, and a decadent deep spa bath. Relax while we prepare a fresh gourmet picnic hamper lunch to take out for the day and explore the local mountain attractions, or simply stay inside and indulge in a private massage in our dedicated Spa Pavilion – the choice is yours.

As the sun sets the evenings provide a warm, luxurious ambience with a big open fire in the lodge where you can relax in overstuffed couches with a glass of our award winning local wine.

We are happy to arrange unique experiences during your stay including:

Hot air ballooning over the western ranges at sunrise with a champagne breakfast.

Gourmet food and wine tours with the emphasis on quality local produce and award winning wines, Limousine transfers in a gold Rolls Royce,

Private serenade by local entertainer while you relax around an open fire.

Sink into our Grecian spa bath surrounded by candles, rose petals and aromatherapy oils, Exclusive use of Private Gold Class cinema including champagne and chocolates.

At the Escarpment we will ensure your stay with us is a truly memorable experience.

Visit www.escarpment.com.au