adventure travel and photography journal
36 years: that’s how long we’ve been girlfriends (some longer!) This weekend, we headed to Karen’s parents’ maple syrup farm for games, tunes, good food and cross country skiing and snowshoeing. As my dad — a sailor — says, “It was blown’ stink” on Friday, with 80 km winds and whiteout conditions. But behind the system came a gloriously, bright Northern Ontario Saturday and Sunday!
In October ’18, my friend Louise and I were lucky enough to visit Paris and the south of France. A photo diary:
Musée du Louvre and Musée D’Orsay
Beautiful doors
Cap Ferrat — an incredible 11 km hike around the entire cape
St. Paul de Vence and cool Jan Fabre exhibit at Fondation de Maeght
Paragliders over Gourdon
Hike in Sainte Victoire
Markets, Aix-en-Provence and Les Baux-de-Provence
L’Hôpital Saint-Paul à Saint-Rémy: Van Gogh’s asylum
Stunning Roussillon and Baux-de-Provence
Marquis de Sade’s castle, Lacoste
An unforgettable show in the courtyard at the Palais de Papes, Avignon
Lavender soap making
Hike along the cliffs of Cassis
For Christmas 2018, our family of four explored Bocas Del Toro (meaning Mouths of the Bull). It’s a surfer and backpackers’ destination in northeast Panama, on the Caribbean, two hours south of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. It is 4,643.9 square kilometres, comprised of the mainland and an archipelago. The central island is Isla Colón, which everyone just refers to as Bocas Town, and it boasts the only airport.
We flew via Copas Airlines into Panama City and stayed one night at the Best Western Plus Panama Zen hotel, which was surprisingly really nice with a rooftop pool. 
The next morning we had an early flight on rickety Air Panama; the plane smelled like cat urine but it was only 50 minutes, thankfully.
We landed in Bocas in torrential rain. It is the rainforest so downpours are expected, however I’ve never witnessed such voluminous precipitation.
Bocas is a fairly rough surfer town that has many good restaurants. We loved La Buga Dive & Surf (Cafe) for its green juices, burgers and coffee,
and had an incredible meal at El Ultimo Refugio. Make a reservation as it is packed!
As almost all of the properties operate and face the waterfront, don’t be put off by their rough exteriors.
To get anywhere in the archipelago, you must travel by water taxi, day and night. Some boats have lifejackets; a few have lights at night; and for most, you’re clinging to the boat hoping that the drivers have extraordinary night vision and can read the raging ocean surf in the dark.
Our first stay was at the Popa Paradise Beach Resort, which is co-owned by a gregarious and lovely Canadian named Vince, and staffed by some really extraordinary people like Zoe, Renzo and Tita. Our huge room, and the kids’ casita, overlooked the ocean and they have a vast amount of jungle acreage and beachfront.
The surf was rough (given the time of year), there were some sand fleas and jellyfish, so swimming in the ocean wasn’t appealing, but there was SUP, snorkelling gear, and fishing gear at our disposal. The pool was beautiful, attracting all kinds of wildlife. It was hot — 27C to 31C daily — so it provided a welcome respite. The food was fantastic and the staff bent over backwards to accommodate our dietary needs.
We used Popa as a base to explore the area. Our favourite was Monkey Island, aka Urraca Private Island, owned by a wonderfully eccentric Montreal woman, Francine.
She rescues and provides an interactive home for her tailed friends…and her guests. We loved playing with her howler and squirrel monkeys. The howler had a definite affinity for Dave!
I also went to Sanudbidi, a local indigenous village on Popa, with some fellow guests, the Finch family. The Ngobe and Bugle are Panama’s dominant indigenous people, with a population of 180,000 Ngobe and 10,000 Bugle. They inhabit Conmarca, a protected area with its own political system.
Tita, who works at Popa, drove us through the mangroves to reach his village. Many young children were swimming, in their clothes, from the main dock and watched our approach warily. There was a pack of dogs, who encircled us, barking excitedly, but they were harmless when you became the Alpha. There was no running water or electricity, and they had a small school, community centre, store, and many thatched houses. Fish and poultry are their main diet.
Tita’s family welcomed us warmly into their hut and his mother showed us how she strips the agave leaf of its flesh to leave the fibres, which she weaves into bracelets and purses. We, of course, bought some of her wares to support her livelihood. This visit made me all the more conscious of the great disparity on this planet between rich and poor, and how people live so very simply, surrounded by those whose wants have become needs. Eco-tourism is always an important eye-opener.
Our family took a quick day trip to Red Frog Beach resort, which netted mixed results. It cost $5 each to step foot on the property and access the restaurant, which is a 20 minute walk from the marina, and the food was horribly overpriced with atrocious service. The whole place felt disingenuous and pretentious.
The beach had a monster (read scary) surf and big undertow which only Ryan braved while Dave and I watched him like hawks from the shore.
After Popa, we travelled to Bastimentos Island to a small resort called Eclypse de Mar, which features six casitas on stilts sitting over the ocean and a small, main lodge which offers meals.
The casitas were gorgeously appointed, and the staff, especially Mabel, were great.
The only downside of Eclypse is that you face Old Bank Town which shares a bay. Here is the description from Fodor’s: “Spread along a bay on the island’s western tip, between the ocean and forested hills, is a colorful, crowded, poor collection of simple wooden buildings known as Old Bank.
It is a predominantly Afro-Caribbean community where Guari-Guari—a mix of patois English and traces of Spanish—is the lingua franca. Most people live in elevated wooden houses, some awfully rudimentary, that line sidewalks and dirt paths instead of streets. Old Bank doesn’t have a proper sewage system, so avoid swimming in the bay, even though the local kids do. Head to one of the nearby beaches instead.”
As it was the holiday season, the locals were celebrating hard and the disco boomed until 4:25 am, two of the three nights, and they let off firecrackers starting at dusk. There is a reason why Eclypse provides earplugs. However, we had our best meal of the trip in Old Bank. We took a water taxi into town. We were told it was safe, even at night, but I was a wary. It is like the Central American Wild West. Little kids — five year olds — were throwing firecrackers onto the sidewalk (interesting parenting!), one of which nearly blew out my eardrum. Locals lined the road, sitting on chairs, and there was a lot of rubbish and open sewers. We made a wrong turn, but figured out how to reach The Firefly which is down a dark beach. It was worth the effort: yummy Asian/Caribbean inspired tapas filled our tummies. All was well. 
We flew home via Panama City and spent a day/night exploring this architectural marvel. We stayed in the affordable Plaza Patilla Inn, which seems to be the go-to for Panamanians, and provides incredible views.
It’s located in the upscale Israeli neighbourhood: the grocery stores and shops were walkable and top notch.
We loved Tantalo Hotel & Kitchen — super funky in the heart of gorgeous Casco Viejo (old town), which was fun to walk with its wide avenues, parks and historic buildings.
Also of interest was Miraflores, the Panama Canal lock, which has a museum documenting the birth and operation of this world wonder. I could definitely spend a few more days investigating Panama City.
Overall, while Panama was very interesting and the people generous of spirit, we all agreed that we wouldn’t recommend Bocas del Toro as much as our trips to Belize (Ian Anderson’s Cave Branch Adventure Company & Jungle Lodge) or Santa Teresa in Costa Rica (Florblanca Resort) and Sueño del Mar in Tamarindo. These other countries are more environmentally conscious, offer more adventures and ease of travel, have more predictable weather being on the Pacific Coast.
or Isla Bastimentos (a smaller, more rural island a quick water taxi away from Isla Colón).
From June 22 to 29, 2018, 15 adventurous sole sistas hiked 65 km through the backcountry of Bow Valley in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Here is our photo diary of this magnificent Tredsup trip!
For Canadian national parks hiking information, including Banff, check out the Parks Canada website and app at www.pc.gc.ca. It provides details on closures/restrictions, permits, bear and wildlife warnings, fires, and daily trail conditions.
Our Tredsup gang flew into Calgary airport and we jumped in a van for Canmore.
Oops: I accidentally (and hilariously) booked a party van so we had disco lights, tunes and champagne glasses en route.
The rain was hammering down in Canmore but we threw our gear on, toured the town, and enjoyed a yummy lunch at Crazyweed Kitchen
and fun dinner at the cozy Aroma Mexican restaurant.
Moderate; 13 km with 440 m elevation gain; 4.5 hours
The next morning, we met our highly qualified and amazing guides, Ally and Olivier (Oli) from Yamnuska Mountain Adventures.
I would book this company again in a heartbeat. Guides provide all the stories and geological history of the mountains, help you traverse challenging rivers and washed out trails,
know the routes, and are handy with a first aid kit, GPS and sat phone. If you’ve got Oli, he’ll clear brush ahead of you (he’s a super keener).
They also have invaluable information about the fauna, flora and wildlife. Here are the bear spray cans Yamnuska provided. You carry them everywhere, even to the bathroom because bears are omnipresent.
There was a lot of hot, fresh bear poop on the trails and recent, large paw prints like this:
And dangerous cougars…
We hit the Redearth Creek trailhead (1,400 m or 4,593 ft) around 10 am with full backpacks… and the rain magically stopped.
and hiked 13 km to Shadow Lake Lodge.
We lunched beside Redearth Creek.
It took us about 4.5 hours to reach our the lodge. We passed some incredible swaths of mountain wiped clean by recent, powerful avalanches.
Shadow Lake Lodge is an inviting base to rest your pack for a few days and explore a variety of great trails. The lodge is an original backcountry log cabin that was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1929 for adventurous visitors who wanted to see more of the park than just hotels. The Brewster family purchased it and added cabins, plus eco-friendly amenities, to their off-the-grid destination. All food and supplies are flown in by helicopter every two weeks; the toilet receptacles and garbage are then flown out.
Note: book early as it is popular! The food is five star gourmet
and the cabins are delightfully cozy with comfy queen beds (which we shared.)
We broke bread and played games with travellers from England, USA, and Australia.
Here’s the view of Mt. Ball and from all of our cabins: a damn pretty sight every morning! When we arrived, we were told that a grizzly bear had been hanging out in this front yard meadow and had just left the day before, slowly loping away despite the 12 gauge crackers the lodge managers fired.
On the first of our all-day hikes, each guide took half of the group.
Rating: Moderate to Strenuous; Elevation Gain 480 m (1,574 ft); 8 hours
We emerged from the woods on Gibbons Pass to marvel at Castle Mountain to the north and Mt. Temple to the West from our beautiful meadow vantage point.
We then scaled Little Copper Mountain of which the second half is a steep climb on loose shale. It was worth the cardio workout: the views of Copper Mountain and Mount Ball were phenomenal.
This is one of my favourite pics. The lakes are bright blue due to glacial silt. Canada, in all her majesty…
Jenn and Julie stood guard with bear spray!
Jen and I on some late June snow atop Little Copper Mountain.
With Pat! Copper Mountain on the steep other side…
Our descent was more of a shale slide…
The sun was out, so we lay like broccoli and soaked it all in after lunch.
That’s us — those little sticks — on top of Little Copper. Cool.
From Little Copper, we headed to the first of the Twin Lakes, met up with our other half and turned around because of a few upset stomachs. They proved to be real troopers as it was a 6 km hike back which is a far hike when you are feeling crappy. We hit some untouched snow patches en route
and interesting wildlife.
Every day, we took over the main lodge and Connie led us in post-hike yoga. The lodge has an ample supply of mats and a wood-burning fireplace. We loved that Ally, our guide, joined us to stretch! Thanks, Connie, for persevering despite some giggles from her punchy participants. Who me?
Rating: Moderate; 11 km return; 230 m elevation gain; we took the full day and enjoyed the sights!
Every day was breaktaking but this one topped it for me because of the varied topography and sheer natural beauty of the hike.
We hiked through stunning forests along a raging river. Sometimes the path was literally 3 inches from the gushing glacial runoff.
Then we hit the most magnificent Alice-in-Wonderland-like meadow of glacial lilies. I teared up twice it was so overwhelmingly beautiful.
We lunched, gazing at the mountains with waterfalls winding their way down their sides.
Compare that to a food court squat and gobble.
The river provided some great waterfall photo ops: day 3, ladies!
The topography of the hike really shifts dramatically on this hike. The end of the trail takes you to a mind-boggling graveyard of rubble which was created by an ancient glacier that has receded over the last 150 years due to global warming. It is a raw reminder of the effects of climate change on our planet.
The seracs, which are blocks of glacial ice which are formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier, posed a threat so we gave them a wide berth. If they slag or calf, they can be deadly.
Oli and Ally heaved a log into the river so we could cross. I’m pretty sure we could have managed but it was a chivalrous act 🙂 .
Ball’s Pass – Rating: moderat to strenuous; 370 m elevation gain; 16 km; 8 hours
Haiduk Lake – Rating: moderate; 230 m elevation; 16.2 km; 7 hours
Oli’s team hiked Ball’s Pass and traversed some fairly challenging snow ledges off-trail.
Ally’s team hiked to stunning Haiduk Lake, through snow flurries and graupel. This day was a vocabulary expander: Graupel (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʁaʊpəl]; Enɡlish: [ˈgɹaʊpəl]), also called soft hail or snow pellets, is precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets are collected and freeze on falling snowflakes, forming 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in) balls of rime. The term graupel comes from the German language.
From short sleeved t-shirts to full winter wear, the Rockies can throw everything at you. Snow squalls…
This is the soul-healing view from the Shadow lakeshore bridge.
That night we celebrated Louise’s birthday with an hilarious games night featuring the celebrity name game. Two Indianapolis men, whom we nicknamed the Anderson Coopers, and our guides, rounded out the two teams. Hilarity ensued as we tried to act out Prime Ministers, Yogi Bear and other oddities.
We hit the trail hard leaving Shadow Lake and booked it to the trailhead in 2 hours and 55 minutes following the roaring Red Earth Creek.
After bidding Oli and Ally farewell, 
we checked in at the Moose Hotel & Suites in downtown Banff for the night: it’s quite nice and offers a sweet rooftop, fire pit and pools/spa.
Some toured the shops of Banff and others indulged at the Willow Stream Spa at the Banff Springs Hotel. We all rode the gondola up to the top Sulphur Mountain and enjoyed the incredible boardwalks and vistas. Dinner was held in Sky Bistro, where you can see nine mountain peaks! It’s a bit touristy but hey, when in Rome.. It’s worth it.
Final thoughts:
We will be back! There is so much more to explore and I’d like to try ice climbing with Oli.
65 km can hurt. Hiking war wounds for some of the girls below… Buy good boots and break them in! Besides other women, poles are a girl’s best friend.
Last month, Dave and I travelled to Puglia, Italy to attend the wedding of Property Brother Drew Scott and his beautiful fiance, Linda Phan. The many days of stunning, and overly generous, festivities were shot for their televised wedding special, Linda and Drew Say I Do. https://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/property-brothers-linda-and-drew-say-i-do/about, and for an exclusive spread in People magazine. 
A quick photo (dining) diary of our 10 days driving the countryside and staying at the incredible Borgo Egnazia.
Rome: Colusseum requisite tour… It never ceases to blow my mind.
…and Roman ruins lit at night. I went to a Monet exhibit at the Vittoriano. The art of the father of Impressionism wasn’t as “impressive” as walking the ancient streets and eating delicious Roman food.
We took the train from Rome to Bari and drove the coast of Puglia to reach Borgo Egnazia, (www.borgoegnazia.com) where the wedding festivities were held. It is like a fairy tale Relais & Chateau hotel with 600 staff at peak season; it is a small town unto itself with a wonderful spa, tennis courts, pools, golf, multiple restaurants and a seaside club. Madonna just had her birthday there ( https://www.wmagazine.com/story/madonna-59th-birthday-horse-puglia-italy) and it was the choice of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel for their wedding (https://www.brides.com/story/jessica-biel-justin-timberlake-wedding-photos.)
This tree in the foyer is decorated with thousands of pages of books.
I took a refreshing dip in the Adriatic at the ocean club.
The view from their pizzeria restaurant.
We were delighted to be included in the bachelor and bachelorette karaoke party on the Wednesday night. On Friday, we attended a stunning 300+ person welcome party in the piazza. Wow. The food was phenomenal and the decor authentically Italian, right down to the little old ladies lining the party perimeter, making homemade pasta by hand.
Here I am with our balcony next door neighbours, the hosts of Masters of Flip on HGTV, Kourtney and Dave. (http://www.hgtv.ca/shows/masters-of-flip/) They are such nice people. I think it’s because they are Canadian!
At the wedding reception with the lovely ladies of fashion/marketing trend forecasters Fashion Snoops and Scott Brothers Global’s wonder woman Rachel.
Drew and Linda cut their multi-tiered and flavoured cake. They were so adorable. The whole week was focused on their loving family and friends. They have such a strong bond: it is impressive.
Our table-mates, Teddy and Matt from CAA.
Dave and I toured the famed Castellana Caves. http://www.grottedicastellana.it/en/the-caves/ They were as impressive as the Mayan Caves in Belize but less hands-on. If you really want a thrilling day of cave tubing, artifacts, waterfall jumping and climbing, stay at Ian Anderson’s Caves Branch Adventure Company and Jungle Lodge and try the Cave Waterfall Expedition: https://www.cavesbranch.com/belize-waterfalls !
In the town of Torre Canne, Dave said he had the best seafood pasta of his life at Il Punto (http://www.ristoranteilpunto.it).
Main pool at the Borgo. Not too shabby…
The most exquisite town we visited was cliffside Polignano a Mare. It is breaktaking and riddled with wonderful, ancient streets with cute boutiques and cafes. They host the World Cliff Diving Competition! http://cliffdiving.redbull.com/en_BA/article/women-watch-2018
Careful when you step out your back door!
Yummy dinner at Antiche Mura : the sign belies the restaurant which is caverne-like.
Our concierge sent us to the most delicious restaurant in Fasano called La Locanda Di Martume. Be sure to go there: it’s off the beaten path and features sensational, traditional Puglian food. It’s where the locals dine.
Last meal: Mother’s Day Brunch with the Scott family. Thank you for your generosity and hospitality!
Backpack. Two crazy dogs. A shocking amount of pollen. A few river crossings via logs. Mosquitoes. Thunderous waterfalls. An easy hike along Eel’s Creek, between Haltain and Stony Lake in Ontario. Three energetic ladies training for a big Banff adventure. CHECK! Now we just needed some elevation…
This is a truly picturesque hike at any time of year except the spring as you will be eaten by black flies who bite right through multiple layers. Bring your poles, and wear your gaiters and hiking boots, and bring lots of water and a snack!
DISTANCE: 12km return
DIFFICULTY: Easy
ELEVATION: 107m
PARKING: We accessed this by boat and hiking, however you there is a small parking lot at Northeys Bay Road where it crosses Eels Creek, on the east side.
Yep, that’s pollen.
I am one of 15 women excitedly preparing to hike the backcountry of Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, in three weeks. Yesterday, a small group of us hiked 14 km in the hills of Collingwood, Ontario, overlooking beautiful Georgian Bay.
I’ve customized our Banff trip to provide us with some physical challenges coupled with downtime in cozy cabins at night, good food and wine.
Our Tredsup gang hail from all over Canada, plus Colorado, USA. Some are my tennis partners, others are book-clubbers, cottage friends, university mates and a cousin: what we share is the desire to laugh, sing and solve the world’s problems while hiking the jaw-droppingly stunning and pristine Canadian Rockies.
We will hit the Vista Lake Viewpoint trailhead in Canmore, carrying 8 days of gear in our backpacks. Our Yamnuska Mountain Adventures guides will take us into the park via the Arnica/ Twin Lakes Pass:
Our destination is Shadow Lake Lodge www.shadowlakelodge.com, which is completely off the grid and accessible only by foot or bike, the latter by an alternate route. This means no cell-phone service. Hallelujah! We will really unplug for 5 days…what a rare thing to say. I’ve become addicted to my phone. (Note: snag your cabin very early as they fill up quickly. I booked a year in advance.)
From the lodge, we will hike daily on routes such as Haiduk Lake, Whistling Pass, Waterfalls/ Amphitheatre, Ball Pass or even Egypt Lake if we are feeling really adventurous (it’s 25 km). There is the danger of bears, cougars and calving elk, but the beauty of a big group is that we are loud!
Alberta, like the rest of Canada, got pummelled by winter this year and they had serious snowfall late in the spring. As such, some of our routes may be snow-covered. The risk of avalanches has passed and hopefully they’ll get a few good Chinook winds to alter our current inbound route rating from poor to good! I’m watching Parks Canada’s trail report website daily for changing conditions: https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/tcond/cond_e.asp?oPark=100092
We’ll hike out from Shadow Lake via Redearth Creek:
get picked up on the TransCanada Highway, and make our way to Banff for a touristy day of spa treatments at the Banff Springs Hotel and dinner, via gondola, on top of Sulphur Mountain.
Even if the weather forecast calls for warm, sunny days, we need to be prepared for a variety of weather conditions:
Backpack with good support (mine is 70 L; make sure you get yours fitted properly)
In April, two amateur casts, the Bedford Park Players and the Summerhill Players, performed our circa 1905 musical, LA NEIGE, over a total of six nights at the historic Regent Theatre in Toronto. I had the great pleasure of adapting/penning the play with our wonderful director, Sarina Condello, over five months. In total, we raised $120,000 for Sarina’s charity Childhood Now! http://www.childhoodnow.ca.
Our cast is so very lucky to be able to laugh, sing, and dance as a group every year, a fact one does not take for granted as we get older! Our big family never fails to amaze me with how they breathe such life and wonder into the characters, particularly with their improv.
Real “props” are due to our killer costume designer, Gail Leger, and our incomparable musical director, Donavon LeNabat, and his band, who made us look and sound so good.
No one truly understands how many tireless hours Sarina puts into the choreography, production and direction of these shows, but I’ve witnessed her in round-the-clock action. I don’t think she sleeps…
Here are some of the kudos the shows received, plus pics:
Kirsten Sixt stars as La Neige
Adrian Tucci shone as Christian
The ‘Artistes:’ (front row, l to r) me as Edith Piaf, Tara Williston as Frida Kahlo, John Bruce as Toulouse Lautrec (back row) Bill Crossland as Nijinsky, John Glover as Salvador Dali, Bojan Vitko as Picasso, Peter Bombaci as Van Gogh, and Linda Lord as the Green Fairy
“So many stand out, bust-a-gut moments from you all. And those costumes were incredible!”
“We could not stop laughing and smiling. You all did an amazing job with those accents, so-so-so many rich characters that you created. Some of the nuances you brought to the characters were simply genius and inspirational.”
The ensemble
Martha Mansfield and Dave Brady as our host cockroaches, Josephine and Napoleon
Linda Kennedy is the fiendishly wonderful Nini, La Sorciere
Saucy courtesans Lauren Brownlee, Kristi Herold, Linda Kennedy, and Kylie Martin
Brilliant Andrew Zabrovsky as Zidler
John Glover as the mad genius, Dali
“I am blown away every year by the talent, joy, and enthusiasm that is poured out on the stage.”
Happily playing Edith alongside Belinda Bard and Ben Hawkins
Suzanne Tyson and Bob Hillhouse ham it up as Marie and Aider Titsoff
The all-seeing Mirror, Ben Hawkins
Kevin Sullivan slays as The Great Pujol, the Fartiste
Shari Morandin vamps it up as Ivana Hump
Ja, James Jewett’s Dr. Sitzpissen is in da house!
Gorgeous Belinda Bard as Ophelia Balls and Sarah Ferguson as Sophie the Dresser
“Last night was fabulous! The singing was great, the writing clever!”
“I sang all the way home in the car. Bravo!”
The naughty Menage a Trois
Dr. Sitzpissen pays a house call to The Fartiste
Toulouse consoles heartbroken Christian
“That was truly spectacular, spectacular! There are no words in my vernacular that can describe how amazing your show was. Your energy level was so high. We almost died laughing. The show was the epitome of energy, joy, love and community spirit.”
Me as Edith Piaf, singing La Vie En Rose
Steve Reed (centre), playing the Duke, who is transformed into a roach for his naughtiness
“Just a joyful, hilarious romp. Incredible music, costumes, energy and direction!”
“
Kristi Herold gets cozy with Bruce Topp, L’Idiot
Steve Reed as the Duke, Gord Wotherspoon as Wormier, and Andrew Zabrovsky as Zidler
The the left of La Neige is Tracey Dodokin, our shining dresser named Babette
The Green Fairy, Linda Lord, flits across the stage
Director Sarina Condello gives her thanks
Nice marquee!
Backstage
Rehearsal
Lauren Brownlee
Dressing room gang
“Bach” as Van Gogh
And that’s a wrap… LIFE’S A STAGE AND YOU ONLY GET ONE PERFORMANCE. MAKE IT A GOOD ONE.
Our next musical, LA NEIGE, will be premiering April 19-21, 2018 at the Regent Theatre in Toronto. It took my director, Sarina Condello, and I four months to co-adapt and write this silly musical based on life in the Moulin Rouge in 1905. The twist (as we always have one) is that we’ve mashed it with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I’ll be playing the world renowned chanteuse Edith Piaf, who — in this rendition — is a drunken, bi-curious, love-struck dwarf. She’ll be singing ‘Hi Ho’ with the likes of Dali, Van Gogh, Nijinsky, Toulouse-Lautrec, Kahlo, Picasso and a Green Fairy. Sounds crazy but it works…
The journey to the stage is always my favourite part: watching how our insane band of amateur actors, the Bedford Park Players, breathe life into our pages. I’m betting that our cockroach emcees, the Fartiste, le Ménage à Trois, Artistes, plus our courtesans and scoundrels will deliver the laughs, and our almost-off-Broadway leads — La Neige, Christian, Harold, the Duke, and Nini — will steal your hearts.
Ticket are going quickly. They can be purchased online for $40
Link: https://bedfordparklaneige.eventbrite.ca. Password: snow
All proceeds go to our charity partner Childhood Now (www.childhoodnow.ca). Hope to see you in the audience!
NEWFOUNDLAND PHOTO DIARY: JUNE 17-25, 2017Situated on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland, Canada, Gros Morne (which in French means large mountain standing alone) is a UNESCO world heritage site. Part of the Long Range Mountains, and 1,805 km2 (697 sq mi), Gros Morne is the remains of a mountain range formed 1.2 billion years ago. “The park provides a rare example of the process of continental drift, where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the earth’s mantle lie exposed.”[1]
Because of its incredible geological history, this Atlantic national park is a hiker’s paradise with phenomenal scenery: 
a landscape dotted with thousands of lakes, waterfalls, sharp cliffs, endless meadows and bogs, mountains, coastal lowlands, and alpine wonders. Each daily hike provides different topography and challenges. And the Newfoundlanders are equally as interesting, diverse and culturally rich.
ADVENTURE COMPANY: Gros Morne Adventures (www.grosmorneadventures.com)
FLIGHTS: In Canada, you can fly directly from many cities straight to Deer Lake, or you can arrive via St. John’s, Newfoundland’s capital city
OUR LODGING: Burnt Hill Cottages, Norris Point and a odd house belonging to an old lady named Doris
FERRIES: These will take you from Norris Point to a number of ports.
Norris Point sits on stunning Bonne Bay and looks out at the snow-capped Tablelands. They look like barren plateaus, due to the ultramafic rock called peridotite. Geologists believe that the Earth’s mantle was forced up during a plate collision several million years ago. The Tablelands are formidable and you can hike them: however, they are devoid of most plant life because the earth is so heavy in magnesium, and the trekking is on loose scree.
Our first night, we dined at Earl’s Mug Up in Rocky Harbour beside a long table of international musicians.
The menu included moose meat (delicious), deep-fried cod tongues (very fishy) and other local staples like turnip and mashed potatoes.
Fellow hiker Pat asked our seemingly 12-year-old, naive waitress, “Can you tell me which of the two Chardonnay is oakier?” Joked Pat’s friend Janis, “Oh shut your cod trap.” After, the girls tried out some Newfie instruments in the adjoining gift shop.
Who needs an exfoliation at the spa when Mother Nature can provide it for free? Despite some initial pelting rain, we had a magnificent hike to the coast. Enroute, there was lots of wild sheep poop; their tufts of wool were caught in the long grass. We explored the beach and washed-up lobster traps, via a slightly hazardous slanted set of stairs.
We paddled the bay of strong tides and surging rock walls, learning the history of the local sealers, fisherman and Burnt Hill.
After paddling, we got hands-on at the marine station which is manned by Memorial University students and staff. The tour included an urchin squirting on Sue, blue lobster, the wolffish and a rare 4-clawed lobster.
We travelled to the Shallow Bay Motel in Cow Head (pronounce ‘Ca Hed’) in the north end of the Park to attend dinner theatre at Gros Morne Theatre Festival. After seeing a boisterous show about the wreck of the S.S. Ethie (all survived), and eating more “cawd,” we visited the actual wreck in Sally’s Cove
An easy, windy hike over a fragile coastal plain 
that was once below sea level led us to a boat which took us on a majestic and awe-inspiring ride. 
Western Brook Pond fjord, in the Long Range Mountains, the northernmost extent of the Appalachians, contains numerous glacially carved fjords.The “pond” is a 16 km lake with a depth of 165 metres, home to Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout and Arctic char, as well as cliff nesting gulls.
Celtic music was played and the Sole Sistas ROCKED the boat with dancing, spoon-playing and jigging with the crew, singing and laughter, so much so that the other tourists were filming us. 
In Rocky Harbour, we saw a rollicking show called Anchor’s Away, a real tribute to Newfoundland and Celtic music. Again, more dancing and singing by the ladies…
We loved the beautiful hike up to Big Lookout through thorny bushes called tuckamore, spongy bogs and endless, sharp scree, and steep terrain. It was sunny! At the top, many dared to stand on the treacherous point for the best photo op of the trip. We lunched looking out over the majesty of Newfoundland.
Afterwards, we had fresh lobster in Woody Point.
Que Sera Sera! The musical by three crazy hikers! The world-wide, tone-deaf sensation straight from a raid of Doris’s closet! The student audience of Rudy’s Pub & Grub was at first dumbfounded by this impromptu performance and choice of costumes but then sang along and danced to the dulcet tones of Janet W, Deb and Colleen (who read the lyrics from her phone.) Cheek-hurting laughter ensued. Then, Janet O, Janis and I sang back-ups on Bob Marley’s One Love. Wait, was our mic even on? Sue got down on the dance floor with the local drunk lothario.
A good portion of the group flew in a little puddle-jumper to St. John’s on the way home and we stayed four-to-a-room at the gorgeous Luxus Hotel (www.theluxus.ca).
Our most delicious meal was at Chinched Bistro (www.chinchedbistro.com); the girls loved the deep fried, thinly shaved pig ear fries. (I didn’t partake — ew).
We took the worst iceberg tour on Iceberg Quest. The name is a misnomer as, once aboard, the captain exclaimed that they’d not had icebergs near St. John’s at that time of year for 10 years. The only saving grace was seeing the harbour from the water and laughing hard with a gregarious US army troupe en route to Germany.
If you visit St. John’s, be certain to go to George Street at night. It is the rowdiest, most musical street I’ve ever seen, with live bands in a long row of bars. We jigged to incredible Celtic music at O’Reilly’s Pub (www.oreillyspub.com) and four of us were screeched in. This involves doing a disgusting shot of screech, a short recitation in Newfie dialect, and then kissing a real cod. (This one was frozen… and God knows how many lips had been on it!)
We wrapped up this side-bar trip with a yummy breakfast at the historic Mallard Cottage in the quaint village of Qidi Vidi. Make your reservations well in advance! (www.mallardcottage.ca)
Newfoundland, you are in our hearts.
TREDSUP