An Oakville Beaver Feature. To advertise in this section call 905-845-3825 Fax 905-845-5516 S I N D AY, F E B R U A R Y 17. 2(K)2 T R A V E L parable to business class on an airline, and there are a bunch of other divi dends. For example, if you like scenery, you'll love watching panoramas like the wintry Quebec countryside roll by. If you're restless, it's easy to get up and walk about the train. If you're a business traveller, there's time and space to use your laptop, your cell phone or to read. And you arrive relaxed and right downtown, no hassles about finding a shuttle or a cab from airports in sub urbs. So make your choice and catch a train. VIA offers plenty of bargains. The Canrailpass offers you unlimited train travel from coast to coast even as far as Hudson Bay. It offers 12 days of Economy class travel within a 30-day period with as many stops as you like, and you can upgrade to Sleeper class or VIA1 for a supplemental charge. Prices start at $411. The North America Rail Pass includes all of Canada and the U.S., 45,000 kilometres of rail travel, and over 900 destinations. Prices start at $702. The Corridorpass covers trips between Quebec City and Windsor. You can have unlimited stops between Quebec City and Windsor over 10 days, at prices starting at $221. Contact your travel agent or check the web site at www.viarail.ca. We're planning our next adventure. Will it be Halifax, or maybe San Francisco, or perhaps Tampa? You can reach Sam by e-mail at: sion 10@cogeco. ca. J~ x> v fo g a (9 0 5 ) 8 4 2 -7 7 3 3 w w w .le y o g a .c o m A LT H Y BO DY · HEALTHY MIND Enjoy the trip - leave the driving to VIA Rail emember the days when getting there was as much fun as the destination itself? Until last week, I thought those days were gone; then we took an overnight VIA Rail trip to Quebec City. We left Union Station at 11:30 p.m. and if I'd asked the right questions when we were booking, we could have left from Aldershot Station, not 10 min utes from our home in Burlington. That's a goof we quickly rectified for the return trip. Even waiting for the train was fun. VIA provides a comfy lounge for pas sengers and our gang congregated there, relaxing, helping ourselves to soft drinks or coffee, and chatting until the train was ready for boarding. We had chosen to travel in berths, the least expensive way to sleep, and they were ready and waiting when we boarded, complete with a package of towels, soap, and a bottle of water in case anyone got thirsty in the night. The only problem my mate and I had was a brief family debate over who would take the upper and who would take the lower. VIA's overnight train to Montreal slips into a siding for several hours sav ing us the cost of a hotel room and arrived at 8 a.m. Each of us received a wake-up call and headed to the Dome car for the continental breakfast and newspapers that came with the ticket. All very civilized! We changed trains in Montreal and chugged off to Quebec City at 8:30 a.m., arriving right on time. There were 35 of us on the train travelling to the Travel Media Association of Canada's annual meet ing. We watched the scenery, wandered around chatting to each other, dozed a bit, and arrived relaxed. I was struck b y . the staff, which had the time, and the inclination, to chat with passengers and be attentive and helpful. The cars were spotless and the washrooms sparkled. The stations in Montreal and Quebec were also revelations, especial ly for baggage-laden travellers. Platforms are flush with car doors, no clumsy clambering up and down steps to get on and off. You can wheel your suitcase right along. The Quebec City station was a spe cial treat. It's completely restored, includes the bus station and offers a number of excellent eateries with rea sonable prices. Try finding that at an airport. Four days later, we just couldn't wait to get back on the day train, which left at 12:30 p.m., stopped for an hour and a half in Montreal, and arrived in Toronto at 9 p.m. It was 10 minutes late, and apologies were made. Once again, the service was amaz ing. With a VIA1 ticket, drinks were served and two meals were included, along with wine and liqueurs. Airlines should also take note of the train crew's response to an elderly woman who lost track of her luggage. They asked her what her luggage Pasifika Festival turns 10 Pasifika Festival cele brates its 10th anniversary on March 9 as the biggest oneday festival in New Zealand, and a significant feature on Auckland's calendar of events. It started from small but passionate beginnings in 1993, drawing 30,000 peo ple. Now it attracts 120,000 people and hundreds of per formers from all over the Pacific. Pasifika has included fashion and promotional road shows in the past, but the focus of the event has always been the Pasifika Festival day itself. A one-day celebration of Pacific Island cultures - their music, dance, art and food, both traditional and contem porary. The past few years have seen it expand into the full range of performing arts, including drama, poetry, cotnedy and theatre sports. The wonderful sights and sounds of the Pacific can be enjoyed throughout the day as a non-stop line up of musi cians, dancers and singers take to the four stages - con temporary, children, arts arena and cultural - at Pasifika 2002. Around 300 stalls will feature some of the best Pacific Island food as well as exquisite hand made crafts, jewellery and clothing from the different island nations. Eight island groups will be represented as 'villages' around the Western Springs lakeside, focusing on specific aspects of each culture. These island groups include Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Aotearoa, Niue, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, and for the first time, Kiribati. New this year will be the Pasifika Festival opening night on March 8, which will be open to the public, featur ing special guests in a spec tacular South Pacific per formance. Also new will be the inter active arts arena created by the Tautai Trust. This will feature live workshops by Cook Islands visual artist Sylvia Marsters. R looked like, so they could bring it to her. "Green" was the response and they must have carried 25 suitcases to her seat trying to find the right ones. Four of them searched the train with no results. In her luggage was her heart medication. Her daughter also helped in the hunt. The woman got off in Oakville, without her luggage, but the train con tinued to hunt. They came up with it in Aldershot and immediately loaded it into a cab for Oakville. It probably made the run down the QEW and reached her very shortly after she set tled into her daughter's house. Now that's service! Seats were comfortable, very com © M cTavish Travel i n f o r m a t i o n s e r v i c e CRUISE DEALS! It's a great year to go cruising and McTavish Travel would love to make your holiday ship come in. C A R M E N A T K V II.I.H 5S & B A N Q V f c r O M T .R i: X C E j C 15N TR K £ Friday M arch 15 presents ABBA Mania Gourmet 4 Course Dinner, Dance & Show Dance the Night Away with Hintons D.J. Central s fr y * ? A M * Bee Gees Tribute GROUP DISCOUNTS 10-19 people ^SavejO% 2049 people -Save 15% 50 or more people-Save 20% OAKVILLE CONFERENCE & BANQUET CENTRE " Ifyou liked Mamma M ia, youll love Abba M ania!" " Closest thing to Abba anyone has ever seen, "from the cast of Mamma Mia " Unbelievable"- Ottawa Citizen We know the specials and have the expertise to help you choose the right deal. For example, we can get you dandy prices on popular itineraries - such as Princess' seven-day Alaska cruise from just $1087 (cruise only, port taxes included). Or if you're looking for some winter sunshine, how about a sevennight voyage aboard Holland America's Veendam priced from only $1181 (cruise only, port taxes included)? And folks who only have a few days can test their holiday sea legs with a three-day Bahamas cruise aboard NCL's Norwegian Sea that costs just $409 USD (cruise only, port taxes included). We're the experts who can help you navigate a sea of choices that goes on and on. More new ships are sailing in 2002 than ever before, spawning intriguing new itineraries, both close to home and around the world. McTavish Travel can tell you all about ports of call - both close to home and far away -- and the ships that sail there. We can help you tailor a shipboard vacation to do as much or as little as you want. We'll help you choose from options such as snorkelling, cultural and educational programs and special cruises featuring everything from golf to music. We'll help you savour the fine dining for which cruise lines are famous. We can even help you bum off those extra calories by telling you about shipboard spas and fitness facilities to help you escape the tensions of today's world. McTavish Travel knows about cruising! We know about bargains! And we'll be happy to help you find one! Hopedale Mall 1515 Rebecca Street, Oakville (905)827-1100 travel@mctavish.com C all 905-618-7510 Ext.100 Door t Cosh Bor open ol 6:30 p m. D jnne|.( D ante & Show$47.95 per person. Plus taxes. Show 'slorts ot & p.m. Sh #wo n lY$26 P « P «$ o n . Pfcs toxes. 2515 Wyecroft Rd., Oakville, Ontario L6L 6P8 (Bronte at QEW) Ont Reg No 1437985