Attractions and adventures put the 'new' in New Brunswick

Ah, New Brunswick.This province in Atlantic Canada combines friendliness and relaxation with adventure and excitement. Here's what's new:

 * St. Andrews by-the-Sea will welcome a new state-of-the-art aquarium in June.  The $8.1 million Bay of Fundy Discovery Centre will boast a 40,000-gallon habitat devoted to species from the Bay of Fundy including sturgeon, salmon and stone crabs.  (With the highest tides in the world, the bay is home to 12 species of whales including 50 percent of the world’s endangered right whales.)

*  Stonehammer, North America’s first Geopark, is in its first full year of operation is.  Lying on the bay, the 965-square-mile area has rock formations dating back a billion years along with sea caves and walking trails.

* A new 20,000-square-foot conference centre is opening in Canada’s first free wireless city, Fredericton.

* One of the last remaining coastal wilderness areas in North America is now more accessible via the Fundy Trail.  Some nine miles of coastal road and a large network of trails offer spectacular views and  opportunities for whale watching.  Last June a new segment opened and another section is under construction, due to open in two years.

*  Visitors can now dine or overnight at the Fundy Parkway Trail’s Hearst Lodge built as a fishing lodge for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.

And here are some of New Brunswick's adventure activities:

* Among the barrier islands of Kouchibouguac National Park, visitors can paddle to North America’s largest tern colony (7,000 nests) and check out over 300 grey seals frolicking.

*  Adrenaline junkies can take the 500-foot zipline ride over the Saint John River or try deepelling (that’s rappelling head first) down a 135-foot rock wall in the Grand Falls Gorge – or go off with kilted bikers on a heavy-duty cycling trip.

* Some of the world’s best salmon fishing is on the Miramichi and Restigouche rivers and late spring is peak time for fly fishing.

For more information, visit www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Search Amazon.com for New Brunswick

Trivial question

Kanchanaburi, Thailand, is known for what famous structure? Answer somewhere below.)

Philadelphia hotel package should delight art lovers

The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s first-time Art & About in Philadelphia Hotel Package, which gives buyers access to all  Philadelphia Museum of Art  properties, is now available through 2011. The two-night package comes with two combination tickets —a $62 value— to five Philadelphia Museum of Art-administered buildings: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, the Rodin Museum, Cedar Grove and Mount Pleasant. Over two consecutive days, visitors can return to their favorite art hotspots as often as they want. Available at more than a dozen hotels with rates starting at  $159 per night, the package also includes free hotel parking. The package can be booked at visitphilly.com.

Worth quoting
 “When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” -- Anonymous (but very true)


N.H. resort proves that mud can be a treat
In many parts of New England, mud season is coming up. To prove that a little mud won't stop you from having a great time, Wentworth By the Sea Hotel & Spa in New Castle, N.H., has a  Mud Season Spa Package, with rates starting at $249 when you use promotion code P91. The package includes a two-night
stay, an organic mud wrap, a seawater pearl facial with mud mask and a molten chocolate cake upon arrival. Visit www.wentworth.com  or call 603-422-7322.

Fascinating fact

Older baby  boomers  -- those born from 1946 through 1954 --  make up 15 percent of leisure travelers and take an average of 4.4 leisure trips each year.

$50 cash and more with this Oregon offering

The Portland Perks program is a special hotel package available only through the Travel Portland website (www.travelportland.com). Among other things, it offers $50 cash back on qualifying hotel stays. Upon check-in at a Perks hotel, guests get a  Portland Perks coupon book with more than 40 discounts on entertainment, shopping and dining. To get the $50 cash deal, visitors must book their stay at one of the participating hotels through the Travel Portland website and travel before , April 30. A minimum two-night stay is required.

Trivial answer

Kanchanaburi, Thailand, is home to the Bridge on the River Kwai of World War II fame. Nowadays the bridge is surrounded by cafes and souvenir stalls and has both the original curved spans and straight spans, which replaced those damaged in the 1943 bombing..