(Prices per person sharing a double/twin room)

A thousand miles from anywhere, Australia really is a world apart. Untouched by Westerners for thousands of years the land was only home to the peaceful Aboriginal tribes. In the past two hundred and fifty years though great cities have sprung up and the advent of air travel has thrown Australia open to the world, making it one of the most popular holiday destinations for people all over the globe.

Although prospectors rushed here in the 18th and 19th century, convinced that the Australian frontier hid as much gold as the Wild West of America, it is only relatively recently that the world has appreciated Australia's true resources of its great natural beauty. It is a vast expanse of golden coasts, snowy mountains, sandy deserts, blue lakes and clear seas.

No matter which part of the world you come from Australia can match it and still offer something different. Everybody knows the great sights and wonders of the country, the Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock and the sublime emptiness of the Outback but there is more besides. The beaches of the Gold Coast are echoed all the way around the country, as are the blue coastal waters that lap Queensland's coasts. Chasms almost as deep as the Grand Canyon and deserts as arid and crenellated as the Sahara can be found in the interior.

For those who don't fancy venturing into "the bush" the great cities of Australia rival anywhere in the world. Most people's gateway to the country Sydney is strikingly beautiful. The Old Quarter of The Rocks harks back to the early colonial years while the modernism of the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and Stadium Australia dwarf one's imagination. But if Sydney is Australia's San Francisco then Melbourne is the country's LA - a fashion conscious, dynamic city with great energy and vibrancy. Don't forget the country's other larger cities, Adelaide, Cairns, Darwin and Perth, each of which have their own charm and unique appeal.

New Zealand is a fantastic holiday destination, with only one drawback - getting there from North America or Europe takes absolutely ages. Often you'll find many people visit as part of a longer trip, and make the short hop from Australia.

However, the big plus is that the country's perceived inaccessibility tends to mean that visitors to NZ are here for more than just a couple of days, and consequently get to see a lot of this fascinatingly varied country.

The three main cities have utterly different atmospheres and characters; don't assume that if you've seen one you've seen them all. Christchurch is cultured and retains its colonial charm whereas Wellington has all the attractions of a capital and is packed with parks, theatres and restaurants. Finally Auckland is the lively "big city" of New Zealand (although international visitors will find it a lot more laid back than its reputation implies).

The same goes for the abundant rural areas: there's more variety than you'll first expect, and sometimes you have to look a little closer to see what's really happening.

What might at first appear to be a typical European wooded hillside may turn out to be unique temperate rain forest, all ferns, evergreens and flightless birds, clinging to the side of an active volcano!