Oceania

When you travel to the other side of the world it’s only fair that you reap the rewards once you get there. Well, don’t worry, when you book a tour to Australia or New Zealand, you can count on it being a holiday of a lifetime.

Most travellers begin an adventure Down Under in Australia, where a feast of unforgettable sights can be found in its iconic cities and its vast wildernesses. Sydney needs little introduction, renowned for the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as well as Bondi Beach, perhaps the country’s most famous.

Then there’s Melbourne, which often tops the ‘Most Liveable City in the World’ charts. Lively and multi-cultural, it has a great vibe, and from here you can head out on the Great Ocean Road, one of the world’s most scenic coastal routes. Sights to tick off on your holiday to Australia must include Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. This huge sandstone monolith is sacred to the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory and is best viewed at the start or end of the day when the sun changes its colour dramatically.

Off the coast of Queensland is the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system and the ultimate dive site. A trip to the Barossa Valley, one of the world’s great wine regions, is highly recommended, and the same goes for Featherdale Wildlife Park. Here wildlife-lovers can catch sight of native Australian animals including koalas, wombats, kangaroos and more.

Moving onto neighbouring New Zealand - made up of two small islands, North and South, there are so many unique sights and experiences to relish in this natural beauty. Never has the word ‘unspoilt’ been so fitting, with the scenery flitting from beaches and lakes to mountains and volcanoes to rainforests and glaciers. What’s more, many of these can be visited on the same day! Add into that the chance to witness bubbling sulphur pools and experience a hangi meal, cooked underground by steam, and you can see why this is a destination with a difference.

After all that sightseeing, you’ll surely want to relax before the long flight home. The best place to do that is the Cook Islands, which as you will soon discover, offer a taste of paradise on earth. You won’t believe your eyes when you see the pristine white-sand beaches and blue lagoons. The only trouble is, you might not want to leave!