Experience magnificent National Parks, charming towns and pristine landscapes plus wonder at its volcanic geysers and boiling mud pools. A bit of a cliche, yes, but it's true: New Zealand is one of those holiday destinations of a lifetime - its mountains, rivers, fjords, and scenery are quite literally breath-taking! And with a population of only a few million in a land approximately the same size as the UK, you'll quickly become attuned to the easy-going Kiwi lifestyle as you travel through this beautiful country.

Getting to New Zealand can be a long and tiring journey, so we have chosen to include a stopover in Singapore and fly with Singapore Airlines, renowned for their world class service and with direct onward flights to Auckland and from Christchurch. We have two days here to explore the many attractions this thrilling Asian metropolis has to offer, including its dazzling architecture, superb cuisine and vibrant mix of cultures.

We stay in Auckland for two nights to give you the best opportunity to acclimatise to the time zone. We then travel to the sub-tropical Bay of Islands for two nights - a wonderful region of small historic towns and a deeply indented coastline filled with golden sandy coves, a paradise for sailing and boating.

New Zealand is primarily a farming country, full of dairy herds and of course millions of sheep - so what better way to experience this way of life than to stay a night with a New Zealand family. In the fertile region of Cambridge, south of Auckland, our group will be split between a number of local homesteads where you'll be able to gain a firsthand understanding of the very basis of the country's economy whilst getting to know your friendly hosts.

Rotorua is one of North Island's greatest areas of geothermal activity, with its spectacular geysers, steaming hot pools and bubbling mud. It's also a centre of Maori settlement and in the evening you attend a Maori Hangi (feast) featuring a Powhiri (formal welcome) and traditional songs and dances relaying the stories of Maori myths and legends, followed by a meal of lamb, chicken and kumara (sweet potato) cooked in the traditional way, in an underground oven.

We continue to the east coast and the renowned wine-producing region of Hawke's Bay, facing the Pacific Ocean. Here we stay in charming Napier, famous for its unique architecture, a legacy of a 1931 earthquake when the whole town was rebuilt in just two years in the Art Deco style of the time.