Every year more and more people are choosing to spend their Christmas break overseas.  Escaping the mayhem and going somewhere to relax will mean that your festive period this year isn’t spent refereeing family rows or overindulging...... well not in turkey at least.
I am a big fan of Christmas but with Harrods opening the doors to their grotto in August, seeing trees in front windows in early October and selection boxes hitting the shops as soon as the kids have gone back to school is enough to exhaust anyone!
Making the decision to go away isn’t hard; it’s deciding where to go that is a difficult one.  The most popular destinations seem to be either city breaks or winter sun.  This year New Zealand tickles my fancy.  The opportunity to spend time exploring a country renowned for its wine and outdoor lifestyle sounds incredibly appealing against the prospect of long winter nights spent in front of the television here in the UK.
According to official guides New Zealand offers over 15,000 kilometres of coastline with more than 25 marine reserves providing an array of opportunity for swimming, surfing, sailing and fishing.   There are some fantastic cities to visit but what really makes New Zealand unique is the variety of landscapes that the country has to offer.
New Zealand is incomparable in its beauty, from Cape Reinga, the Northern tip of the North Island, 100 km from the nearest small town and a sacred place in Maori tradition where the local post office has its own inimitable postmark right down to Milford Sound, described by Rudyard Kipling as the eighth wonder of the world.
The award winning Lord of the Rings trilogy had a positive impact on the tourist trade in New Zealand.  It is incredible when you realise that the breathtaking scenes are not computer generated as you might expect but actual places that anyone can visit.  It has been said that the filming of the trilogy took two years but the building of the sets took millions of years!
There is so much to do in New Zealand that I am looking forward to sitting down with the knowledgeable team at FareWise Travel to plan my trip and accommodation.  The staff will be happy to share their extensive experience and insight to enable me to plan my trip of a lifetime.  This is likely to be one Christmas that I’ll never forget.