Destinations:South Pacific (Australia & New Zealand)

Australia

Sydney and Melbourne. The world's oldest rock and an island of exile. The outback and the Sydney Opera House. Aborigines and Ayers Rock. The Great Barrier Reef—the only living structure on the planet visible from outer space. No wonder Captain James Cook adored it— scattered across the continent are natural wonders unlike any other, each revealing itself just as the desert seems to have no end. Daintree National Park, a rain forest down under? Why not? World class wineries in the Yarra Valley? Absolutely. Three billion year-old rock samples and a gigantic teeming reef, boutique shops and decadent hotels. The world's finest diving and some of its most exotic land creatures, not counting some outback guides...

From Sydney's Paddington and King's Cross districts, to the 1,100 foot Ayers Rock and the lesser-known Olgas, this is a destination offering everything for all travelers. Learn the how and why of the Aborigines' reverence for Uluru and the cave engravings and dry riverbeds of the great monolith. Visit the Blue Mountains and see the early morning haze for which they are named float hauntingly around the peaks—the mystery has been solved, but the beauty cannot be captured by any photograph. Meet '"under the clocks" at Flinders Street Station and see the Old Melbourne Gaol and St. Paul's Cathedral before breakfast.

It doesn't seem like the Far East, but it is. It's just a little south, too. Kipling & Clark has built the bridge to the land down under. Cross it and see hidden Australia revealed.

New Zealand

Astronomers and alps. The mountaineers playground and the wine lovers delight. Auckland, the City of Sails and home to the America's Cup. Rotorua, home to some of Mother Nature's greatest feats snowcapped peaks, fumaroles and geysers, lush hillsides. See a kiwi, visit quaint and understated Queenstown.

Thirty million years ago it was part of Antarctica. Today New Zealand is a pair of volcanoes stranded in the Pacific Ocean, and on them has been built one of the globe's most exciting countries—just ask the Maori who traveled across the South China Sea from Polynesia in outriggers. That was 3,000 years ago. Getting there and enjoying the fruits of one of the last places on earth to be explored has become much, much easier. No more outriggers; yachts and regattas. No more hunting and gathering; New Zealand boasts gourmet cuisine, master chefs and sommeliers, and, of course, excellent wines. Surprised? So was Captain James Cook. Then Maori helped him map North and South Islands, and he never looked back.

New Zealand became accessible. But still relatively few people visit. No matter. Kipling & Clark has mapped out the route from the west and it's easier and more exciting than in Cook's day. You'll see...