Escape to the Fiords for some festive fun

Heritage Expeditions, a Christchurch-based tour company which tours to Antarctica and beyond, is urging travellers to shock their families and friends this Christmas by spending it in the Fiordland World Heritage Park aboard the Polar research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy.

Passengers are taken to the most inaccessible fiords, including Preservations, Dusky, Caswell and George, the landing sites in 1792 of the Spanish and Captain Cook in 1773, and Puysegur Pt Lighthouse. The cruise also includes visits to the remote Port Pegasus and Paterson Inlet on Stewart Island.

Departures for the Christmas period are on December 21 to 28 or December 27 to January 3, 2001 and cost $3306 a person. Places are limited to fewer than 40.

Contact: Heritage Expeditions, tollfree on 0800 262 8873, fax, (03) 338 3311, or e-mail, hertexp@attglobal.net