Dave G Houser & Jan Butchofsky-Houser

Just back from one of their favorite journeys ever -- a month "down under" -- Dave and Jan are busy prepping images and writing features from their March-April visit to New Zealand, New Caledonia,Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The trip began with a week in green and gorgeous New Zealand...North Island to be specific, and stays at two of the world's top-rated luxury lodges, Huka Lodge near Taupo and Treetops, an upscale wilderness lodge near Rotorua. Article and photo coverage includes the region's vast geothermal landscape, Lake Taupo andenvirons, trout fishing, Rotorua town and its leading visitor attractions,including Government Gardens, Rotorua Art & History Museum and Polynesia Spa.

The Housers then joined the Australian luxury expedition cruiser Orion for the vessel's inaugural 16-day "Melanesia and the Solomon Islands" voyage,which hop-scotched up the Pacific chain of islands, visiting Isle of Pines(New Caledonia), Vanuatu, a half-dozen remote islands in the Solomons, and concluding at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea's fuming, smoking volcanic island,part of the New Britain group.Jan playing around with local children

A final week found Jan and Dave in PNG's Eastern Highlands where, based out of Goroka, they made daily 4WD treks into remote highland villages to check out a government tourism initiative being carried out on a local level by interested and highly dedicated residents looking to showcase cultural activities (dancing, singing, face-painting, etc.) hunting and agricultural methods, scenic and archeological sites. A final day in the capital city of Port Moresby allowed time to cover major points of interest there as well.