As Aussies gear up for the upcoming long weekend, TV audiences tuned in in droves to Channel Nine with Travel Guides taking the top spot among the non-news programs with a total TV national reach of 2,235,000 and a national average of 1,299,000.
The guides traded planes for portholes, boarding a cruise to New Zealand, but not everyone boarded with high hopes. From the get-go, there was scepticism in the air, especially from Matt and Brett, who admitted cruising wasn’t exactly their idea of a dream holiday.
For them, cruises meant buffet queues, cramped cabins and bingo nights. But the moment the Ovation of the Seas pulled into the misty, jaw-dropping Milford Sound, every doubt went overboard.
Instead of the tropical clichés they’d expected, the Guides were blown away by the drama of New Zealand’s rugged coastline. Waking to the stillness of the ancient fjord, once dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World, they were met with sheer cliffs, waterfalls, and a pod of dolphins gliding alongside the ship.
“It makes you feel really alive, doesn’t it?” said Brett. “It’s incredible, it’s quite humbling.”
“If this isn’t ‘welcome to New Zealand’, I don’t know what is,” added Matt. “We’ve never done a cruising holiday to New Zealand because when we think of a cruise, we think tropical. But one of the most amazing things about New Zealand are its sounds and its coastline and a cruise ship is the perfect way to see that.”
Even the self-declared “travel snobs” Kevin and Janetta were visibly moved.
“It’s stunning, isn’t it?” Kevin admitted.
Far from the floating resort stereotypes, this trip proved that cruising can be a front-row seat to some of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders. As the Guides disembarked, they weren’t just fans of New Zealand; they were cruise converts.
