As an Auckland-based correspondent, I was the only 'New Zealander' on the FCA trip to Canterbury and I should have known better because I had the opportunity to travel around this beautiful country on various occasions before.

But Canterbury and Christchurch Tourism (CCT) wanted to really impress us and indeed they did with a list of locations and activities that would have impressed even the most seasoned travel journalist. Cecile Dransart, the Media Executive of CCT, who drove and escorted us, was perfect in her role introducing the many activities and locations of the itinerary in an amusing mix of French, Italian, Spanish and English. Well-done Cecile!

I will not write too much as I would like the pictures that accompany this story, do the talking. But I cannot abstain from mentioning some of the highlights of this quite unforgettable famil.

Courtesy of Air New Zealand, I had the opportunity of sampling the fine food and drinks at the Auckland Airport Koru Lounge, before catching the flight to Christchurch. This was to be proved a mistake as I reached the 'garden city' quite late and I was suddenly catapulted into the pre-drinks and then dinner at "The George", a member of the Small Luxury Hotel of the World group, where we would spend our first night.

Bruce Garreth and Jan Stuart, gave us a tour of this quite minimalist complex where well-known international celebrities stay (we can't mention names for privacy reasons), when Down Under for concerts or just relaxation and ask for Suite 406 on the 4th floor. A hotel full of history (the name derives from one of the first British ships that came to port) and settled in parklike grounds is particularly renowned for its "Pescatore" restaurant.

`Pescatore' in Italian means `fisherman' and the chef did his best to entice us with the best seafood available and at the end of a very long dinner, sampling some very fresh and structured Sauvignon Blanc wines, the artistically sculpted chocolate mousse brought the convivial FCA group to a dramatic silence. The curvaceous sugary branches sticking out of the edible ramekin well matched the old, full-bodied and deeply aromatic 'sticky', served with it.

This was the beginning of 11 days of remarkable things to do and see from landscapes to walks and horse treks, extremely good food and wine, outstanding and exclusive Lodges where we got spoiled to the limit as sole occupants of quite grandiose residences topped up with three days among the giants of Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. This was the most revealing moment of the trip as I came to terms with one aspect of wilderness that I would have never thought available in New Zealand: icebergs.

Yes, those impressive pieces of ice, 10 per cent out and 90 per cent under, that only Urs Walterlin, who had joined us just in time to come to Mt Cook, had the opportunity to see for real while he travelled on a flight over Antarctica a few years ago. Well, here, all of us were given the same opportunity and more. We were to see icebergs and in fact also touch them and also walk on them! And walk we did, on our next to last day after a sumptuous breakfast in the Alpine restaurant at the Hermitage Hotel (where we stayed the last three nights of the trip, enjoying fantastic moody views of Mt Cook from our room's balcony).

As we reached the Tasman Lake, we were transported http://www.glacierexplorers.co.nz into the Land of the Great White Masses. Yes, it felt as if we were in Antarctica. The air was chilly, the water was really icy cold with a survival time of only five minutes and the icebergs were real. In front of us were big, white, translucent, majestic-floating masses to be touched, smelled, heard and walked upon. We could not stop from rejoicing at the sight of the great giants and considered how fortunate we had been to spend a day among the icebergs of the Tasman Glacier.

And while driving back to Christchurch to catch our return flights home, we kept pondering about our trip. The Canterbury region proved to be a land of contrast of all kinds and definitely a land of discovery.