Fifty years ago, when Qantas began its Kangaroo flights from London to Sydney on prop-driven Constellations, the journey took 94 hours and involved stops in Rome, Tripoli, Cairo, Calcutta, Singapore and Darwin. Today the trip can be done in under 20 hours with just one brief stop to take on fuel and a fresh team of horses.

But what's the rush? Despite the speed and range of modern aircraft, more than half the people who now go on holiday to Australia and New Zealand choose to give themselves a proper break along the way. Since Australia and New Zealand lie on the far side of the globe, the advantages of making a pit stop, especially once the lion's share of the mileage and the worst of the time zones are in your rear-view mirror, are obvious. But there's more to be had from a two or three-day break in one of the vibrant Asian cities - or maybe in Dubai, Los Angeles or on a South Sea island - than the welcome physical rest. You can choose your emphasis, from historic sites and cut-price shopping to exotic food and fabulous beaches.

Here are our top suggestions for taking time out along the way.

Asia

At Bridge & Wickers we focus on making tailor made holidays in Asia a truly unique experience. Whether it is Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia or even Hong Kong, our expertise and passion is reflected in our Asia tours . Asia is an enchanting and diverse continent offering breathtaking beaches, superb shopping, mouthwatering cuisine and excellent accommodation making it an outstanding experience for travellers wishing to make the most of their Asia holidays.

USA

USA is a destination in itself……we can’t promise to know every part of this vast land as it is not one of our regions of specialty, however many of our clients are looking for a stopover en route to the Pacific, New Zealand or Australia or a combination with Canada so we are very used to making arrangements in the popular stop off points of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York and have created some exciting itineraries in and around these hubs.

Middle East

With a perfect winter climate, miles upon miles of sandy beaches, desert adventures, shopping in souks, superb hotels and just 6 or 7 hours’ flying time from the UK, the Middle East makes a great escape from a typical British winter. Bridge & Wickers features two destinations, Dubai, which has a wide choice of luxurious beachfront hotels as well as an impressive water park, golf, 4WD dune and wadi bashing jaunts and lots of shopping; and the more scenically diverse Oman, which, with its immense dune deserts, historic forts, heavenly oases and more traditional culture, offers a more authentic taste of Arabia.

South Pacific

Barely detectable on the globe, the islands of the South Pacific Islands lie scattered like confetti in the biggest, emptiest and least explored of its oceans. With their pearl-white beaches, thick matting of vegetation and seas that cover the entire repertoire of blues, from pale chalky peppermint to Waterman’s blue black, nowhere in the world comes closer to fulfilling our dreams of island paradise.