The best places to get away from it all down under

Australia and New Zealand's breathtaking and remote areas of natural beauty are perfect for getting away from it all.

And if you are desperate to break your Blackberry or mobile phone habits back home, both countries offer areas with spectacular scenery in places where you are guaranteed to get no intrusions from ringing mobiles.

Australia's World Heritage-listed Fraser Island, in Queensland, is the only place in the world where the rainforests grow on sand.

Adventurous holidaymakers can explore the island on four-wheel drive vehicles, discover one of the hundred or so lakes on the island and relax on the many sandy beaches.

Other sights include the shipwreck of the Maheno on Fraser Island's eastern beach. The boat was driven ashore while sailing to a Japanese wrecking yard during a storm in 1935, and the hull remains to this day.

Central Station, originally a forestry camp, is now an information point for learning about local wildlife. You can also take a short trip into the rainforest from Central Station's short boardwalk.

At low tide holidaymakers can also take advantage of what the locals call the Champagne Pools - rock pools with bubbling seawater ideal for swimming in, close to Indian Head.

For more information on visiting Fraser Island see www.seefraserisland.com

Among the tour operators offering trip to Fraser Island are Australian Pacific Touring (APT), who visit the island as part of a six, 11 or 13-day east coast adventure holiday, from £765 per person (www.aptouring.co.uk).

There are plenty more places down under where you can get away from it all though. APT also has a Tasmania four-day tour for £795 per person that will take you away from the island's main cities - Hobart and Launceston - as well as give you a chance to enjoy the best of the island's food and wine.

Alternatively, if you want to experience one of mainland Australia's most remote areas, you could head west to Purnululu National Park, in Kimberley.

APT's exclusive Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge is set to reopen following a refurbishment in April 2007, and can be stayed at as part of a six-day tour from £735 per person.

If you want to see lots of kangaroos along with other indigenous Australian wildlife, the aptly named Kangaroo Island in South Australia is a great place to go.

Flinders Chase National Park is good for walks, seeing unusual landscapes and geological features, as well as seals, koalas and kangaroos.

APT has two to five-day tours from £460 per person.

You are also virtually guaranteed to be undisturbed at the Fiordland National Park at the southern tip of New Zealand's South Island.

The park has New Zealand's deepest natural lakes, waterfalls with a drop of 600 metres, ice-capped peaks and is home to many different bird species.

APT has a five-day tour with a two-night stay at the Stewart Island Lodge from £695 per person.

Other tour operators with adventure holidays in Australia and New Zealand include Explore, Austravel, Intrepid Travel and Exodus.