Goway Travel was started by an Australian, but this is a company whose employees are seriously in love with New Zealand.

Tuesday marked the annual Goway Travel/Air New Zealand cricket match at the Toronto Cricket Club, won this year by Goway by a sizable margin. You might even say they won going away.

It was, of course, all in good fun. And the match was played on a warm, sunny day that felt more like mid-June than late September.

Goway owner Bruce Hodge was on hand for the festivities and said it’s always a good time for both teams. He also revealed a few thoughts about the nation that lies a few hours’ flight east of his home country.

“New Zealand is such an awesome destination,” he told TravelPulse Canada. “It’s small and easy to get around, so you can see an awful lot in a couple weeks on a driving trip or with a tour.

“One of the things I love about is it that the scenery changes every few miles. There’s an endless coastline, beautiful mountains, volcanoes, geysers and Maori culture as well. You put those all together and it’s a remarkable destination.

“We’re thrilled to work with Air New Zealand, as well.”

Goway COO John Feenaghty agreed with Hodge on the matter of New Zealand’s indigenous culture.

“The Maori culture is just incredible,” he said prior to the cricket match. “When you go and experience their culture and see their places of worship and their lifestyle; it’s one of the best cultural experiences in the world.”

There’s also incredible wine, amazing beaches, bungee jumping (it started here, which tells you something about the wild side of New Zealanders), beautiful rivers and sparkling lakes.

“There’s a reason they filmed the Lord of the Rings movies in New Zealand,” he said.

“I also love the people; they’re so friendly. And it’s an easy place to drive once you’ve taken a few minutes to adjust to driving on the left. It’s not super-crowded, so you don’t have traffic problems.

“They also love their sport; rugby and cricket especially.”

Feenaghty said an ideal trip to him is seven days on North Island, which tends to be warmer and more tropical, especially in the far north, and then another week on South Island, which is home to perhaps the best wineries and certainly the most intriguing scenery. You can be paddling a kayak in a beautiful bay near Nelson in the morning in countryside that looks like northern California, and then be flying over snow-capped mountains or boating up a pristine fjord in Milford Sound later in the day.

“Bay of Islands is beautiful on the North Island. And the wines are superb up in Marlborough on the South Island and down near Queenstown, too.”

Goway has a huge variety of New Zealand packages and, for folks who want to see both countries, New Zealand and Australia combo trips. You even add Fiji to the mix for a dose of tropical island bliss.

They currently have a special offer listed for their Auckland/Queenstown New Zealand package, with 10-day trips that include domestic airfare from $1,899 CAD.