Holiday destination halfway between Britain and Australia

WE SEVEN SIBLINGS TOGETHER WITH OUR SPOUSES LIVING IN BRITAIN, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND ARE PLANNING A FAMILY REUNION IN 2017 OR EARLY 2018. HALFWAY WOULD BE MIDDLE EAST BUT WE ARE NOT KEEN. WE ARE THINKING MAYBE MALAYSIA, THAILAND OR VIETNAM. ANY ADVICE ON WHERE, WITH INTEREST OR ACTIVITIES?

T. STEVENSON, RANDWICK

What about Sri Lanka? It's more like the halfway destination you're looking for, the Aussies and New Zealanders can get there on a one-stop flight via Singapore and the Brits can do it non-stop or via the Middle East. It's warm, there's lots to offer on the cultural and culinary front, Sri Lanka has beach resorts as well as pukka tea plantations, relics of Buddhist cities that thrived thousands of years ago, wildlife parks and a rescued colonial beauty in the town of Galle. There's something for everyone, it's also decent value and from the point of view of Sri Lanka's climate, December-February is right in the sweet spot. If you want to see most of what the island has to offer a clockwise tour from Colombo to the interior then south through the tea country and back to Colombo along the resort coast covers most bases. You could do it in a week but two would be far more relaxing.

If you're able to agree on an itinerary that allows you to travel together, the size of your group should enable you to negotiate keen rates. If you're the tour organiser, you could get in touch with a local specialist such as Exotic Lanka Holidays (exoticlankaholidays.com.au) or Lanka Tours (lankatours.com.au).