Of Summer Holidays

One of the things I am so grateful for is that throughout my childhood, every Summer, my parents rented a caravan, hitched it to the Holden Kingswood Station Wagon and took us to a part of New Zealand as yet unexplored.As a result, I have seen this beautiful country. From the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island.They were teachers which meant that whilst we didn’t have a lot of spare money available we did have many weeks available each year to holiday. We would spend months prior to Christmas researching where next to visit. The relevant AA Travel Guide became our Bible, and I remember reading about the forthcoming towns or “things to see” as we drove. I remember narrating the local legends as we passed the features by.Growing up in Palmerston North meant that traveling was a pretty exciting activity (I think that holds true with most people wanting to get the hell out of Palmy if they have been there for any length of time). That feeling of joy when discovering new places is something that has stayed with me.I have some very strong memories. I remember being in the awning with my sister getting flooded out one night with Mum and Dad locking themselves inside the caravan promising to “sort us out in the morning”.I remember taking 13 hours getting to Auckland from Palmerston North because Mum wanted to visit every antique or craft shop on the way.Staying in Motor Camps was great. We stayed in camps that had no amenities, camps that were right on the beach, camps that were inner city. We were the family without the TV, without the portable BBQ so we made our own fun. We played cards and did jigsaws. We read extensively. We got to meet new people and make new friends. We played Swingball and fished for sprats off wharves. We’d go on bushwalks and climb moutains. We’d meet the local Maori families who taught us to fish for Eels and how to eat raw Kina. We’d spend hours running up and down the rows of trees in the orchards we’d visit. We discovered wildlife and art and history and natural geology. Zoos and Parks and Preserves. Potters and Painters and Glassblowers and Carvers. We visited them all. We learned about Maori history and artifacts. We visited the Waitomo Caves and the Moeraki Boulders before they were commercialised. We panned for gold in Arrowtown and marveled at Milford Sound.Getting to know New Zealand from the ground up was such an important thing to do. I only realised in later life how fortunate we were to have that opportunity and I am so grateful to my Mum and Dad for taking the time and making the effort to do it.I’m happy that I have been able to retrace a lot of those early steps and now I’m looking forward to doing it all again. It will be interesting to see how my adult recollections of places differ from my childhood memories.I believe that it is so important to spend time getting to know your country. There are places here that are unbelievably stunning. I think its time to plan that road trip.I still fail to see the point of Invercargill.- Simon