Why a road trip?

It is said that if you can remember the Sixties you weren't there. I can remember those years well - after all, they were my adolescent years. So I remember net petticoats, teased hair, parking the car all day on Aldinga Beach, the Vietnam War, conscription, Moratoriums on the University campus lawns at lunch time, live transmission of the Moon landing, and the death of President Kennedy. I remember standing in front of the Town Hall in Adelaide and seeing the Beatles up on the balcony; I even remember what I wore - black duffle coat, two way stretch lavender pants, pointy toe ankle boots with fur around the top.



Somehow I feel like I missed some of the action. I didn't inhale - in fact I didn't even smoke. I didn't protest the war, nor could I relate to the long haired, informed and outspoken protesters. My friends who were called up went without objecting. The free love, casual sex, flower power days passed me by. I married at 20 and had my first child at 21. I have no regrets about all this, but now, divorced and remarried, with five grandchildren, a Seniors' card, several tertiary qualifications, a successful professional career and 25 years of extensive world travel behind me, I found myself wanting to do a solo mobile home road trip.


The choice of destination was easy. New Zealand is a wonderful country - diverse, beautiful, safe and populated by friendly people with a quirky perspective on life. But how long? Two months seemed to be long enough to travel leisurely and extensively and to be exposed to a range of challenges, yet not so long that the grandchildren would forget who I was. After all, there was always Skype! And, if I had to leave my job to do the trip - so be it. Timing was a problem. The cost of hiring a mobile home varies enormously from season to season, with increases of roughly 80% from low to high, so high season was not an option for me (too crowded any way!). I would have preferred April/May but this was not possible so I settled for September/October, knowing the weather would not be perfect.

Choosing a motor home and getting mobile posed more challenges – stay tuned.