The Before Journey.   

A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action becomes a dream come true.

Turn back the clock 3 years and Doug and I were living in The Far North of New Zealand, operating a Tour Business to Cape Reinga alongside the local cafe. We were stressed, burnt out and even though the view from my deck overlooking Ninety Mile Beach was soooo breathtakingly spectacular, we rarely had the time to enjoy it. So the decision was made that after 10 years of hard work and total dedication to it all, it was time to move on.

We spent a few months backpacking around South East Asia until we actually liked each other again which was the spark to ignite our passion for travel and adventure. They were really light bulb times where we began to appreciate the simple things in life again. Getting a glimpse into the lives of others less fortunate than yourselves is actually a true reality check.

After returning to Auckland to be nearer to our children, Doug started working temporarily as an Engineer for Coca Cola, where he had previously worked before heading North. I guess you could say had come full circle.

I returned to Hospo and we started travelling on weekends in our newly aquired Toyota Hiace Hitop van. To say we loved our van is certainly an understatement and most weekends would see us adventuring as far South as a weekend would allow. Sometimes even further. Sadly though the space in the van became a bit claustrophobic for us and we decided to upgrade to a larger English Caravan.

It was about this time that we were tiring of house sitting which we had done since arriving back in Auckland. Don’t get me wrong house sitting is great and suited our temporary status perfectly, however with Doug being offered more and more work it was obvious that we needed something a bit more settled. The problem being with the over inflated housing market in Auckland, buying a house was not on our cards and we both bauked at the idea of paying $600 plus a week for a rental. The solution for us was to buy an even bigger Caravan to live in in Auckland during the week and to travel with on the weekends. It was like buying a 1 bedroom apartment on wheels and I can honestly say I haven’t missed house life at all.

have always said you should know your own country first before you know someone else’s and I can honestly say that we have definitely done that in the last 2 years. From the tip of The North Island to the very bottom of The South, and everywhere inbetween we’ve seen it all several times over. It’s been amazing. I can truly say what a fabulous country we live in here in New Zealand but after 2 years the dreams have become bigger and further afield until…

A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action becomes a dream come true.

We leave for the U.K on the 30th of June 2018 to pick up our newly purchased motorhome in Edinburgh. To say I’m excited is perhaps the understatement of the century,