Have you ever fantasised about packing your belongings into a campervan and hitting the road to experience life in other regions or even other countries? The Slow Road authors Kiri and Lockie Poole turned this dream into reality. Their book covers their travels around New Zealand, which they and their three young children explored from top to bottom in a Kombi van with a caravan in tow.
The Poole’s enthusiasm for our country is evident on every page. Kiri (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) was raised in New Zealand by her grandparents. Her partner Lockie spent his childhood in Australia. They’ve been passionate about travel both before and after having children. Their son Riley had been to 37 countries before his first birthday and two daughters have now joined the whānau. This family of five relishes the freedom and stimulation of life on the road. The book is full of travel tips and advice as well as detailed notes about the places they visited in New Zealand and their adventures in each location. They sometimes recall their own childhood experiences, such as Kiri’s stays at a coastal township with her grandparents:
My memories of this place are filled with clear-sky days spent doing the pipi dance with our toes and filling the harakeke baskets with sweet shellfish.
The first few chapters cover practical matters such as how to find a campervan to hire or buy and what to consider when choosing a campervan. There’s information about legal requirements (such as Warrants or Certificates of Fitness) and what a campervan must have to be authorized and certified as self-contained. There are tips about ‘camp etiquette’ and even suggestions for finding paid work while travelling.
For every area that the Pooles visited in both the North and South Islands there is great information about places to explore, eat, stay, and experience. This includes recommendations from locals, how to find ‘hidden gems’ such as swimming holes, and significant cultural and historical landmarks. There are references to Māori legends, and suggestions about where to learn about Māori history and where to see a marae. The family are ‘committed sunset chasers’ and there are numerous mentions of the best spots to watch a sunrise or sunset. They share their knowledge about where to fish, swim, ski, white-water raft, find a goblin forest or a bush walk, eat whitebait fritters, see glow-worms, and cool down with real-fruit ice-cream. They write about the areas where kiwi might be seen or heard at night, where other rare birds hang out, and where dolphins are often spotted. They cover wine regions, museums, playgrounds, and locations where films such as The Lord of the Rings and Boy were filmed. Many other sights and activities are also included in the book. There’s a brief section on being well-prepared for outdoor activities, such as hiking in a National Park.
Kitchen essentials, they say, should be ‘simple and lightweight’. There’s no need to buy everything new – the family finds plates, cups, cookware and cutlery at second-hand stores and op shops. Kiri lists core pantry items they find essential when travelling. She shares ideas for healthy road-trip food, including fillings for wraps and sandwiches, salad jar combos, and a detailed two-week meal plan. Throughout the book there are around a dozen recipes, listed in a separate recipe index. These include recipes for Fish Tacos, Crayfish Pappardelle, and Peanut Butter Brownies (which can be cooked over coals, in a covered barbecue, or in a regular oven). For further travel food inspiration, Kiri recommends another of her books, The Slow Road Cookbook.
Space in a van is usually tight so Kiri includes notes about what to pack for each person, taking ages and stages into account. And because things sometimes go wrong, there is information about insurance, roadside assistance programmes, tools and spare parts. Acknowledging that road trips can be costly, she offers ideas to make trips more affordable – for example, by joining holiday park loyalty programmes. Locations where gear can be hired, such as surfboards, kayaks, and even spades, are identified.
The Pooles see New Zealand as an ideal destination: the ‘trip of a lifetime’. On nearly every page they describe the places they visited as ‘beautiful’, ‘stunning’, or ‘breathtaking’. Almost all the photos in the book show only one or more members of the Poole family – or their van and caravan – in an idyllic setting, with not another person to be seen. It’s almost as if they had the whole country to themselves. This is slightly misleading, given how busy some areas are at certain times of the year. They do, however, warn that some things (such as the interisland ferries, and popular campsites) should be booked well in advance. They also identify areas such as the Coromandel Peninsula where traffic can be heavy during peak travel months.
Good planning, stress the Pooles, is essential, particularly as opening hours for many attractions vary according to the season. They recommend regular checks of the NZTA website for updates about road closures and other notifications. They point out some of the New Zealand roads that are narrow, winding and unsealed, which will add to travel time.
There’s down to earth advice about the realities of travelling with young children, with recommendations for baby and kid gear that worked well for the Pooles. They were fortunate that all three of their children were sound sleepers who adapted well to travelling life. They say it’s important to plan and prioritise taking children’s needs and interests into account, ‘to ensure a fun trip for the whole family’. Activities for keeping children engaged, such as scavenger hunts (and the occasional bribe), are suggested.
A risk with any guidebook is whether the recommendations will stay current. Cafés and restaurants, for example, often change hands and some go out of business. (There are few things worse than driving for hours to find a “Closed” sign on the door of a place you’re keen to visit.) Fortunately The Slow Road also covers numerous natural attractions – such as beaches, bush walks, lookouts and parks – that won’t go belly-up.
Although there’s a basic map of New Zealand at the start of the book there are no addresses or other contact details for any of the locations. This is presumably because most travellers can rely on technology to get them from A to B, or to direct them to particular spots. (You’ll need to rely on Google Maps, for example, if you want to find the domain that is only described as ‘south-east of Te Kūiti, deep in the countryside’.)
There’s a brief section on ‘must-have apps’, and travel-related websites are scattered throughout the book. However, the Pooles caution that mobile coverage is limited in some places. There may still be areas in New Zealand where internet access is unavailable. Perhaps in these areas people can rely on old-fashioned maps or friendly locals to point them in the right direction. To help with trip planning, it would have been helpful if the book had identified which places have an entry fee and which do not. There are no captions alongside the photos to indicate which area or attraction is depicted. We must assume that each photo was taken somewhere in the area described in the surrounding pages.
The pale-blue ribbon bookmark is a bonus and the colour blends in well with the blues, browns and greens in the dreamy photos.
The Slow Road is a terrific resource for anyone travelling around New Zealand, whether by campervan or not. It’s full of ideas for locations to visit, interesting places to stay, and exciting activities to experience on land, on water, and even in the air. It’s opened my eyes to attractions in my own country that I didn’t know existed. If you’d like to keep up to date with the Poole family’s travels and hear more about their adventures, follow them on Instagram: @theslowroad.
Reviewer: Anne Kerslake Hendricks
Allen & Unwin