We reckon the old adage, ‘what happens on tour, stays on tour’ is pretty boring. And, as we hit the two-week milestone of our eight-week road trip, we thought it was about time we fill you in on the details.
But, first, we should probably introduce you to the faces of the Tour. Hannah and Soph (that’s me), are the girls behind the wheel, well not collectively, but I do make for a pretty good co-pilot — need water? Consider this the hydration station. Getting sleepy? Fatboy Slim on full blast coming right up.
Introducing, Hannah Dellow.
Q: Day job?
Hannah: Director of Opium Entertainment.
Q: Favourite beach?
Hannah: I’m not fussy, as long as I can swim, but Ohope Beach has a bit of nostalgia for me.
Q: Most played road trip song?
Hannah: Been enjoying a bit of Parallel Dance Ensemble.
Q: Favourite road trip snack?
Hannah: Proper Crisps, dangerously good.
And me, Sophie Evans.
Q: Day job?
Soph: Marketing Manager at Coffee Supreme.
Q: Favourite beach?
Soph: Same as Han, I’m not fussy. But I did just spend two weeks learning to surf at Oceans Beach in Whangarei Heads, which was pretty special.
Q: Most played road trip song?
Soph: Into The Mystic, Van Morrison.
Q: Favourite road trip snack?
Soph: Roadside stone fruit.
On Tuesday 5th Jan, Doug and I scooped our Toyota Fortuner from Rutherford & Bond (cheers to Toyota for getting the wheels spinning on this whole thing) and packed (read: crammed) the caravan full. We thought we were doing a good job, but the look on Fraser’s, our head roaster, face told us differently. With a little help from Fras, who couldn’t stand to watch our cowboyish behaviour any longer, we were good to go. Doug and I took a moment to stop, cheers our coffees and take a breath as we headed for Martinborough Top 10. We were stoked.
We had made it about 500 metres down the road when the beeping started — we’d loaded the back seat so heavily that the seat belt sensors registered that three humans had joined us for the trip. With another swift unpack, repack and cheers, we hit the road for real this time and made it over the Remutakas.
After an awesome first stop at Martinborough Top 10 (Cheers to Frank and Lisa), we proceeded to cross Masterton, Hastings, Havelock North, Taihape, Taupo, Turangi, Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Hamilton, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui off our list. After our stint in Hawke’s Bay, Doug tapped out and Hannah subbed in.
We’ve served over 1,000 cups of coffee, given away around 100 blocks of Whittaker’s, jars of Fix & Fogg and bags of Skinny Dipped Almonds and made heaps of people’s days with the spinning wheel. It’s been smooth sailing, other than driving from Taihape to Taupo with the caravan break on, breaking the generator and locking the keys in the caravan outside New World Turangi.
That’s it from me, it’s 27 degrees at Waihi Beach and the ocean (and my last pack of Coromandel Smoked Mussels) are calling.
Stay posted with our travels on Instagram and we’ll catch you back here in a couple of weeks.
Cheers,
Soph
