One trip MIND

WHEN WORK AND TRAVEL COLLIDE, COLIN’S A HAPPY MAN!

Travel spins my wheels. Always has. Any excuse and I’m off somewhere. And, luckily for me, my job has offered ample opportunities to disappear to somewhere else, preferably somewhere I’ve never been before.

When I was a kid, we had our Christmas holidays in the same place every year − camping in the same spot, under the same tree at the camping ground in the baking, high-summer heat of Alexandra, in Central Otago. We’d drive up from home in Invercargill and come back two weeks later, sunburnt to within an inch of our lives and with Mum already making plans for our next holiday.

All around us at the camping ground were the same families, also in their same spots, everyone exactly a year older. It was great for the grown-ups, lying around all day in their deck chairs, but it wasn’t my idea of a holiday.

I like the ones where you see something different every day, preferably not involving tents.

And, since I joined the grownup world, I’ve cunningly managed to make my work life combine with my travel bug.

I need to have interesting reasons to visit places. Like the time I travelled to Tokyo to interview singer Iggy Pop. I was supposed to stay on there for another week to catch Frank Sinatra, but Frank delayed his Japanese visit and I missed him.

Then, even better, I edited a travel magazine for a few years and got to go all over New Zealand, as well as a few interesting spots overseas. And I’ve written a few books, several involving travel. Stories seem better if you have to go somewhere to find them.

The best trip you ever take should be your last one – with an even better one coming up next. Though, not everything about travel is a joy. There’s nothing that joyful about airports and long flights. And now, under threat from climate change, we’re being encouraged to feel guilty about flying and the damage planes do to the environment.

Cars and buses and trains and great big cruise ships do the same, of course. But guilt won’t stop me from travelling, though I am thinking of travelling a little closer to home. There’s an awful lot of New Zealand out there, much of it very good looking.

Visitors to New Zealand say that all the time, and sometimes I’m left feeling like I’m cheating on it by visiting somewhere else. Which is mad, of course. Or is it?

“Don’t leave home until you’ve seen the country,” an old tourism refrain used to go and it still rings true. I do intend to go poking around New Zealand a little more, but this year’s big personal travel occasion will coincide with a significant birthday that surfaces towards the end of the year.

I’m planning a trip around my children, rather than putting them to the trouble of coming to see me. As things stand at the moment, that means heading to Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and New York. It’s not my fault that they live all over the place. Bless them.

MIDWAY (M)

For all its good intentions, Midway has missed the mark. The film tells the story of the Battle of Midway, a decisive naval engagement between US and Japanese forces during World War II. The historical importance of the battle is immense, but the movie seems focused on testosterone and special effects. Director Roland Emmerich does, however, manage to capture a strange mix of historical, albeit wildly unbelievable, accuracy with a cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Nick Jonas Luke Evans and Mandy Moore. Unfortunately, this adrenaline-fuelled, gun-toting retelling, with the addition of modern special effects, fails to provide compelling character development or a cohesive script.