Well it is hard to believe that it is November 2019 already. The last year seems to have gone by in a blur. We started writing three new books last year in October and they have kept us pretty well occupied since then. Along the way we changed back to our original publisher, David Bateman Ltd. Two of the books have now been finished, with one, RV There Yet? A guide to owning and buying a recreational vehicle in New Zealand, just released into the bookshops this month. The second book on tiny caravans and teardrops will be released in March 2020 to coincide with the Repco Beach Hop, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary along with its 10th retro caravan show. The third book, which we will finish later this month, will be published for fathers’ day 2020. It has been a lot of fun for both of us co-authoring the first two books and if you like what we have done in the past, we are sure you will like these two.
The third book is more a ‘guys’ book, about cars, with Don doing the research and writing, and Marilyn concentrating on the photography. It will be right up there with our previous books.
During the past year we have also managed to get away in Daisy Mae a few times, once down to Wellington, and back home via Palmerston North, Napier, Gisborne and the East Cape, through Whakatane and back home to Whitianga. The trip was not without some dramas, which included a rather large pothole north of Ruatoria and a broken drawbar. With that fixed we departed on a second trip to Gisborne for the national NZMCA rally along with an Old Meets New rally at Kawerau the following weekend. We also fitted in the 2019 Repco Beach Hop retro caravan show and the Hot Water Beach Retro Caravan rally, where 40 retro caravans gathered. We had an awesome time at all four events, meeting up with old friends and making new ones.
We took a two-week break in June and then were back into the third book. With around a 99% of it already completed it is looking really good.
We plan to take a break next year and do some overseas travel, some serious caravanning in Daisy Mae and finish some long overdue renovations on our house.
