GOING SOUTH
A ROAD TRIP THROUGH LIFE
Two old friends. One Falcon. Six days. The ultimate road trip. And then
some.
When
Colin Hogg’s long-time friend, drinking buddy and comrade in journalism, Gordon
McBride, tells him that he has serious “health issues”, Colin suggests they
head off on a road trip. Back South. To Southland. The place where it all began
46 years ago; the genesis of their shared history. Within weeks the trip is
booked and the two are ready to roll.
What
ensues is a rollicking meditation on mateship and memory – a journey back in
time and place, to where they came from and when they came of age. Along the
way there are regular pit-stops, memories to sift, intimations of mortality to
navigate. Or not. Gathering dust, the Falcon chews through the kilometres, the
long road rolling inexorably south, as they cruise the highways and backblocks
of the south: Queenstown. Kingston. Invercargill. Naseby. Dunedin. Stewart
Island. All points in between.
Hogg
is a road scholar, too, interspersing his narrative with local legends and
forgotten stories from New Zealand’s southern history. McBride records the
journey, gleefully, via his growing number of Twitter followers. Together they
reminisce about their halcyon youth – sharing a flat in Invercargill, their
first jobs at the Southland Times, girlfriends, marriages, children and
eventual departure for points north.
Going South is the
road trip of a lifetime, an honest, sometimes hilarious, occasionally
sentimental journey into heartland New Zealand.
About the author:
Colin Hogg
was born in Dunedin to Scottish immigrant parents, and grew up in Dunedin and
Invercargill. A journalist, TV producer and award-winning writer, Colin started
out on the Southland Times as a cadet reporter at the age of 17, he
later made the move to Auckland where for many years he worked for the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Star. A veteran
magazine columnist for the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, Hogg also worked
in television as a writer and producer.
He was also a regular panellist for two
seasons on TV ONE’s nightly advice show, How’s
Life? Latterly, Hogg set up television production company,
3rd Party Productions, which specialised in making documentaries and arts
shows. Best known for his music journalism, reviewing and column writing, Hogg
has written seven previous books, one of which won a New Zealand Children’s
Book Award. He currently lives in Wellington with his wife and 16 year old
daughter.
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