Caravan Series

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The tourist inevitably becomes a collector of pictures of places. I was no different. Being a visual person I also had to take pictures on my caravan journeys. The landscape had changed since my caravanning as a child in the 1960s, and certainly since my parent’s camping trip in 1937. I wanted to record these special places, our special flora and objects that triggered memories for me. So I found a way to incorporate these pictures into my caravan brooches, within the restrictions of jewellery making.

 I headed off on my caravan road trip in 2005, seeking out the sites I discovered during my childhood. Many no longer existed because the property boom and our population explosion had destroyed these special places. Changes had occurred; free road camping was no longer possible, too many people now. The camping grounds had become Holiday Parks with swimming pools to attract their clients as they were no longer on the coast. DOC has tried to close this gap but many of the entries in my 1937 AA Guide book had certainly disappeared.  Travelling on the road should be taken slowly and although I had a year I really only explored Northland, Coromandel, Southland and the West Coast. I would love to go back and explore more areas and the places I didn’t get to. This exhibition tries to tell you some of my stories of caravan life and being on the road.