Kiwi artist and Womad speaker Dick Frizzell on his favourite NZ travels

Dick Frizzell used to spend many New Zealand holidays camping at a friend's farm near Pākiri Beach. Photo / Auckland Unlimited

Artist and Kiwi festival regular Dick Frizzell shares his favourite travel memories

What are your  favourite memories from childhood family holidays in NZ?

We would holiday at the Te Awanga camping ground in Hawke's Bay. Family of six. Our caravan would be on a regular site with an old-fashioned canvas tent attached to the awning. Sleeping on old army surplus canvas stretchers, Mum cooking on the Primus. Te Awanga was close enough to Hastings for Dad to drive in and out for work at the freezing works. It always felt like an endless summer. I also remember watching Laurel and Hardy movies on a screen set up on the deck of a flatbed truck.

Where is  your  favourite off-the-beaten-track/secret spot in NZ to get away from it all?

I don't really have "secret spots". Bannockburn maybe, or the valley between Arrowtown and Queenstown. Possibly Bannockburn takes the prize, sitting in there like a magic kingdom. I had a "secret" camping spot on Pākiri beach years ago - a friend's farm and all that. But you get older - late 70s - and beaches begin to look better as a view.

If you were heading on a family getaway now, where would you go?

Well, the whole damn family has booked a house at Oneroa for this Christmas. I'm really looking forward to that. Let's hope it happens! We did the same at Man o' War Bay a couple of years ago … magic.

Kiwi artist Dick Frizzell. Photo / Supplied

What's your dream NZ  roadtrip?

Jude and I do a lot of driving around NZ. Those landscapes don't come to me. I think my favourite roadie is the one from Geraldine - Lake Tekapo, Ōmarama, Wānaka, (side trip), Queenstown. Though I do love the drive from Ngāruawāhia round the back road - Mt Pirongia, Ōtorohanga etc - to National Park.

And if you could choose one ultimate, luxury, dream holiday in NZ, where would you go?

The problem with "ultimate, luxury, dream holidays" is all the unctuous "wellness" nonsense that goes with them! I enjoy a bit of "posh" but everyone seems to be trying a bit too hard these days. I really don't know where we'd choose, though Wharekauhau down there in Palliser Bay seems to have got it right.

Dick Frizzell is one of the speakers at Womad 2022 on the World Of Words stage, March 18-20. For more details and to book, go to womad.co.nz