Motivation
I have lived all my 74 years (so far) in the UK but have always wanted to visit New Zealand and Australia. After the war, my dad applied to emigrate to New Zealand and wrote dozens of letters to potential sponsors seeking a placement. Unfortunately, as a humble farm worker and dairyman, he was unsuccessful and so I was born and grew up in Blighty. New Zealand has therefore held a fascination for me and in the past twelve years I have formed a friendship with a fellow railway enthusiast and garden railway modeller, Greg Hunter, in Sydney. Greg visited the UK with his wife in 2014 and we had an enjoyable week sharing a cottage beside the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales. For various reasons, I have been unable to return the visit. Initially, I couldn't justify the expense but more recently I have been caring for an elderly mother which meant I couldn't spend more than a few days away from home. Sadly, my mother died in January at the ripe old age of 103 and so I ...