Convinced Hitch-Hiking Is The Way To Travel

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30636, 30 December 1964, Page 2

Convinced Hitch-Hiking Is The Way To Travel

Two young Christchurch women are convinced hitchhiking is the way for young people to travel after hitch-hiking around the British Isles and the Continent.

They are Misses Beverley Pickles, aged 22, and Adrienne Loveridge, aged 21, who returned to Christchurch last week after spending two years in Europe.

They had their own practical rules about hitch-hiking and thought these were the reasons they got so many rides and made so many good friends.

They always tried to look tidy and respectable, were never on the road after dark, turned down rides if they were not sure of the people, and never got into cars with groups of young men. “We really met the people of the country by hitch-hik-ing and we are still writing to a lot of very good friends we made this way,” said Miss Pickles yesterday. “We painted ‘New Zealand’ on the backs of our packs in shoe nugget,” said Miss Loveridge. “People over there think a lot of New Zealand and went out of their way to show us the sights.” Base in London They based themselves in London and got temporary jobs there and travelled whenever they could. “We loved London and it was always like going home when

we went back there,” said Miss Pickles.

For young people who want to travel in Britain and Europe cheaply their advice is to hitch-hike and stay in youth hostels. “We met so many people of our own age doing the same thing this way,” said Miss Loveridge. The pair hitch-hiked around England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales at a cost of £3O to £4O each. They spent seven weeks in Europe touring in a mini-bus with 10 other young people at a cost of £9O.

Their longest hitch-hiking tour in Europe, from April to October this year, cost them £BO each. “We did skimp a bit on this tour,” said Miss Loveridge. They both had to plan carefully what they would carry in their packs on this

tour and each took: a sleeping bag, two dresses, two pairs of slacks, one pair of shorts, two blouses, a warm jersey, walking shoes, one pair of high-heeled shoes, and a plastic raincoat. The pair also travelled a good deal by train, their longest journey being from Stockholm to Istanbul. “We spent a terrible four days and four nights on this train,” said Miss Loveridge. “It was very crowded and we stood in the corridor a lot of the time. It was full of Turkish peasants who all looked as if they were shifting house because they had so many things with them. Most of them were carrying canaries.”

“We found travelling by train rather scarey. There were so many people and we would have been trampled over if we had stood near the doorways,” said Miss Pickles. The travellers got their biggest fright when they were travelling by train from Hungary to Jugoslavia. They could not speak German and were having trouble finding the right train. A guard finally put them on a train but just as it was pulling out of the station they found they were bound for East Berlin.

“We grabbed our cases and managed to jump off the train before it pulled out of the station,” said Miss Loveridge. They both brought back something to remind them of all the places they visited. Miss Pickles brought silver charms from the places they visited to make a charm bracelet and Miss Loveridge saved different coins to make a bracelet.