Her hitch-hiking days now book bound memories

Press, 27 December 1980, Page 7

Her hitch-hiking days now book bound memories

By

DEBBIE WOODS.

Round -the world and five years later, her hitching days over, Mrs Delph Gay of Springston has at last achieved her ambition — to see the book of her travels in print If it had not been for her father, Wally Sandaver,' her book, “Beyond the Bus-stop” might never have been published. He put up the $6OOO it cost to

print 1000 copies of the 90,000 word book because Delph and her • husband Bevan could not find, a publisher. Last year Delph Gay’s husband said to her: “Our Christmas present next year will-be to see your book in print.” < That has come true, and the couple now hope they can re-coup their savings. "Beyond the Bus-stop’’ makes compelling reading. It; is an often humorous, moving story of Delph Gay’s exploits, her disappointments and successes., while travelling alone , in the Australian outback and in the New Zealand high country. Her impulsive nature led her through an incredible • collection of experiences. Her fun-loving

and entertaining style of writing has certainly, brought the book to life. Of necessity she learned how to survive without money, how to lamb a ewe, and how to cook a steak in the leaves of a colibah tree. She slept in a'hammock in the cabin of a wrecked boat, whipped up an Irish jig or two on her violin in

the outback pubs of Australia in exchange for food, tried her hand as a cook for a shearing gang in New Zealand and as a housekeeper for the Hamilton family of jetboat fame, at Irishman’s Creek in the McKenzie Country. Delph Gay, who no<V lives in a country cottage in Springston with her family, says she left England when she was 21 yearts old s— with “a really bad dose of the travel bug.” Geography and films of other countries always gave her a thrill at school. After travelling with the Women’s Royal Air Force she vowed one day to “do her own thing.” Arriving in “ Australia with six -dollars to her name in 1970 was a bit

nerve racking, Delph now admits. But in those days, she says, people were a lot more trusting.

People lent you money. They knew you would get a job and pay them back.” Delph also says she enjoyed the independence, of travelling alone, and is certain she met more people by doing so. In order to get the best out of life, Delph set herself a code of rules to help minimise the danger. “I always hitched in jeans and baggy clothes to reduce my sex appeal, and tried never to accept the last ride of the day after dark. I always travelled with a map and made myself familiar with the route.” Sometimes it was not so easy. . ' “The worst experience. I

had...was on a route between Adelaide and Sydney. I was hitching through the- night — something I didn’t normally do but 1 was trying to get to Sydney in time to meet a boyfriend. The man who picked me up drove up a side road near the town where he lived saying he wanted to get his other car. It was raining and very stormy but I asked him. to let me out and he wouldn’t so I pulled the key out of the ignition and threw it out the window. He was very angry and we had a bit of a fight, but I got out of the car . . . and ran.”

Rather surprisingly, Delph managed to arrive back in England three and a half- years later, unscathed, but hopelessly unsettled by her many experiences. Intuitively, she decided to return to New Zealand, where she had particularly fond memories. After that, “everything went right.” "I guess I met the right guy. I’d Jiad my travelling, and marriage was a whole new adventure.”

Delph Gay says she enjoyed writing her book. She was given the use of a cabin on the banks of the Waimakariri where she just sat down and wrote what she thought would be a readable length, introducing conversations whenever possible to enliven the book.

Although she has visited more than 20 countries by foot and kayaked down the. Mississippi river, Delph Gay found she only had space to tell of her Australian and New Zealand adventures. But she believes this probably gives the book more of a local interest.

The first manuscript she wrote was nearly completed when a mystery fire gutted the cabin she was working in and destroyed'the lot. Not to be deterred' she hired a bach in Akaroa and re wrote the book. t again from memory. "Beyond the Bus-stop” printed and by The Caxton Press retails at $11.95 and is available from all major bookshops.