Summer, sun, and sizzling seats –Surviving that road trip

Summer, sun, and sizzling seats Surviving that road trip BYKEM ORMOND As a child, I hated going on a road trip with my parents. You must remember I am talking about travelling in a car with wind down windows to enable fresh air, a radio for entertainment that was always on the national programme, hot vinyl seats and a very annoying younger brother.

It was likemybiggestnightmare. Although I must say my mother did alwayspack plenty ofsnacks and lunch, anda thermos ofhot water.Pulling offonto agrassy picnic areawas thehighlight of the trip. . . if only when wecontinued, we couldhaveleft that annoying brotherbehind!

There were no tablets, headphones, mobile phones or Spotify in my days.Wehad toread books which ended up makingyou terriblycarsick!

Travel nowadays I watch howmygrandchildren travel now. Firstly, they arein safe, comfortable, and secure seats. They have entertainmentcoming out theirears. They canwatch movies from the back of theseatsin front. They have food on tap,and they cancomfortably sleep.

Cars areso much more geared up for travel now with GPS, hands free phone, aircon,great music systems,warning features, systems that tell you if youneedtotakea break and stretch your legs. The one thing thathasn’t improved in all those yearsisthecondition of ourroads. There may befewer metalroads, but the tarseal roads are crumbling before oureyes.

You needtocheck Tobe honest,checking tyre pressure rates highly in my books.I had twonew tyres put on mycar theother day because of one being damagedbya pothole in theroad.

They were pumpedtoo high, not to dealerspecifications. Luckilywith modern technology in ourvehiclesnowadays, the dashwarned me there wasa problem and I resolved it.

Servicingyourvehicle, is so important. It is better that something is picked up before you setout on that trip. Ilive on a long metal dustyroad, andI know howimportant getting those filters cleaned andreplaced are.I do trytokeep the windows clean but general appearance of theexterior does lack in mycase.

Pickyour time when travelling. Sometimes it iseasier to make an earlystartthantoend up inthe thick of traffic.Leave with plenty of timetospare so youare relaxed andfeel thereis no needtorush.Make sure youtake some scheduled stops and if tired... pullover somewhere andhave a short nap if need be.

Enjoy your trip andget there safely!

T H E N E W

T H E N E W X 1 H AS AR R I V E D.

Contact Continental Cars BMW North Shore to book a test drive today. Continental Cars BMW North Shore, 45-46 Wairau Road, Wairau Valley, North Shore. Ph (09) 488 2000. ccbmwauckland.co.nz