A new class of TOURISM

School trips in Colin's day didn't involve passports and room service

- COLIN HOGG

I slipped a granddaughter an Australian 50-dollar bill as she left the house from a recent visit. But her sharp-eyed little brother spotted the move and shouted, “Hey” in a “what about me?” sort of way. So I reminded him he wasn’t the one going on a school trip to Australia and gave him an ice cream instead. He was happy. She was happy.

The one school trip I ever went on didn’t end well, though it was a long time ago and the rules might have been different in those days. Certainly, foreign travel was never an option for school trips from Invercargill. We didn’t even leave the province for my only school trip. We went to Fiordland, which was just up the road a few hours. I was sent home early with some other kids for reasons I don't seem to be able to recall.