Diana Staveley has fond memories of care-free road-tripping and camping with girlfriends after graduating from university. Add husbands, kids and pets into the mix and those subsequent camping holidays became not so relaxed. The idea of an easier way began brewing.
"Three girlfriends and I set off around Coromandel with a station wagon, a biggish pup tent, sleeping bags, a cooker and coffee plunger. Camping nowadays is still great but quite a lot of stress and work; organising and packing the equipment, putting up the tent, feeding and looking after everyone's needs. All for odd moments of tranquillity and some beach time, to have to do it in reverse at the end."
A girls' weekend away in the outdoors without the usual stress of making it eventuate was looking appealing.
"What if the tent was already set up and you didn't need the trailer? You wouldn't need the bloke's help and he could stay at home with the kids. What if there were nice, comfy camp beds made up with linen and you didn't have to deal with all the washing back at home? You'd pack only your togs and PJs. Imagine hanging with your girls away from it all where you could drink, laugh and eat cheese. Now there's an idea!"
Feedback from others, involving hilarious stories of camping nightmares, proved Diana, who is happily married and has a daughter and a dog, wasn't the only one with these wistful thoughts. With a lot of encouragement and, after practising the experience last summer with several groups of friends, Diana launched Perfect Four in October.