A Life in Travel: Musician, songwriter and member of Salmonella Dub, Andrew Penman

A Kaikōura sunrise. Photo / William Patino

Kiwi musician and member of Salmonella Dub, Andrew Penman talks us through his favourite NZ travels, from childhood holidays to road trips with the band.

Kiwi musician and member of Salmonella Dub, Andrew Penman shares his fondest NZ holiday memories. Photo / Supplied

What are your favourite memories from childhood family holidays in NZ?

I have many, including fishing comps with my nana on the Whakatū wharf. She always beat me. She was brilliant on a hand line and would always pull up two or three herring at a time.

Another memory is of Kaikōura. We always went there for Easter, stopping to pick mushrooms in the Hundalees and again in Oaro. We'd watch the apricot-orange full moon climbing out of the sea. It reminded me of the inside of one of those marshmallow easter eggs. Phillip, my cousin and I would spend the weekend collecting polished glass pebbles on the stone esplanade beach. We'd use them as money in poker games at night - blue was rare and worth $50. We'd also collect Ballins bottles. Back in the day you could take them to the dairy and get an 8c refund. Eight cents was heaps back then and 10c lolly mixtures were big.

Where is your favourite off-the-beaten-track/secret spot in NZ to get away from it all and what makes it so special?

Our Hāpuku creative retreat in Kaikōura is the most sacred and special place in my world. It has a stand of 250 kōwhai surrounding our Sal Dub live room/studio. It is one of the inspirations for our new album. Troy Kingi penned a tune with me on the day of our last lockdown "put your hands in the soil, it's the only way to escape from the turmoil. Back to the seas, back to the trees, I'm on my knees now".

If you were heading on a family getaway now, where would you go and why?

Kimi ora at Kaiteriteri. It's a beautiful spa retreat nestled in the foothills. I highly recommend it. (kimiora.com)

What's your dream NZ road trip and why?

The band used to take Friday and Monday off work to tour the North Island. We'd pack the diesel, Mazda Bongo, with all our backline. We'd drive from Christchurch for the 2pm Cooks Strait ferry. We'd then play Antipodes on Cuba St in Wellington on the Friday night, sleep upstairs for a few hours then drive to Auckland to play at Mikee Havoc's Squid bar. Then up to Whangarei on Sunday and back to Christchurch. If you left Auckland at dawn, you could get to Wellington in time for the freight ferry and if you were quick enough, you could grab a bench seat in the bar and fall back to sleep again. Those were the days. The van ended up dying in Kaikōura on Churchill St on the way back from a North Island tour. We covered 300,000kms in four years.

Salmonella Dub will be appearing at Rhythm & Alps December 29-31, Wanaka, rhythmandalps.co.nz, and WOMAD 2022 March 18-20, womad.co.nz.