Robin began to visit other countries for her articles. She was driven by her desire to see how ordinary people lived in what she, coming from an isolated area of New Zealand, thought were extraordinary places.
"I visited 63 countries, I would generally visit four countries per trip, which would last about eight weeks per year. I did this for 10 years."
Her travels included visiting Saudi Arabia, Israel, Finland and Botswana.
"I just had this passion for people and how they lived. I wasn't interested in presidents or prime ministers."
She visited the Soviet Union twice and even made her way into North Korea.
"I told him [Haden] I wouldn't go into North Korea unless he guaranteed he would use the material."
Robin decided she would devote herself to book tours until the end of the year but said she has already had requests for 2016.
"I find it very hard to say no ... I'm 81, so you can imagine what a thrill this is," she said.
She said she loves the feedback she receives, which included one man from Whangarei, who said he had never read a book before hers.
"He had been given my book for Christmas from his daughter and he wanted to tell me how much he enjoyed it, and then he slammed his phone down - he wasn't going to waste any more time on that call," she said.
Robin will appear at Wintec's social space in R block on Collingwood St on August 4 at 7pm with Waikato author Kingsley Field. Robin and Kingsley, chaired by Sam Edwards, will talk about memoir and news writing, and what lies between them.
On August 7 at 12.30pm at the Chartwell Community Library, Lynden Court, Robin will read from her book and talk about her life.
For more information on Hamilton Book Month, see hamiltonbookmonth.wix.com/2015.
