{"product_id":"9781775491187_going-south","title":"Going South","description":"A road trip about memory, mateship and mortality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 8pt\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cfont face=\"Calibri\"\u003eIt was late afternoon and a few of us were sitting about in the sun having a drink on my birthday when the friend I've known the longest sat down opposite and looked at me like he was going to say something serious.\u003c?xml:namespace prefix = o \/?\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 8pt\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cfont face=\"Calibri\"\u003eHe was, and he got straight to it. He had health issues, he said, in a tone that put the issues word in ironic quotes. He'd been to see his doctor the previous day. He had maybe a year, he said. Maybe a bit more.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 8pt\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cfont face=\"Calibri\"\u003eI was so shocked by what he told me that, after an initial gasp, I said the only thing that seemed to make any sense to me in the circumstances. We should go away for a road trip, I blurted out.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 8pt\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cfont face=\"Calibri\"\u003eHe nodded as if he knew I was going to say that. Back south, he said.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 8pt\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cfont face=\"Calibri\"\u003eYeah, I said back to him.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 8pt\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cfont face=\"Calibri\"\u003eSouth meant Southland, where our story started, 46 years earlier. And that was the end of that conversation. Within weeks the trip was all booked and ready to roll. I felt nervous.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 8pt\" class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\"\u003e\u003cfont face=\"Calibri\"\u003eA road trip about memory, mateship and mortality, into the heartland of a New Zealand that still exists and still surprises.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Colin Hogg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46908499820693,"sku":"9781775491187","price":10.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9781775491187_59a831d4-2b5f-4fa1-8d90-798916347b47.jpg?v=1776889937","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9781775491187_going-south","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}