Dear Glynis and Trev

Dear Glynis and Trev. I have a bone to pick with you - my stomach muscles are still sore from laughing! Thanks for sharing Nature Coast with us. I’d forgotten how exceptional the region it is. See you the next time we need to leave Wellington. Bob and Jan.

Glynis has recently changed her hair colour and Trev jokes that it’s like dating another woman. They both giggle and she gives back as good as she gets – “Then you’ll be two timing me, won’t you Trev?”

They own Kapiti 4 Seasons Tours & Travel Club. He’s the driver and she’s the tour organiser. “We’re like a sheep dog,” says Trev. “I’m the eyes and she’s the bark!”

They will be very surprised if you don't get a good laugh on their trips because “laughter is good for your soul.”

Their local travel club has a large membership and people appreciate their “T & P” stops. “It’s real important that people know when they can go to the loo and when they’ll be stopping for a cuppa,” says Trev. The travel club includes mystery tours where people turn up on the day and have no idea where they’re going to be going.

They also charter out their coaches including education trips, wedding parties - and Trev’s favourite - carting English rugby supporters around Kapiti and Horowhenua.

They’ve recently diversified to attract more visitors from Wellington to the Nature Coast. People can jump on the train in Wellington, be met at Paraparaumu station by Trev in his very smart hat, and be taken on a tour. “Most people know about the Coast, but they have no idea what there is to explore,” says Trev. “And if you’re going to a new area, why not get someone who knows it really well to show you around?”

Glynis says most people think Nature Coast is just somewhere to drive through. “You really need at least three days here,” she says.

Glynis leaves no stone unturned when she explores the district’s many back roads to discover new stops for her tours. She used to run wine tours in America and was once one of America’s top District Sales Managers for Avon products, and Trev’s been in transport all his life – from driving sheep trucks to hauling machinery, and owning a corporate cab. “We just love people,” they say.

Although they got together seven years ago, they actually met 44 years ago in a ladies hair salon in Johnsonville. Trev was a sales rep for WP Martin & Co in 1964 and Glynis worked after school in her mother’s salon folding towels. “I impressed her with my brand new Holden EH wagon,” says Trev.

Glynis says he was charming all the hair stylists but as he was “a much older man” she didn’t take his bait. “Now Trev tells people he threw me sixpence and told me to come back when I was older. He didn’t expect me to wait until I was 50, but I did spend 30 years in California!”

They both spent some of their childhood on the Coast. Glynis says, “It’s just what you did back then. Get a bach in Waikanae or Paraparaumu and spend the whole summer here. We’d be on the beach for hours. I remember the tussocks. Children didn’t need to be entertained in those days.”

“BBQ’s right on the beach,” says Trev. “Now that was something special.”

If you’re riding on one of their tours and Trev yells out, “Don’t worry guys and guy-esses, I’ll tell you where the parachutes are!” never fear, it’s just that wicked sense of humour – you’ll be laughing all the way back home.

Kapiti 4 Seasons Tours & Travel Club
PO Box 1684, Paraparaumu Beach
Owners: Glynis and Trev Fitzgeorge. Ph 04 905 0652 or 0274 859 400
www.kapiti4seasonstours.co.nz
email: kapiti4@xtra.co.nz
Charters (including weddings), tours (including national and international), and Travel Club