The Back Of Beyond

Book excerpt: “Kiwi”—a small, flightless, nocturnal bird which is native to, and the national symbol of, New Zealand. We travelled around the United States and Canada for twelve months towing a camper, touching on all forty-eight contiguous states and eight Canadian Provinces. As we tried to support the American economy the only way we knew how—by sticking to the secondary roads, stopping at all the small towns, and buying beer at all the backwoods bars—we were continually asked the same questions: “What are you?”—“We’re Kiwis.” “Where are you from?”—“New Zealand, but we live in Australia.” “What are you doing here?”—“We want to see every State, learn all the history, and experience what it is like to live as an American.” “Why?”—“Because America gets such a bad rap around the world, we want to find out for ourselves if it is justified . . . and if you really are as good as you think you are . . .”