Time to Roam Australia Issue 24 Dec/Jan 2016-17 | Page 6

| upfront welcome Happy holidays! Is there any better time of year than Christmas summer holidays? It’s a wonderful time to get away, to relax, reflect and re-charge ahead of another big year. If you grew up in Australia, it usually comes with happy childhood memories, of carefree days when the holiday seemed to go on forever. All there was to worry about was the pain of sunburn. We’ve tried to re-capture some of that nostalgia in our cover design this issue, taking inspiration from the 1950s magazine illustrations, like the one above, used by the caravan industry legend Keith Winser. It seemed appropriate for this special issue as we’ve taken a look back at all the ROAM history stories published over the past four years and put together a comprehensive “best of the best feature”. Mal and Laraine Leyland have taken an early break from their usual travel writing assignment with us to move house. You can read all about their new Tassie home on page 18. They’ll be back on the road in 2017 and we’re looking forward to bringing you more of their unique reviews of Aussie destinations. We’re asking you to take a little time out from your holiday and help us by completing our reader survey form. The information you give us is used to make ongoing improvements to the magazine and better inform our advertisers, without whose continued support we could not continue. They’ve come to the party with a great list of prizes you can win by spending a few minutes filling in the form and sending it to us in the supplied reply paid envelope. Thanks for your support and good luck! Until next time, Happy Roaming. I hope you and your family and friends have a wonderful and safe summer break. #23 Rod Bruem, [email protected] timetoroam.com.au | phone [phone] timetoroam.com.au