CURRENT MISSION

To explore, love and laugh heartily along the way. The greatest treasure in life is the people you meet and the connections you can make. Sharing adventures, food, music, coffee and wine in beautiful settings is what truly makes me happy.

ABOUT ME

Easy going (being a New Zealander means that's a given) happy and social. I have found that when you approach life with a sense of positive curiosity and an appetite for all it's crazy wonder, then even the bad stuff can be magic. I'm definitely someone who embraces those random opportunities and likes to see where that strange little winding path might lead. It has almost always been somewhere incredible! Food is definitely a passion, creating and sharing recipes is one of my great joys and I would love to learn and sample all of europe's amazing culinary offerings and definitely trade them for some of my own... basically what i'm saying is that where i go, baking occurs and i will almost certainly try and feed you but i'm assured that eating my goodies is never a chore i promise :)

Life in new Zealand is very much about being outside and embracing what the world lays out to be explored. Laying in the grass in the sunshine (really anywhere!!) is pretty much the best thing imaginable especially if there is some excellent food, wine and company to top off what nature provides.

PHILOSOPHY

Your friends are the strongest reflection of your character. The webs of people that we surround ourselves with are our greatest asset in life and sometimes the most surprising or unexpected acquaintance can be the most important. Because of that i try to always approach everyone with an open mind and without preconceptions... dismissing someone because you thought you knew what they were about can close the door to some of the best that life can give.

Although i try to make the most of each moment and grasp all the fun out there, i also feel that the quiet times in between can be just as important and allows for the reflection that lets you grow and actually see where you are.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

As i said, cooking is a major joy so i would love to get involved with food provisions especially if it means i can pick up some new recipes along the way. For me, new places are so much about the people and culture so i would always try and immerse myself in different (even daunting) social situations and if it means just sitting back to absorb the vibe thats cool though my natural disposition would be to get stuck right in and join in the discussion. I definitely try and draw every experience out of a place too so i would definitely be up for exploring and joining in any adventures that were on the cards.

Interests

Cooking, Dancing, Golf, Camping and Festivaling, Walking new cities, Learning new skills and pointless facts, understanding the human brain. Sampling the collected wisdom shown through fantastic TED talks

• culture
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• wine
• coffee
• baking
• walking
• drawing
• magic
• music
• camping
• golf

Music, Movies, and Books

In no particular order...Bon Iver, The National, Sade, Shapeshifter, Pendulum, The Black Seeds (and most other NZ bands)... for me though the best thing about music is connecting to it live and sharing it with people so anything good if front of me i'll love (barring perhaps screaming death metal). I've been lucky to have amazing musicians around me too so in some ways i get to play passenger in my musical world and love being led by those more knowledgeable than me.

Little Miss Sunshine, Black sheep (dark NZ based sheep zombie movie), A Beautiful Mind, Into the Wild, Life is Beautiful, Baz Luhrmman and Tarantino movies are always fantastic visually!.. i'm not very good at remembering the names of movies and so have almost certainly forgotten all the best ones

Anything by Bill Bryson, Siren Song, April Fools by Bryce Courtenay... as with the movies, title recollection not my strong point

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sunrise at Mount Batur, Bail.

Teach, Learn, Share

I know a lot about coffee and while I can share my culinary knowledge. Im also very keen to learn from new cuisines! I would love to learn massage!