Sold my house in Auckland, travelled for a month shutting down for two months and now settled in Te Kopuru 200km north of Auckland on the west coast near
Dargaville which is the gateway to the kauri forest and bays and beaches of northland. Very quiet place.
To travel to the places i have missed (still plenty).

Started travelling 60 years ago in the navy and with my young family camped around NZ then found Club Med with my wife visiting Tahiti, Bali, Martinique, Cancun. Since losing her have travelled widely over six years and have 3 more trips planned for 2014. I have been mistaken for Santa Clause quite a lot and get fun out of doing TV commercials and movie background.

PHILOSOPHY

Having been married for 45 years and raising 3 sons then losing a wonderful wife Astrid to cancer i have tended to not take life too seriously. It is there to be enjoyed and shared in every way possible.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I jump into anything that looks interesting and have walked to Machu Picchu, the Paine-Fitzroy trek in Patagonia and climbed Kilimanjaro. Cold, wild, high places call me. May 2014 walked the Larapinta end to end in central Australia.

I have 4 bedrooms two with queen beds and one with twin singles and two bathrooms so plenty of room.

Washington DC in Nov 2013 then New York with my son which introduced me to this idea and i like sharing my place and country with others.

Interests

I had a wonderful experience in Hanoi when i was subjected to a delightful scam that didn't work and found it so funny that i wrote it up as a story for my diary. Very slick and skillful actors and they must catch some gullible people. Don't take lessons in cheating at blackjack!

• cooking
• clubbing
• tv
• traveling
• canoeing
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

I read a lot, Heinlen, Azimof, Shute, Tannenbaum, Courtenay, all sorts and prefer classical music but enjoy things like Stomp, and Ravi Shankar.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Stood on the summit of Kilimanjaro and watched the sun rise. Paddled a canoe across the blue Nile where it runs out of lake Victoria. Watched the sunrise from the summit of Mt Sonder in the Macdonnell ranges central Australia.

Teach, Learn, Share

People who have had many experiences and skills and are able to share them with others.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My love and knowledge of the country i live in having traveled a lot over and around it. I have lived in Auckland for over 70 years but am not a city boy as we tended to do our own cooking at home rather than go out and the night scene you will have to find out for yourselves.

I am now retired but call myself David the gardener.

Countries I’ve Visited

Antarctica, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, Germany, Gibraltar, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Samoa, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, New Zealand, Singapore