CURRENT MISSION

On a quest from New Zealand to meet the French side of my family, see some great places and go hiking through them, meet new friends, and play a bit of roller derby in between.

ABOUT ME

I am moving to France after a quick tour through the United States to play some roller derby! Otherwise, I've spent the past three years working as a journalist at Radio New Zealand - NZ's public broadcaster. I took a month-long trip through South East Asia earlier this year, and that's kicked my A into G to do more travelling.

PHILOSOPHY

Never say never.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm new to the world of couchsurfing but I'm 100% down with the concept. I'm dead keen to meet new friends and learn from their experiences - I will always prefer to learn about a hosts' hood through them than through a shitty packed-out tour.

In return, when I have a home and a couch of my own I'd like to be a host! I'm good with people and I like to entertain.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Official couchsurfing? Zilch. But crashing on a friend of a friend's floor/couch and showing them thanks? All the time.

Interests

Roller skating - I'm obsessed! Either I'm playing/coaching roller derby, pulling tricks at skate parks or on ramps, or just cruising around with my closest friends.

I'm equally in love with hiking and being outside. I live for the weekends or my days off work when I can do this. I'm tracking through the list of all the hikes in Auckland, and I've been hiking in other places or countries too!

Having a good time and being happy is always in my interests too.

• culture
• coach
• politics
• news
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• journalism
• tourism
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

On constant loop at the moment: Fat Freddy's Drop, Bailey Wiley, Modest Mouse, Deltron 3030, Sal Valentine & The Babyshakes, Alabama Shakes. This list will constantly update.

Movie-wise, the latest movies I've seen or re-watched: everything by Hayao Miyazaki, The Song of the Sea, Mean Girls, Nightcrawler. You didn't ask, but TV shows I watch constantly are: Game of Thrones, Veep, Better Call Saul, Outlander, House of Cards, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad.

Recent books I've read include: Wild by Cheryl Strayed, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Saga by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples (also Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina by Brian K Vaughan), Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, and so many many more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most memorable thing I did the last time I travelled was cycle through Vietnam's countryside with a local guide (who ended up becoming a good friend), then separate from my boyfriend in a Vietnamese spa/massage/bath house and have a masseur massage my chest. It was both the most weird and best thing I'd done while I was there.

Also, I'm constantly amazed every time I travel to play roller derby, whether it's nationally throughout New Zealand or internationally to Australia or the United States,

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach travellers a lot about New Zealand (news-, politics-, and culture-wise, what to see and do, etc) and a really wicked Maori children's hand game called Pukana.

I also coach roller derby - something I'm super keen to keep doing while I travel.

I can also help and teach English. I am also improving my (currently) minimal French, and I'm about up to conversational level (with lots of hand-gestures and paraphrasing!)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good chat and a fun time! I am a good person who will treat you and your property with respect. I'm open-minded, happy, easy-going, and your newest friend.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Cook Islands, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, New Zealand