New Zealanders (ish) travelling through Canada from early May - possibly up to end of October.

Robin is a conservation scientist/ecologist/botanist, raised in the New Zealand backcountry and a nature lover, expert in liverworts, alpine jumping spiders and penguins (she's in a couple New Zealand Geographics issue!)

I (Sylvain) am a mechanical engineer, spent the last five years designing and prototyping systems for a mass-spectrometer in NZ. I grew up in Grenoble in the Alps in France.

We're both quite crafty and adept at DIY, gardening, baking and cooking. We both build sheds, furniture, make jewellry, grow veggies and generally try to make things rather than buy them, or buy second-hand. We're both quite low-impact and casual lifestyle people. We've both travelled a lot, and I've couchsurfed and woof-ed about fifteen times.

All my previous experience on CS was done on my ex's account, which we were using as a couple travelling around, hence the empty review section :(

Looking forward to get the machine running again and meet cool people!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

CS is just the best way to travel around, second only to woofing in my opinion. I love to meet people that travel or want to travel and chat about different lifestyles and cultures.

Interests

Hiking, camping, climbing, surfing, cooking, learning things and reading books.

As above, crafts and cooking.

I try to do yoga regularly.

• diy
• cooking
• yoga
• live music
• nature
• outdoors
• climbing
• festival

Music, Movies, and Books

Fantasy books: Robin Hobbs, Patrick Rothfuss.

Non-fiction: Sam Kean, Daniel Quinn, Ed Yong.

Music : Dance/House (Daft Punk, Mome, Rone), Folk Metal (Tyr, Korpiklaani), Trip Hop (Chinese man, Deluxe)

Fav directors: Hayao Miyazaki, Wes Anderson, Taika Waititi, Guy Ritchie

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sylvain: One year backpacking trip between Canada and Argentina.

Highlights are hiking down the Grand Canyon, repairing solar panels in the middle of the jungle in Yucatan, harvesting honey in Colombia, being a bartender in Cusco, Peru for New Year's eve...

Robin: 6 weeks trip to the Subantarctic islands (Antipodes, Bounties), studying penguins and albatrosses. https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-future-of-the-world-is-written-in-penguin-blood/

Teach, Learn, Share

I can help design or build things.Robin is extremely creative and a gifted drawer.

I have a veggie garden and I'm not too thick regarding horti/agriculture but I'd love to learn more about that.

I cook pretty well.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can make crepes for breakfast as a thank you?

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, England, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, New Zealand, Scotland