CURRENT MISSION

My current mission is to cherish the things I know and love, and make the most of opportunities to experience something new

ABOUT ME

I love spending time with my family and friends - I guess I'm a people person, but then I do enjoy my own company too. These days I find I'm doing less to please others, and more that is meaningful to me, like joining couch surfers and getting involved in the local stream restoration project. I believe in the power of now.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe in the underlying goodness of human nature, the strength of great relationships, the need to nurture the talent that lies within everyone, the value of humour, and the importance of kindness.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I still come across a lot of people who don't know about couch surfing - some of my published feature stories have been travel stories, and apart from 'spreading the word' in a more general way, I'm looking forward to writing about my experiences with CS

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've traveled a lot at various times in my life, and the most 'real' experiences I've had have often been where I was offered hospitality by locals ie effectively couch surfing. An example is when I stayed with an Indonesian family in Sumatra - the father had been a Colombo Plan student back in the day and was so pleased to meet Kiwis. It was quite humbling to be taken into his home and treated like one of the family.
Then when my kids were young we used to have Pacific Island students from Wesley College come and stay during the school holidays. We had really fun times with them and it was a lovely opportunity for the kids to get to know people from other cultures/places.

Interests

Heaps! Contemporary art, movies, tennis, tramping and getting out on the water when I can (canoeing or sailing)
Also gardening and beekeeping, in fits and starts.

• arts
• writing
• contemporary art
• gardening
• movies
• traveling
• restoration
• canoeing
• surfing
• sailing
• skydiving
• tennis

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies I've seen lately - The King's Speech and True Grit
Loved both. Sorry Rhys, Love Birds was a disappointment!
Always seem to have a couple of piles of books next to my bed - wish I could stay awake long enough to get on and read them all.
Music - well, I love my classical music, and my folk rock. Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, also Rikki-Lee Jones. Also love Neil Finn, Anika Moa, Dave Dobbyn in moderation

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My kids shouted me a skydive for my birthday.
Now that was AMAZING, firstly, that I managed to override every instinct in my body to throw myself out of a perfectly good plane,and secondly, that absolute blast of free-falling 10,000ft. AMAZING!!!

Teach, Learn, Share

I believe we can all learn something from each other and collaboration is a powerful thing!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Monaco, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Samoa, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand

• 

•