From a young age the outdoors has always been my own playground. Growing up in a large family of six boys and one sister, finding ways to entertain ourselves on a tight budget (if any) was the aim of the game. Fond memories of Dad taking a tribe of kids out to make giant bows & arrows and hunting for treasure in the local scrap piles has set me up with the skills of Bear Grills mixed with the ingenuity of Macgyver to make the most of any situation. This love for the outdoors lead me to my first job in my early 20s as an outdoor instructor at the Sir Peter Blake Marine Education & Recreation Centre. During my 10 years at Sir Peter Blake MERC I mastered the skills needed to run activities such as Rock climbing, Abseiling, Archery, Surfing, High ropes, 17 Day Wilderness Expeditions & Youth Development Programs. AUT University was my next point of call in which I graduated with a Bachelor of Sport & Recreation with a major in Outdoor Education. In 2018 I published a book called "Re Wild your Child" An A to Z Adventure Guide for Kiwi kids In Nature & these days I deliver a number of different nature based programmes for organisations such as Auckland Council & schools around Auckland & New Zealand. I aim to educate, engage and excite students to learn & connect to nature with a hands-on skill focus. I am a father of 3 beautifully wild children ages 15, 9 & 11 & every day I am reminded of the importance of the value of children have a connection to nature & hands on skills. My mission is to make the outdoors a place where joyful moments happen, anything can be made, and life long adventures can & should be had on a regular basis.

My work as an outdoor educator is really about combining my two biggest passions- nature and children. Connecting children with nature in a way that stays with them through life.

The outdoors has always been a place that I have loved to be. From young I would spend hours exploring and building with natural resources, and I have found myself being pulled back to nature my entire life. Having struggled through ‘traditional’ school due to severe dyslexia, the outdoors was where everything just made sense to me. From 2015-2020, I had the joy of working at Sir Peter Blake MERC where I developed my outdoor leading skills and gained qualifications in the outdoor industry. The last couple of years have seen me delivering outdoor education programmes in schools and for a range of organisations such as Auckland Council and BLENNZ.

Through my experiences at work, fostering children and, my biggest privilege of parenting my 3 young children, I have learnt the importance of connection. Connecting to each other, connecting to nature, connecting to ourselves.