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About Me

Born in England, I first set eyes on Auckland as a 13 year-old when my parents emigrated here in the mid-1970s. My mother said that it reminded her of Toronto in the 1950s.

Things have improved hugely, and I've experienced much of that transformation spending a couple of school years in Auckland followed by a couple more years working at the city's sugar refinery after completing a chemical engineering degree.

I then headed off to see the world. A couple of years later I ended up living back in Britain writing travel guidebooks for the Rough Guides - California, Wales, Alaska, Mexico etc. At that stage there was no Rough Guide to New Zealand, a situation soon remedied.

The series of research trips reignited my love of the country and I moved back to New Zealand in 1998. Since then I've lived in Auckland and continued to write guidebooks. Rough Guides also commission me to take photos for my books and other guides - Washington DC, Montenegro - and I've been done several shoots of UNESCO World Heritage sites for Our Place (www.ourplaceworldheritage.com).

My spare time is mostly divided between adventure sports and city leisure, plus a little volunteer pest control on a local island for national environmental group, Forest & Bird. I'm just as happy going to gigs, hanging out in bars and seeking out good food as I am getting into the great outdoors. Enthusiasms come and go but I regularly: hike the hills (near and far); climb them (both rock and ice); throw myself (sometimes literally) down stretches of singletrack; head out on morning bunch rides; explore the undersea world; kayak river and sea; and may one day learn to kiteboard.

One of Auckland's best spots is right outside my house...