First and foremost I guess I'd describe myself as curious, about people, about places and this great big beautiful world we live in. I'm a passionate lover of nature and work as a biologist for the National Parks & Wildlife Service. After years of living in Sydney I've steadily weaned myself off the office and these days mostly work from home. This has allowed me to swap city life for a more relaxed way of life surrounded by the wonders of the Blue Mountains.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've done a lot of travelling, and what has often made a journey great have been the experiences of meeting and connecting with new people, especially those wonderful times when locals invite you into their homes, share a bit of their lives and their culture.

I've always felt it'd be great to repay that hospitality by paying it forward so to speak. Whilst I'm new to couchsurfing, I have hosted many people at my place, friends new and old, and thought it was time to take the plunge and offer it to the couchsurfing community.

Interests

Many of my interests revolve around nature be it hiking, photography, botany, birdwatching, scuba diving and much more.

I'm also fascinated by languages. One of the great joys of travel is to spend long enough in a place to start learning the local language as it opens your eyes to a whole new world in a way that cruising through the world just speaking English never could. Back home it can be hard to maintain what I've learnt, so if you speak one of the languages I know, and can put up with my grammatical mistakes, I'd love the chance to practise. Feel free to write to me also.

• wildlife
• culture
• photography
• traveling
• hiking
• scuba diving
• biology
• languages
• parks
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Spent 5 weeks in Brazilian Amazonia surveying frogs and snakes with INPA (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia) culminating in finding a 9kg bushmaster, the largest viper in South America.
Watched a total solar eclipse from Benteng Tahula, a 17th century Spanish fort on Tidore, one of the original Spice Islands, Indonesia.
Experienced the drama of a thunderstorm down in the Jamison Valley, followed by a flash flood in Wentworth Falls, still one of my most memorable experiences, just 10 minutes drive from my house!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I particularly like showing nature lovers around. There's a wealth of places to visit in the Blue Mountains. In fact, I still haven't done all the hikes I want to do here, there always seem to be more options and I've been coming here for over 20 years! That said, the walks around the clifflines between Wentworth Falls and the Valley of the Waters are the best in the Blue Mountains in my opinion, if you do just one walk, don't miss the National Pass trail. I've done it more times than I can count and yet each time I seem to see something new.

During the week I work, but can still give you pointers on where is good to go. In fact, you can even start the walk to Wentworth Falls from my house, or walk down into Water Nymphs Dell, a beautiful little reserve that backs onto the house.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Fiji, French Polynesia, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kiribati, Macao, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Brazil, Indonesia