About Me

I guess when some of your favourite television shows are Lost and The Worlds Toughest Race, and you begged your parents for a Survivor themed 16th birthday party complete with tribes, challenges and wading through mud and dams, you're bound to be that person who wants to get out in the outdoors and give these types of adventures a go.  And so that's me really. I am ALWAYS up for an adventure!

 

My love of geography and the outdoors led me to study a Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning at university. I worked as a Town Planner for a few years before realising there had to be something more exciting and meaningful I could do with my time than sit at a desk all day. This led me to East Africa where I lived and volunteered in a Maasai community in Kenya. One of the greatest experiences of my life and one which taught me you don't need possessions to be content.

 

Following the 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand I moved over there and worked in planning again; mainly natural hazards and policy planning. Taking every opportunity I could to go hiking in the Port Hills, overnight tramps in the Alps, snowboarding in the ski fields or just a good old fashioned road trip to explore. It was the greatest adventure playground. But then came a time where I felt I needed a different challenge and so I quit my job, sold everything and bought a one way ticket to Europe with the only intention of thru-hiking the Camino in Spain. 

 

After walking across Spain and a little bit of hitchhiking throughout Portugal, I ended up in Morocco and through some chance encounters and fortunate timings I was offered the opportunity of running a guest house in Chefchaouen and would remain there for a few years. Meeting people from all around the world and living as a local Moroccan did, led me to establishing my travel business, The Chaouen Insider. The greatest job I have had. I was in my element, meeting people daily, hiking in the mountains, exploring rivers & gorges, empowering solo female travellers to travel on their own and having fun introducing tourists to all the locals I knew throughout town.  

 

It wasn't until I was leading a tour in India at the start of the covid pandemic in 2020, did the Indian government give our group an ultimatum: leave within 24 hours or face indefinite quarantine. At the exact same time, Morocco shut its airspace without warning and with no way back, that was to be the end of my Moroccan life. Having to return home to Australia with only my carry on backpack.

 

What do you do when you return to a country after ten years away with no job, no home and no possessions? Anything you can! And so I started building and selling timber planter boxes. Unbeknownst to us it would take off and I'd soon be renting a warehouse, building full time and delivering thousands of boxes over Queensland. Not at all what I had imagined for my life, but I guess when you start new chapters of your life again and again, new starts aren't so scary. I've learnt to take the risk, adapt and just go with the flow.

 

That is probably why I love multi day hiking and thru-hikes. You can plan so much but then so many other factors come into play that you have to be adaptive and willing to take on the unknowns head on. The thought of hiking Te Araroa doesn't scare me, nor am I worried about the possible things that could go wrong, it purely just excites me. Hence you are more likely to find me outdoors doing something or planning my next adventure rather than sitting around at home.