Originally from the UK, Drew emigrated to New Zealand and stayed for 16 years before deciding he needed an even smaller Island, namely Fiji. A co-founder of www.exploretrees.com, a South African based exploration company that specialises in canopy habitat for endangered Parrots, Drew keeps himself very busy running an eco resort but still finds time for some climbing and rope operations.
1. I became an Arborist because…
I really liked trees! I was working in a tree nursery and climbing rock on the weekends and decided that becoming a climbing arborist was a pretty neat combination.
2. My favourite tree is…
That’s almost too tough to answer. Baobabs for the weirdness of them, Kauri trees for the impressiveness of what lives up in the canopy…but I think the English Oak will always be my favourite. The form and the way it changes through the seasons is something I cannot look past.
3. I can’t leave home without…
Forgetting something!
4. The perfect day at work would include…
Working with friends. The best crew can turn the worst days into the best days. Even though I don’t production climb much anymore I still think this is the best part of Arboriculture.
5. The worst part of my job is...
Getting new rope dirty!
6. The best slice of wisdom I can pass on is...
Never stop exploring and seeing what’s out there. If you don’t like something, change it.
7. If I could hang out in a tree with one person (past/present/living/dead), it would be…
It could only be Sir David Attenborough.
8. The one tree I’d like to climb is…
A snow covered tree in the Taiga Forest.
9. If I wasn’t an arborist I’d be a…
Manager of a small island eco resort in Fiji, surrounded by a protected marine reserve, called Barefoot Manta Resort (cough, cough, splutter, splutter)!
10. True Tale or Tall Tall Tale? Once upon a time I…
…watched AC/DC play live from the top of a Pinus radiata.