I am from the best place in the UK – the small county right at the bottom of England with the beautiful coast, the West Country farmer’s accent and the original (and tastiest) Cornish Pasties!
I graduated from Cardiff University in 2010, with First Class Honours in Physiotherapy. I then worked in the University Hospital for Wales and the Children’s Hospital for Wales for two years as a rotational junior physiotherapist. I worked in several areas including Acute Respiratory, Paediatrics, Cardiothoracics and Medical Rehabilitation.
I have always loved travelling and exploring our beautiful world and had always wanted to work abroad from a young age. I moved to New Zealand at the start of 2013, starting work in Christchurch Hospital for 6 months helping out in various departments and acting as the lead respiratory physiotherapist on the children’s wards on weekends. I then moved to the crazy party town that is Queenstown for the Winter Season and started my first private practice job, skiing as much as I could between work and partying! After reading a job advertisement along the lines of ‘Do you want to wear shorts to work year round?’ I took a look at ‘Mount Maunganui’ on google and applied immediately! My dreams of living in that ‘Home and Away’ opening scene looked like they were coming true!
Although I have a (not – so secret) addiction to Home and Away, anyone who knows me would tell you I have little time for TV as I like being in the great outdoors! I love the beach and the sea and anything in it – surfing, scuba diving, wakeboarding and even a bit of kite surfing! I try to regularly challenge myself and have completed Paris Marathon, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Tough Mudder and have done a sky dive and five (yes five – never again!) bungee jumps! This year my challenges have been a little lower key and include giving up sugar and starting yoga! Very difficult for a chocolate addict!
I have volunteered in Africa and Brazil where I saw some of the most challenging and inspirational things in my life, and I hope to use my skills to do more charity work in the near future.
As well as physiotherapy I also work as a Sports Masseuse. I help out regularly with the Super Chiefs Rugby Team and have also worked several times with the All Blacks, as well as, the Wallabies and more recently the Black Caps. I am very passionate about massage and really enjoy making people feel the best they can be. Massage helps with mental wellbeing and relaxation, as well as the physical benefits about massage which include increased blood flow and flexibility. Both are important in our busy lives and help those of us who work and train hard to recover faster and train harder!
I have lived in Mount Maunganui for just over a year now and can confidently say it has been one of the best years of my life! I now work for Back In Action Physiotherapy which is run by two of the most skilled and passionate physiotherapists I have met, Sarah and Leanna. For anyone that knows them or has been treated by them will know that they put 110% into their work and getting clients to be the best they can with the highest quality treatment. I love living and working in such a friendly, diverse and adventurous country and am currently applying for residency to allow me to stay!