Kia Ora, I’m Rose, I have recently moved up north from Christchurch, to try and find some better diving and to start my new job here at Dive HQ Wellington. I have always been into the outdoors and my sport but as you leave school its a bit harder to try and stay connected with those hobbies.
When I was at school I was the type of student who couldn’t sit very well in a classroom and tended to always be the kid that just showed up and sat there, but as soon as we had a outdoor activity I’d always be there. In the last year of school everyone was deciding what they wanted to do, and for me I had absolutely no idea. I gave Uni a crack and lasted a whole of 3 weeks (not for Me). I decided to just work and get some money under my belt. I tried hospo, swim instructing, factory work, coaching, bar work and even a trade. As much as I enjoyed some of those jobs I still was lacking something.
I flew up here a couple years ago to see some family and got dragged along to do some free diving.
I jumped in the water and straight away fell in love, the ecosystem, the peace, the marine life, just everything pulled me in I was hooked. I knew that this is something that I wanted to do forever.
As soon as I got back to Christchurch I started looking to see if you could make money in diving and sure enough I stumbled across the diploma in scuba instructing. You study for a year and came out as a qualified instructor. That’s me, I signed up and started my journey, no idea what I was getting myself into but knew that this was it, being able to do a course and meet some of the most amazing people on the way and be outdoors for a whole year it was a win win.
Coming close to the end of the year I was only a couple months away from sitting my IE and being able to get a job that anyone would dream of, it came to an abrupt stop. I blew both my ear drums and caused me some serious barotrauma which lead to surgery and putting my career on hold, which was a bit of a kick in the guts as i thought this may have been the end of my diving.
Eager to stay connect to the industry I applied to do some retail work at Dive HQ Christchurch and was offered a job, and loved it I got to expand my knowledge in all gear from scuba to freediving and got to stay up to date with any new changes and meet some like minded people. After about a year I made the decision to move my life up here with my partner and have ended up at Dive HQ Wellington. I’m looking forward to getting back in the water and meeting you all.
Rose