|
Talk to Real People that have been there, done that!
Our Travel Consultants have personally dived & fished the sites, skied the slopes, and stayed in the accommodation we recommend, right throughout the world. They are dedicated to giving great service, and their expertise is second to none. Not to mention the fact that they are passionate about what they do, so you benefit from their first hand experience.
Ron & Christine Blake, Directors & Consultants
Ron and Christine have personally visited, skied, fished and dived at every location we sell, plus quite a few others we don't sell because they don’t meet our standards.
As company directors, they have the job along with the rest of the team of checking out products so they can honestly give you a first hand opinion of the best places to go. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!
They have both skied Whistler/Blackcomb, Sun Peaks, Big White, Silver Star, Apex, Red Mountain, Fernie, Kimberley, Panorama, Kicking Horse, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village in Canada. In the USA they’ve skied Heavenly Tahoe, Vail Resorts, Copper Mountain, Steamboat, Aspen, Snowmass.
As for diving, they have dived in practically every dive destination in the South Pacific plus many in Australia, Micronesia, Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Together they’ve logged a combined 12,000 Dives over 28 countries and 36 years of diving experience.
Steve General Manager
 Steve has a diploma in IATA - UFTAA as well as a NZ Certificate in Commerce. He has worked in the NZ travel industry for over 20 years and was appointed General Manager of Dive Fish Snow Travel in March 2010.
Originally part of the dive team, Steve has dived or fished in many South Pacific destinations including Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands. One of his favourite trips was to Sipadan in the Sabah region of Malaysian Borneo, where he was really impressed by the fantastic range of diving and the very high service standards.
One of his last trips was on the MV Bilikiki, a dive liveaboard in the Solomon Islands, and he highly recommends liveaboards as a way to experience the full underwater potential of a destination. One of the highlights of this trip was diving with a saltwater crocodile.
After taking some of the team to experience the Canadian resorts of Big White, Silver Star, Sun Peaks and Whistler, Steve is keen to expand his portfolio of clients to include snow holidays. All this and the day-to-day running of the sales team will certainly keep Steve busy as Dive Fish Snow enters an exciting era of expansion.
Testimonials»
Mike Dive Consultant
 Mike joined Dive Fish Snow in December 2004. He has completed two part-time dive courses and is now a qualified Open Water Instructor. His overseas diving experience includes the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea - Australia, Port Vila - Vanuatu, Beqa Lagoon, Coral Coast, and Tokoriki Island - Fiji, and Vava'u Islands - Tonga and Rottnest Island (WA Australia).
Mikes most memorable dive thus far was the Shark Encounter dive at Fiji's Beqa Lagoon! His greatest ambition is to dive with large schools of pelagic sharks, manta rays and schooling fish. Mike’s Diploma in Travel and Tourism opened doors into the tourism industry, in which he worked for four years before leading to his current position at Dive Fish Snow Travel. Mike’s PADI Open Water Instructor course provided great experiences under water while providing an opportunity to learning more about diving!
Testimonials»
Phil Snow and Dive consultant
 Phil has been in the travel industry for the last 10 years in roles varying from trek guiding in Morocco and Nepal to working as a consultant in NZ's biggest corporate agency looking after travel for goverment ministers and trade delegations. Phil has a Commerce degree, an Iata diploma of tourism and travel, Ski patrol qualifications and is also a qualified sailing instructor and race coach.
Originally from a mountaineering background Phil is a keen telemarker, ski tourer (when his legs hold out) and alpine skiier and spent 3 seasons in France where he managed ski chalets, completed the Haute route and toured extensively through the Haute Savoie region of France.
He has now moved onto discovering the resorts of North America, Canada and Japan where he is enjoying the wide open spaces and lack of lift queues.
Phil has skied most resorts Canada and Colorado. In March 2009 he had one of the best powder days ever in Niseko, Japan and also enjoyed Hakuba and Nozawa Onsen.
Phil is also a keen diver and after getting his Padi open water in Thailand in 1999 Phil has dived Thailand , Red Sea, Fiji, Australia and all over New Zealand. One of Phils favourite memories was telemarking in thigh deep powder with Al Raine from Sun Peaks 2 weeks after the last snowfall. Trust the locals to find a good spot on the mountain.
Testimonials»
Amy Snow Consultant
 Amy has been in the travel industry for over 5 years now working both in diving and snow travel. After a couple of years break from the industry traveling the world, Amy has rejoined the team here at Dive Fish Snow Travel as a Snow Consultant.
Originally classing herself as a beginner boarder, Amy’s expertise have increased incredibly after experiencing the wonders of the Canadian resorts and conditions of Sun Peaks, Big White, Silver Star and Whistler. All that and now with Niseko, Japan’s awesome powder under her belt, Amy is definitely bitten by the bug and keen to share these experiences with her clients so they too can experience all Canada and Japan have to offer.
Our multi-talented Amy is also an open water diver and keen fisher-person. Amy has fished in Tonga and the Solomon Islands along with diving in Fiji (Beqa, Taveuni, Rakiraki); Tonga (Vava'u); Vanuatu (Port Vila); Solomon Islands (Munda, Gizo, Tulagi).
Testimonials
Jason Snow Consultant
 Jason’s travel industry experience includes 5 ½ years within the airline industry in New Zealand, a year with a tour company in London, 8 months within the hospitality industry in the UK, and then joining a retail travel company on his return to New Zealand.
Jason joined the team here at Dive Fish Snow Travel in March 2008 as a ski travel consultant. A keen snow boarder, Jason has enjoyed his time on the NZ ski fields, and reveled in the fantastic snow conditions of Whistler, Red Mountain, Sun Peaks, Big White and Silver Star.
Part of the team trip to Japan in March 2010, Jason was in awe of the huge amount of powder awaiting him. The surreal feeling of boarding off-piste in knee deep powder and not being able to see your board one of the highlights along with the amazing cultural experiences on offer.
Jason also loves all water sports, and is fanatical about his golf. Jason is very keen to share all these amazing experiences to help his clients plan their dream holidays using his first hand knowledge.
Testimonials »
Jo,
Senior Sales Support  Jo has worked in the Travel Industry for 18 years, initially starting in a Corporate Travel Company in Auckland, Jo then moved to Australia and spent 5 years working for a Travel Technology Company in the customer service team and later looking after an installation project team, returning to New Zealand with the same company as their training and projects co-ordinator.
In 2007 Jo decided it was time for a break from the big smoke and she left to fulfil a desire to take part in volunteer work. Heading to El Salvador, Central America, Jo worked in an all girl orphanage and also on a project to minimise child labour. She hopes to complete more volunteer work in the future.
In addition to travelling around New Zealand and Australia, Jo has also travelled to London, Amsterdam, Prague, Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, America, Central America – El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, South America – Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru…
Some of her travel memories which stand out, include evacuating a hurricane from Bay Islands (Honduras), hanging out with the llamas at the top of Machu Picchu, and riding a Harley across Route 66….
Jo has dived in Fiji & Honduras, Central America, and skied (badly) in New Zealand. Part of the team to experience Sun Peaks, Big White, Silver Star and Whistler in March 2010, her skiing ability has definitely gone up a notch or three.
Jo will be looking after the Sales Support Team and various application/process enhancements and although prefers the warmer holidays, did enjoy her time on the slopes of the Canadian Resorts.
Kristy-Ann, Sales Support
 Kristy recently joined Dive Fish Snow Travel as sales support, coming from 8 years retail travel agency experience where she was a leisure/corporate/groups Travel Consultant.
A keen open water diver, Kristy’s favourite places for diving is the Maldives, Tahiti and our own NZ waters – Tauranga Bay, Lottin Point, & Waihau Bay.
Kristy is also a keen boarder & cross country skier after living in Norway for 1year, and thoroughly enjoyed her trip to Canada in March 2010 with the snow team. Having now added Sun Peaks, Big White, Whistler and Silver Star to her ‘I’ve boarded there’ portfolio, she is now pumped and ready to share these experiences with everyone.
Kirsty, Sales Support
 It all started for Kirsty in 1998 with what was supposed to be a one-off working holiday at Copper Mountain Resort, Colorado, but turned into a love of snowboarding and the resort lifestyle. The first hurdle was actually learning to snowboard! Kirsty continued to work winter seasons in New Zealand, Australia & Colorado with visits to Winter Park, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Aspen, Steamboat and Beaver Creek. Working first as a lift operator and then moving onto ski school administrator and snowboard instructor.
Kirsty took a break in between to gain a qualification from the New Zealand School of Travel & Tourism for an Advanced Diploma in Travel, Tourism and Business Technology, along with IATA Certification.
New to the team at Dive Fish Snow in March 2010, Kirsty has recently added to the list a fantastic 10days in Canada experiencing Sun Peaks, Big White, Silver Star and Whistler. Kirsty is eager to maintain her passion for helping people either discover or continue their amazing snowsports adventures.
Markus Fishing Consultant
 Markus joined Dive Fish Snow in a sales support role in Feb 2007 after completing his Advanced Travel and Tourism Certificate.
He is a mad keen fisherman and an advanced diver, spending as much time as he can on and in the water.
He has logged hundreds of dives in New Zealand and has also dived at Kadavu in Fiji and Vava'u in Tonga. Markus's most memorable holiday experience was snorkelling with humpback whales in Vava'u, "The sheer size and grace of these creatures is amazing!!!"
His biggest goal is to start wreck diving and aims to get to the Solomon Islands in the near future to experience the abundance of WWII wrecks, not to mention the warm clear water.
My Fishing Trip to Solomons 2010 »
Admin Team
 Lynda Accounts and Admin
With over 15 years experience in the travel industry, Lynda has extensive knowledge of travel accounting, having worked both in wholesale and retail offices. Lynda has travelled many places and has lived on such beautiful and remote places as Great Barrier Island in New Zealand. Lynda does enjoy fishing, but leaves the skiing and diving to the experts in the team.
Kathy Back Office Support
 With over 30 years travel industry experience, 9 of which have been at Dive Fish Snow Travel, Kathy works part time to fit in with the Kids Club she operates. Involved with every part of the business from sales to marketing to admin, Kathy is a valuable member of the team with her years of experience and knowledge. Being a keen skier, and having discovered the joys of skiing in Canada last year, Kathy can’t wait to get back there or to any of the amazing resorts on offer.
Marketing Team
 Nicole Marketing & Communications
Nicole started with Dive Fish Snow Travel in December 2009.
With a strong marketing and product management background within banking, printing, hospitality, veterinary and finance, Nicole brings over 25 years marketing experience to the team.
Nicole is also a qualified teacher of tap and jazz dancing, an international dog show judge and a top breeder of pedigree dogs.
As a keen learner skier, Nicole has skied most of NZ’s own ski fields and was fortunate to have visited Whistler and Sun Peaks in January 2009 then Niseko, Japan in March 2010 where she experienced the most amazing powder conditions! She is now a huge fan of the ski in ski out concept offered internationally and particularly loved the cultural experiences on offer in Japan.
Nicole has also holidayed in some of the wonderful resorts in the South Pacific and marveled at some of the beautiful snorkeling experiences on offer.
Nicole’s traveling experiences has seen her in the USA, Canada, Hawaii, all states of Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, France, Monaco, UK, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga.
Nicole will be working with the Dive Fish Snow Team to bring quality communications to our clients and suppliers, enhancing our customer service and reputation in the marketplace, and continually looking at ways to present Dive Fish Snow Travel as the premium specialist Skiing, Diving and Fishing Travel company in Australasia.
My Ski Trip to Japan 2010 Photos »
Anndie Emarketing Specialist
Anndie came to Dive Fish Snow Travel in November 2004 with a solid background in web design & online marketing. Since then he has completely rebuilt our website, giving it a far more professional, exciting and informative look. The website is a "work in progress" as we are constantly adding more products, so Anndie is very busy keeping up with the constant demands.
Anndie is also responsible for all graphic requirements within the office. Logos, stationery, advertising and promotional material, posters, flyers... it's all produced in house by Anndie.
And being a techno whizz, he is in high demand when anything technical breaks down in the office, especially the computers.
|
