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 Dive & Fish Consultant

Steve is our Fishing expert as well as being a keen diver and 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.

Steve has dived or fished in many South Pacific destinations including Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands. His last trip 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. He is a keen hunter/gatherer and likes to be seen around the hen and chicken Islands catching crays.

His best fishing memory was tagging his first Marlin in Vanuatu.

Tom Dive Consultant

Tom was born in Bulawayo Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and has lived in NZ for 11½ years. While away on his OE in  the 1990’s Tom did both an open water and advanced dive certificates in Hurgahda Egypt while working in Egypt as tour guide. This was some of the most amazing diving in the world, just incredible diving.

He has since dived in Thailand (Khoa Phang), Weymouth England (brrrr bl**dy freezing), Gold Coast Australia, Bali (Tulamben), all around the Auckland area & islands, Solomon Islands and Treasure Island Fiji.

In 1997 Tom did his travel agency training in Auckland, and has since worked for United Airlines, Adventure Travel and Flight Centre, before recently joining Dive Fish Snow Travel. Tom loves to travel, has visited over 30 countries and has a real passion for Africa.

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!

Phil Ski and Dive consultant

Phil has been in the travel industry for the last 10 years in roles varying from 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 as well as an Iata diploma of tourism and travel and is also a qualified sailing instructor. Phil is a keen telemarker (when his legs hold out) and alpine skiier and after 3 seasons in France he has moved onto discovering the resorts of North America and Canada. After Europe he is enjoying the wide open spaces and lack of lift queues found in Canada and has skiied in Canada extensively. 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.

Paula Ski Consultant

Paula is a Senior Snow Consultant. She has many years extensive Travel Industry experience in the Airline, Retail, Wholesale and Corporate sectors. She has obtained qualifications that include IATA/UFTAA Diploma and Advanced Ticketing with Air New Zealand.

Paula has skied Whistler/Backcomb, Sun Peaks, Silver Star, Big White, Fernie, Kimberley, Panorama, Kicking Horse, Lake Louise, Sunshine and Banff Norquay in CANADA.  In the STATES she’s skied Heavenly/Tahoe, Squaw Valley, Sierra at Tahoe, Winter Park, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Steamboat and Aspen/Snowmass.

“I love skiing North America and look forward to sharing my experiences with you.  It is my goal to ensure that we put together a truly fabulous Snow Holiday that will have you wanting to return Canada & the States time and again!”

Travel Support Team

Julia Sales Support

Julia joined our Snow Team in 2007.

After qualifying at AUT with a Certificate of Travel & Tourism, she explored Europe for 2 months in 2004 with friends in a Ford transit van, which was an amazing experience. She has also travelled to many places in Australia, plus Fiji, Cook Islands & Samoa.

Julia has been snowboarding for 4 years and is really looking forward to checking out the North American powder snow soon.

She’s a bit of a “water baby” ; she has been diving for nearly 2yrs and considers herself still a beginner at this sport! She’s also a synchronized swimmer and was a NZ Coach of Synchronised Swimming 2004/05/06.

She is really interested in photography, especially underwater photography, so expect to see some of her diving photos on our website one day!

Markus Sales Support

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.

Admin Team

Lynda Accounts and Admin

Started in the travel industry 14 years ago. She has extensive knowledge of travel accounting and has worked both in wholesale and retail offices. Loves fishing, (but can't ski or dive).

Alison Reception/Admin Support

Alison joined Dive Fish Snow in 2007. Passionate about travelling and skiing, Alison has skied in Colorado at most of the major resorts and in Utah at Snowbird and Alta. Almost a "local" in Ohakune during Mt Ruapehu's ski season, Alison also enjoys trips to the South Island resorts and has been Heliskiing in the Harris Mountains. Her ultimate ski trip would be Heliskiing in Canada in untracked powder then ending the day relaxing by the fire with a nice glass of mulled wine.

Alison loves the client interaction at Dive Fish Snow and enjoys hearing about our clients' adventures.

Kathy Back Office Support

31 years travel industry experience, 9 of which have been at Dive Fish Snow Travel, albeit part time to fit in with the Kids Club she operates. Involved mostly in the promotional side of the business, production of information packs, advertising and information for Anndie to put on the website. She’s also a keen skier, and having discovered the joys of skiing in Canada, can’t wait to get back there.

Anndie Web/Graphic Designer

Anndie came to Dive Fish Snow Travel in November 2004 with a solid background in web design. 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.