Warren
“I always had a love of the outdoors so right from school I started as an apprentice in the Botanic Gardens. I used to see the rangers going around and I thought; those guys had a great job. I joined the Police and I thought if I like it I’ll stay, and if I don’t, I’ll put my hand up for a rangers job. Lo and behold I heard that the ranger was retiring from Bottle Lake and threw my hat into the mix and it came out with a rangers badge on it. That was 1991/92 – been here ever since.
Every day is arduous…. Not! You just never know what the next phone call is. It’s everything from fires to whale strandings and then obviously dealing with the members of the public, talking to school groups I just love it.
And then; we’ve got this thing in the forest you know, we’ve had a few sightings of the Gruffalo. You know, I think this is the only forest in New Zealand where the Gruffalo lives in the deep dark woods. I’ve not sighted him myself but I’ve heard a lot of children have.
The other thing a lot of people don’t know is this is where Santa rests his reindeer before he starts the big trip. Come late December you can find reindeer poo and there has been the odd sighting of Santa in the forest just getting ready to do the big OE.
(I used to tell my daughters that I’d had a phone call and the reindeer were in the forest. And so I had to go and check. Of course I’d go and check and then Father Christmas would run past.)
I’m a forever learner, and forever fun and I’m willing to give anything a go. And the glass is always half full; I’m internally optimistic. In fact when I was at the gardens one of my referees said I was “keen to the extreme” and I kinda stick to that.
I think being a ranger is about being approachable, being a good listener, and having a wicked sense of humour helps. And passing over knowledge you know. We’re not here as the big stick – we’re here to educate. We’ve ALL got to look after this place; we’re on an island. Get out amongst it; get your hands dirty and have fun.
-Warren
#worldrangerday