​I grew up in Golden Bay, New Zealand and always knew that I wanted to write, but even though I completed my Bachelor of Arts degree in English and, later, a Diploma in Short Story Writing, I was 29 before I finally realised I wanted to be a journalist. I enrolled in a course at the Australasian College of Business Studies and graduated in 1992.

Around the same time, I bought a 26ft yacht so it was inevitable that I would write about yachts. As yachting editor, later editor, of Boating New Zealand from 1998 to 2008, and from 2013 to 2015, I covered hundreds of new boats built in New Zealand and overseas, including highly technical superyachts. I wrote for Boat International, UK; Supersail World, UK; YachtingWorld, UK; Yachts International, USA; Practical Boat Owner, UK. Editors of magazines such as these demand high standards in accuracy, detail and writing style; it tested me and I felt privileged to write for them.

In the run-up to the 2021 America's Cup, I started blogging daily reports for fun in what I call my freestyle writing - a little bit funky, sometimes hi-tech, insights on personalities. It was picked up by Northsails.com, USA for whom I wrote a  daily blog and technical pieces with North Sails' experts. I loved it.

Over 30 years, I've written for a wide range of magazines including North & South (Highly Commended, Best International Feature, Travel Media Awards 2019), NZ Life & Leisure (Best Journalist, Media Awards 2013); Wilderness (Best Journalist, Media Awards 2017), The Shed and learned a little about a lot. Ultimately, writing for me is about integrity, listening to my inner voice and respecting my reader.

In 2015, I resigned from Boating New Zealand to buy a property in Golden Bay which I would name Oceanspirit. Two years later I sailed from UK to Greenland with Whitbread Round the World Race winner Ross Field and wrote (Wild Seas to Greenland, Oceanspirit Publishing). Back home, I wrote about my adventures as a lifestyle blocker in High Heels and Gumboots for North & South (Best Columnist, Media Awards, 2020). But there was a bigger story to tell and I'm delighted to offer the book, High Heels and Gumboots - a city girl and a lot to learn, to be published by HarperCollins in time for Mother's Day, 2025.