City woman dives into dream job

Wanganui woman Trish Bristol is off to Rarotonga for two years to a full-time position as a diving instructor.

Executive assistant to the principal at Wanganui High School, Ms Bristol is a Master Scuba Diver and said diving had been on her radar from the time she was a child. "I was a water baby as a kid. First in the pool or ocean and last one out."

The Rarotonga move came after an instructor friend who had been holidaying on Rarotonga and dived with The Dive Centre was asked if he could work for them after one of their instructors had become seriously ill.

"My friend couldn't go but gave them my details. It was coming up to July school holidays, and fortunately high school gave me some extra time off so I could spend a month on Rarotonga."

While there she was amazed that so many New Zealanders thought diving was solely a tropical sport and that NZ diving would be cold, dark, dingy and boring.

"Why they have such a negative view of our quite simply spectacular marine environment ... well, I spent a lot of time convincing people otherwise."

Kapiti Island was New Zealand's best-kept diving secret, she said.

"It is simply stunning. Unfortunately, my favourite dive at the end of Kapiti Island collapsed during the Christchurch February earthquake. But it has now been made into a new dive site, which is exciting."

As well as being a Master Scuba Diver trainer, Ms Bristol also has a first-aid instructor qualification as well as specialty instructor ratings, like deep diving, enriched air diving and digital underwater photography.

And she is very passionate about the global organisation, Project AWARE, a growing movement of scuba divers protecting the planet's oceans.

There's even a bonus in Rarotonga. The Dive Centre has offered her husband, Dave, who is training to become a dive instructor, a job from February next year.

"So I just couldn't say no. This is a long-term dream, but not something I was consciously working towards."

Ms Bristol flies out next Monday and her family will join her before Christmas.

When it came to diving, Ms Bristol said she loved showing people a new world they didn't know existed.

"I love seeing their nervousness turn into complete awestruck wonder. I have had students whose future careers have changed after learning to dive.

"I'm looking forward to working in the industry full-time again and, hopefully, inspiring holidaying Kiwis to dive at home as well."