Pegasus Post: May 12, 2022

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4 Thursday May 12 2022 TRY US, YOU’LL LIKE US Mike Pero Real Estate Ltd Licensed REAA (2008) NICK MCISAAC-LUKE 2.95% 2.95%+GST up to $490,000, 1.95%+GST on the balance TINA LAWSON 0800 6773 2424
Thursday May 12 2022 5 ‘You can change things for the better’ • By Emily Moorhouse HELPING stranded whales and preserving endangered plants might seem pretty out there for some, but for park ranger Dave Rate-Smith this is just another day in the office. The 43-year-old is trained in horticulture, construction and fine arts, and said being a park ranger lets him use all these skills. “You could be answering emails, then fixing a broken waterline or making park furniture,” he said. “I’m prone to getting bored easily and being a ranger I don’t get bored.” Before Rate-Smith became a ranger four years ago, he owned a construction business, after seeing the need for it following the earthquakes. After seven years he closed the business and joined ecological firm Wai-ora, working his way up to team leader in two years before jumping at the opportunity to become a ranger for Bottle Lake Forest Park. Now Rate-Smith looks after multiple parks including Styx Mill, The Groynes, McLeans Island and Roto Kohatu. He said the job changes everyday and you have to be prepared to “throw your plans out the window at any given second.” Rate-Smith especially likes Sundays because that’s when he can talk to the public the most. “It’s when you actually do that DREAM JOB: Dave Rate-Smith has been a park ranger for four years and said he gets excited about going to work. PHOTOS: EMILY MOORHOUSE you become aware of problems you might have missed,” he said. “I really like seeing their reactions when we change and improve an area.” The responsibilities of a ranger seem endless. The job requires problem-solving skills, having to be a trained firefighter, and handling animals such as whales and sea lions. “We end up with a good range of skills but not being specialists in any of them, which suits me to a tee,” Rate-Smith said. Describing himself as an outdoors person, Rate-Smith said being out in nature is definitely one of the highlights of the job. “It’s what calms me as a person, that’s my happy place in life, hearing the fantails twittering away,” he said. “That really sort of puts a smile on my face. NATURE: Rate-Smith said being outdoors is one of the highlights of being a park ranger. “There’s times I think I’d love to go off and work for DOC in the middle of nowhere but aside from my wife not appreciating it, I would actually miss the social side of it.” When asked what the strangest “It’s not a day in parks until you pick up a pair of undies” – Dave Rate-Smith thing he’s come across at one of the parks he laughed and said “those would not be appropriate for paper”. “We see some shocking things aye, we see the best and the worst of human nature,” he said. “People go to parks to do weird things, they really do. It’s not a day in parks until you pick up a pair of undies.” • Turn to page 6
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Pegasus Post: May 12, 2022

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