All of us here at Abel Tasman Canyons are dedicated to giving you an experience of a lifetime from start to finish. Our friendly voice on the other side of the phone, our positive words of encouragement to help you push your limits, our passion for our work and the place we work in, our commitment to your safety, our bad jokes but our good looks are some of the key qualities you’ll experience when you join one of our adventures.
Dutch born canyoning enthusiast, Toine is both the founder and the managing director of Abel Tasman Canyons, New Zealand Canyoning School and owns the first and only canyoning centre affiliated with ICOpro in New Zealand. Every chance he gets to leave the office you will find him in a canyon either guiding, instructing or doing first descents. Prior to moving to New Zealand Toine has guided in canyons throughout Europe and South Africa. In 2010 he traveled to Japan to train with the Commission International de Canyon (CIC). In 2017 he trained with the International Canyoning Organisation for Professionals (ICOpro) team in Bali to become an ICOpro Trainer. Toine is an active member of the New Zealand canyon scene. He wrote the Code of Practice for Recreational Canyoning in New Zealand and he is a canyoning assessor for NZOIA. He was also a member of the NZ canyoning expedition team that explored new canyons down the West Coast, Wanaka and Fiordland in March 2015 and another canyoning expedition in remote Fiordland in 2022. If you find yourself in a sticky situation in the canyon you might come across Toine as part of the Canyon Rescue team and Canyon Rescue Instructor for LandSAR. Warning: when Toine stops smiling put food in his mouth immediately, those thunder thighs are not going to feed themselves.
Eva (Dutch) (Toine’s partner) is back for year twelve. Eva (AKA ‘the real boss’) has been getting more and more involved over the years and is the one that holds it all together. She basically does heaps of behind-the-scenes stuff in the office to keep things running smoothly. When she needs time out of the office she’ll get out in the canyon for fun, squealing her way down the slides. Her PhD in Medical Anthropology translates into her interest for people’s stories, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself telling her your life story at some stage. True to her Dutch heritage, Eva is a keen cyclist both on the road and down the local mountain bike trails.
Pepijn (dutchie) decided to spend his 10th and 11th year as a canyon guide with us in Aotearoa! This cheeky dude first fell in love with canyoning back in 2013 and has since guided all across Europe including Slovenia, France and his favourite - Switzerland (after NZ of course). Before moving to NZ you’d be able to find him living out of a van with his canyon gear, surfboard and bikes either guiding, teaching future canyon guides or going on his own adventures every day. We also reckon he looks like a young David Guetta.
Danelle (kiwi) is a local gal whose happy place is in anything that somewhat resembles a playground. Canyoning, caving, skiing, tramping and kayaking - Danelle struggles to sit still. Her canyoning journey started in Australia’s Blue Mountains, but once she discovered the waterslides the Abel Tasman had to offer, she jumped straight back home. She graduated from NMIT’s Adventure Tourism course and hasn’t stopped since. If she’s not out adventuring, you’ll likely find her having a boogie and doing some fire spinning, foraging for wild foods or just having a nap in a tree somewhere.
Liv is a lively chicka from Hamilton. She started out as a cave guide but after spending the last 2 years studying Adventure Tourism at NMIT, she’s been dragged to the light side that is canyoning. She’s been drawn by the share beauty of canyons and the excitement of going somewhere people usually wouldn’t get to go. Along with an abundance of dad jokes, this girl knows an alarming amount of glow-worm facts. Seriously you should ask her about it.
All the way over from Scotland, Amelia (originally from Raglan NZ), is chasing the continuous summer of the canyoning seasons between here and the UK. Having spent life growing up in the outdoors of Aotearoa surf life saving, caving, kayaking, climbing and doing Parkour, she came to discover canyoning only upon moving to the Scottish highlands in 2020. Since then she hasn't really left the canyon, spending every possible moment, when she's not guiding in them, out playing and exploring other canyons. Earlier this year she and her boyfriend Will (also guiding with us this year!) came and travelled around New Zealand and discovered what awesome canyons we have here. They loved Abel Tasman and its canyons so much that both of them have come back to join us for the summer season! Amelia is also a Parkour instructor and her happy place is bouncing around the rocks in her own special canyon playground! Her enthusiasm and love for canyoning is infectious and she can't wait to share it with you!
Will joins us this season all the way from Scotland for his first NZ summer season. Will comes with an extensive background of adventure guiding and coaching having worked in the outdoor industry for the past 10 years in a variety of roles. He lives and breathes the outdoors which is shown in his enthusiasm for taking people outside and sharing in their experiences. He also loves a good story and always wants to share his knowledge with everyone! Will is normally found in a canyon with a camera in his hand hanging off an edge trying to get the good shots. As well as his canyoning background, Will also guides and coaches in a number of other sports including paddle boarding, mountain biking and as one of only a handful of advanced canoe coaches in Scotland. He also delivers a number of courses for British Canoeing and Rescue 3. He is amped to be spending a season in the canyons!!
Zeke is a Nelson raised lad, growing up with the Abel Tasman as his backyard! At age 18, he discovered the world of canyoning when he signed up for a trip with Abel Tasman Canyons. He hasn’t looked back since. Zeke spent his last summer in Anchorage working for Abel Tasman Guides whilst studying adventure tourism and guiding at NMIT. He has adventured canyons as far down the country as Haast! Outside the canyon, you can find Zeke shredding the slopes snowboarding or ripping up the trails on his bike. He is also a keen Whitewater enthusiast (kayaking and rafting). We’re super stoked to have him with us for his first season of guiding!
Local lad from up the Motueka valley. Oscar is keen on anything that goes on in the outdoors, especially kayaking and canyoning. Before becoming a canyoning guide, Oscar spent a few years sea kayaking up and down the Abel Tasman coastline. Over the past few years Oscar has been trained in-house and gained his NZOIA Canyon 1. These days Oscar works as an Outdoor Education Instructor at a local high school but on his days off he loves making a guest appearance in the canyon. He is also an active member of the Tasman Swift Water and Canyon Rescue team. This man knows some mean as rope tricks so if you are in need of some party tricks, ask him to show you. Be ready to be left feeling mesmerised.
Zeb (Kiwi) is a local lad from Golden Bay who's always stoked to pop over the hill to help us out on busy days. Zeb completed his Diploma in Outdoor Instruction and Guiding at Tai Poutini Polytechnic. Although this course exposed him to many different pursuits, it was the canyoning that jumped out to Zeb (no surprises there). He has been canyoning in the Golden Bay, in Arthur’s pass, and in Te Tau Ihu. These days Zeb also swings off ropes as a Rope Access Technician. Zeb is a member of the Tasman Swift Water and Canyon Rescue team. Zeb's got a wealth of local knowledge and can fill you in on some local stories and hidden adventure locations in the Golden Bay.
Just like the nocturnal kiwi bird, when it is night-time in New Zealand Jeff comes out to work his magic. Based in the Netherlands, Jeffrey from Rydestyle looks after all our design work. He does an amazing job building our websites and designing our brochures, posters, adverts, sign writing etc. Our long-term friend rides downhill bikes like a maniac and works the computer like a braniac! No job or trail is too difficult for this guy.
Our main staff intake is just before the season starts in October. However, we're always on the lookout for fun-loving super star instructors and office gurus. So if you're interested in a position send us a kick-ass cover letter and CV. For guide positions add your relevant logbooks (rock, water, ropes) of your personal and professional experience so we can see what adventurer extraordinaire you are!
1) Best way to explore and experience Abel Tasman
Hike through the forest to the starting point, then swim/ slide/ abseil/ zipline/ leap downstream, in NZ’s favourite national park. Pure beauty.
2) Adrenaline achievement unlocked
Action and fun packed – the “itinerary” was very creative and you never really know what to imagine or expect at every turn. Peppered with interesting stories and facts the guides shared.
3) Professional, caring and super fun guides
Whom you can count on to feel safe, upbeat, looked after and game for any (if not almost every) challenge. Kudos to the awesome Toine, Lee and Mark for spending Day 1 of our trip with us (:
Syan203, Singapore
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