Raul Lambert: born in Spain, trained in England, working in New Zealand
Converting his passion into a paid job
During his school years in Spain, Raul Lambert was a rock climber, and on his first trip to New Zealand he worked at the bungy jump in Queenstown. But when he discovered that you could get paid to climb trees, he realised he could convert his climbing passion into a career as an arborist.
The timing was perfect, as he'd been having trouble getting established in his first career choice. "I’d trained in photography and I wanted to be a photojournalist, but it was difficult to get into."
"When I met an Englishman who had been a tree surgeon, I thought, ‘I’ll try that!’ I went to train at Merrist Wood [a specialist outdoor training centre] in England, and I worked in England for four years."
- Raul Lambert found a way to turn his love of climbing into a career
Raul got sponsored to work in New Zealand after advertising his skills
“I wanted to come back to New Zealand so I put an advert on the Arboriculture Association of New Zealand website. City Care [a company that provides services for city councils] contacted me and they sponsored me to come over and work.”
Enjoying the outdoor lifestyle and planning to return to Spain one day
Raul wants to stay in New Zealand, and hopes to get residency. “What I like now is that it’s quieter here. I can drive to the beach in 10 minutes and the mountains in an hour, and there are not that many people.
“I would like to go back to Spain one day I think. I’m still young. Spain is always there for me, so I’ve got no hurry to go back.”
Watch a slideshow of Raul at work and read more about his job as an arborist
