Hi! If you haven't already guessed my name is Rob.

If you don't know me (that's probably 99.9% of you) then this is for you.

I was born many moons ago in a place called Wakefield (UK). Our family moved further south via Derby (UK) to Plymouth (UK). Plymouth is town steeped in lots of naval history; Sir Francis Drake set sail to attack the Spanish Armada from here, and a large proportion of settlers that sailed to America sailed from the Mayflower steps. It is home to Devonport dockyard (Naval refits) and to Plymouth Arglye (football club), to name a few.

Plymouth is surrounded by the sea to the south and some of the most beautiful Devon and Cornish countryside to the north. Dartmoor & Exmoor are the most notable.

So I was seven when we first arrived. I went to school there and worked there as a poor penniless youngster for years.

In 1992 I decided to go to University. I managed to get into Oxford Polytechnic, as it was then known. I stayed there studying Civil Engineering for four years. Now Oxford (UK) was probably one of the best choices I made. It is a beautiful place and secondly very easy to get to, as it is in the centre of the country.

Once I graduated in 1996 I ventured out into the big wide world of working for a living. My first main venture into where I am today was to work for a roofing and cladding company. I became the engineer looking after the setting out of the cladding to British Airways World Cargo Centre, at Heathrow (UK). This is a gigantic warehouse 40m high and 300m long. If you ever fly that way you will note its presence as it is the biggest and largest �shed� around.

I digress slightly. After that I proceeded down the line of engineering and project managing several jobs in the UK; Isle of Man Incinerator, John Radcliffe Hospital, Russells Hall Hospital to name a few.

The long hours and working away from home slowly took its toll. It could take up to 6 to 7 hours to drive home on a Friday! (The weather is not great either.)

Anyhow, I came across an Expo for NZ in 2004. I went along. Everyone was so friendly and cheerful � it was a pretty strange place to be. Soon after that I emigrated to Christchurch, NZ. Venturing back into the civil engineering side of things. I had the opportunity to work and see some of the most stunning places. I have some great friends there that take me out into some of the most stunning hidden scenery you will ever know. We would routinely disappear out into be southern alps, past where they filmed Lord of the Rings, way up into the valleys.

Again work took its toll. Long hours and traveling for very little reward. You don�t actually get paid a lot in NZ. Which is okay but what you don�t realise is that it costs money to travel. Secondly it costs a fortune to travel from NZ to anywhere.

The civil engineering work is okay, but nothing compared to buildings. Disheartened I came across a company in Australia that seemed to care about its employees. I discovered that they were building a high rise in Brisbane.

The rest is history. I am now back doing what I really enjoy � working as a Fa�ade Engineer building a 150m high rise. I am fortunate to get trips out to China every once in a while to inspect the materials and visit the factories.

The best part about this is that it is the first time that I have ever lived and worked in the same place. This means that I get to go home every night.

I shall write more about my travels soon.