Meet the team

Some of those who make up our team ...

Peter Dymond

I have 2 busy boys, one of whom starts school this year and I live with Sandra up the coast road from Greymouth on a bush block by the sea. I’m still under 40 (just) and have been guiding people in the outdoors for around 12 years now. I’m an NZOIA instructor in Rock 1 and hold a class 3 raft guides licence. You might meet me as your guide on pretty well any of our trips.

Note from editor: We are lucky to have Pete because Sandra is a chef and she sometimes sends these goodies in to work (hint, hint Sandra). They also have a goat on their block so we often get goat's milk for our tea and coffee. Pete is very knowledgeable about the bush and what you can eat from it. He is also a bit of a practical joker so just check if he asks you to taste something out of the bush!

Sebastian Buechele

I came to NZ on a visit from Germany in 2007 and have been here ever since. I’m just a bit under 30 and as well as guiding I manage the operations side of the business. That is stuff like staff rosters, tour logistics and planning and I’m just getting into the finance management side of things (unfortunately!) but I enjoy getting to grips with technical stuff so there is a lot of behind the scenes type things that I do. I have outdoor and teaching qualifications from university in Germany, hold a class 2 raft guides licence and a Diploma in Adventure Tourism. I’m single and I love my new 3 bedroom house that I rent up on a hill in Greymouth with a beautiful view, you should see these sunsets.

Editors note: Seb is pretty easy to win a free designer coffee from so if you meet him as your guide on a trip then make a bet with him about something, and you’ll probably win. He is pretty good at doing champagne breakfasts as well!

Tim Abbott

I’ve been around for a while (35) and I have a strong background in white water rafting and kayaking both in NZ and around the world. I live with my partner Kirsty in Hokitika, she is a civil engineer. I’m also a paramedic and help out in the local ambulance services when I’m not taking people out on the river. I’m also doing some of our environmental monitoring work. I hold various first response medical qualifications and a Class 4 & 5 white water rafting licence. It will be great to see you out on the river.

Paul Schramm

I live with my wife Tracey and have two teenage boys one of whom is at university. We are on a small deer farm just out of Greymouth. The rest of the team calls me the ‘old and grey one’ but I prefer ‘wise and knowledgeable’ myself.
I started the business up in around 1984 with the support of Tracey who paid the bills and put food on the table for quite a few years until we became self sufficient. Thanks Tracey!

I have a teaching background specialising in outdoor recreation and am an assessor for various Adventure Tourism Skills and instruct in a range of guiding subjects. I oversee the operation and spend quite a bit of time on product development, finance, quality control and meeting our guests to get feedback on how we are doing. I’ve been around for quite a while in tourism so if you need any advice about anything in that line feel free to get hold of me, I enjoy sharing my experience and can usually twist the arm of somebody to help you out anywhere in NZ if you need it.

Justin Boyce

I am from America and come out to New Zealand during the American off season to work and get out on the amazing rivers over here. I’m just about to hit the big 30 and have been raft guiding all around the US for 10 years now. New Zealand’s West Coast has got the most awesome rivers so I’m pretty pleased to be here. I’ve got a small house right in the centre of town so that’s pretty neat. I hold an NZ Class 4 & 5 raft guides licence and am a registered rafting trip leader. It will be great to get out on these awesome West Coast rivers with you guys and if you want any advice on travel in the US hit me up.

Rachel Moore

I work for the company as an independent raft guide assessor and trainer and I guide the odd trip when needed. I am a senior instructor for Polytechnic Outdoor Recreation Courses. I assess guides and organise training programmes for and provide advice when required. I am a Licenced Rafting assessor and hold a class 4 & 5 guides licence and am a registered raft trip leader. I have been raft guiding and kayaking in many countries around the world. I’m pretty lucky to have the outdoors as my office!

Editors Note: We are privileged to have Rachel come from outside our organisation as an independent skills auditor to check our skills out and sharpen us up. It’s great to have an independent person come into any organisation as it is a robust way to check that you are up to speed. Rachel's vast experience and always cheerful manner (she’s always got that great smile) is a valued part of our safety management system. If you get her as part of your team you are lucky indeed.

Mitch Beresford

I worked for the business in Greymouth for a couple of years as the Operations Manager but now live in Taupo in the North Island. I’ve spent some time managing another outdoor business and have developed my own Leadership and Team Building business where I contract to organisations having conferences. I also work with the Wild West guys on an as required basis doing marketing and most of the stuff you see on this website is my work so if you have any feedback it would be good to hear from you. I also love chocolate!

Nina Kiefhaber

I have joined the Wild West Adventure Company team for the summer from Bavaria in Germany. I’m 23 yrs old and am a European certified level one Canyoning Guide and hold a high ropes course instructor licence.

So you’ll see me on any trips with ropes! And I’ll be guiding some of the cave tubing trips and assisting on some white water rafting trips as well. Any questions about travelling in Europe or if you just want to talk to some one in German come and talk to me!

The team at the Department of Conservation

Many of our activities occur on The Department of Conservation land and we work with a group of people from the Department to ensure that your use of this land helps to increase the conservation benefits rather than degrade it. You might meet some of them out on your tour with us so have a talk with them as they are very knowledgeable people with interesting backgrounds.

And others in the team?

There is quite a team behind bringing you our adventures so there are others who keep things operating in the background that you may see around and lots who you won't, like Ian MacKinnon our arborist who checks the trees we use for ziplines and Noel Hanham the engineer who oversees our structures.