Last update: 24th January 2026
About me
Zak's the name. I like the outdoors - running's my jam - trails and hills are my fav. I can keep a trot all day, more if I'm on a mish. I like to garden too, grow my own food, save a few bob. I do a bit of mountain biking, skiing and paragliding when time, money and nerves permit.
I grew up in Australia, but now reside in the Queenstown Lakes District in New Zealand. Traded the beaches for the mountains. I'm much more at home here. Recently became a NZ citizen and passport holder.
My career has predominantly been in geographic information systems (GIS), surveying, and asset management. In late 2024 I made a significant career shift into installation and upgrades of integrated home smart systems - audio, visual, security, heating/cooling, access etc. It's a new field for me, and I'm enjoying the journey.
I like computery things too - data vis, web building, coding, systematic trading, PKM, linux, de-googling, FOSS, permacomputing. I'm not great at any of them, but they're interesting and I enjoy learning about them.
About the site
I'm fairly new to this web building thing. This is a bit of a testing ground while I learn the ropes. At the moment I am using the zola static site generator and the neocities CLI utility to publish to Neocities. I am simultaneously learning about Linux and the command line on my old laptop, so most of this is built from there.
I don't write many deep things. It's more of a log than anything. And a place to tinker. It's varied, which I guess is a good reflection of who I am. It's nice to have a place to let rip anything I want. I don't expect everything to resonate with any one reader. That's ok. Maybe there's one or two things. I'm always keen to hear from folk via email. Reach out if you want a yarn.