You Said...
Just arrived back home after our wonderful holiday in Scotland and it is raining!! Just wanted to thank you once again for your kindness to both my wife and I. You went over and above the call duty. We both thoroughly enjoyed the trip and hope to see you again in the not too distant future.
- David Ireland, Dublin
Homepage > About Ace > Paul McCluskey
Paul McClusky
Head River Guide
Since I can remember I have enjoyed being outdoors and being involved in any sporting venture, challenge or pursuit. From soccer and golf through to martial arts and scuba diving....each one holds its own attraction. Working for Ace Adventure is no different.
Following my school and college years I enjoyed playing National League Files Hockey, while concurrently studying Muay Thai Kickboxing. As the years rolled by my progression in Muay Thai allowed me to instruct, but a desire to travel led me to Canada then back to the UK and London town. After 3 years in London the travel bug led me to Bermuda, where I got to enjoy different sports and a very different lifestyle – island life! Nothing moves too quickly in Bermuda and much fun was to be had. Through the PADI scheme I reached the level of ‘Rescue Diver’ and enjoyed the clear warm waters, stunning reefs and sometimes spooky shipwrecks around the islands, also managing to try other sports such as kite boarding.
The most important factor of my time in Bermuda was meeting a fantastic girl (who just happened to be Scottish – go figure eh?). After convincing her to take a chance on me we decided to leave Bermuda to work on a voluntary Conservation Project in Fiji, but just 8 weeks before it was due to happen we got word that the permits were not in order and that the program was being put on hold for year, so we decided to vacation there and then head to new Zealand where we could spend a year touring and exploring.
New Zealand provided us both with the opportunity to meet and get to know lots of great people and try some new and more ‘extreme sports’. From reverse bungy’s to the worlds largest and fastest flying fox or moonlight kayaking on Milford Sound with dolphins.....the lifestyle and standard of living saw us extend our stay there to 3 years and introduced us to white water rafting. That was that! We were hooked! Working as Lodge Manager at a central north island adventure lodge on the banks of the Rangitikei River we got to regularly raft the grade 5 gorge section, learning from established and skilled rafting operators and taking the odd swim here and there.
After leaving the lodge we continued to raft a variety of rivers in and around New Zealand, building our resumes and extending our experiences we made the decision to head home to Scotland with our new skills and qualifications. It was our good fortune to find a rafting operator based in Scotland who was keen to employ us and offered us a base near friends and family doing what we loved – perfect really!
Water Activities
Land Activities
Meet the team...
Special Offers
New Ace Activity
River Raiders is Back