Life Members

Tim Bulmer (2019)

After learning to dive in early 2015 thanks to a gift from his family, Tim joined AUUC and quickly became a regular fixture in the club. Over just four years he has hit some impressive milestones, not only becoming a Rescue Diver, but refining his skills even further with the GUE Technical diver 1 course, DPV 1 course and a Gas blending course, making him a well balanced and knowledgeable diver with some great stories to tell! But why would such things make us want to make Tim a Life Member? Well anyone that has interacted with Tim in the club will know exactly why this honour is appropriate, but for those who are yet to find out personally, below are some highlights:

Year 1 – Tim became a club gear officer, tirelessly going out of his way for members who had realised at the last minute they didn’t have everything they needed for an upcoming trip, just to ensure that everyone possible can get in the water. This was the year the club had the highest income to date for club rental gear.

Year 2 – Advanced training officer and Vice President – Tim overhauled the clubs training program to ensure a wider variety of courses were available to members alongside the best deals with reputable dive providers making sure everyone was doing courses that suit the type of diving they aspire to while also tending to many other club events. This was the year the club had the highest income to date for Dive Training.

Year 3 & 4 – Tim is the boat officer, maintaining the clubs most valuable asset while designing and negotiating with suppliers to have our new club Sea Minus successfully built. Throughout all these years Tim has also been the main skipper for the club, running up over 250 logged engine hours and single handedly skippering numerous large club trips, spending long days out on the water to ensure everyone gets a chance to dive. Thanks for everything Tim!

Ali Perkins (2010)

Ali has been a passionate diver since her first dive in open water in the Caribbean, the Bay Islands of Honduras in 2003. Since day one there has been no holding her back. Ali has become one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent underwater photographers, and one of New Zealand’s most accomplished female technical divers through her passion for cave diving.

Ali was a finalist in NZ Geographic photographer of the year for 2014, winning the ‘Resene Colour award’, and has published photographs in several books as well as in magazines. Through her website www.inspiredtodive.com Ali is continuing her passion for the underwater world and photography.

She has participated in several important underwater cave exploration and scientific projects including a project which discovered and studied the oldest complete skeleton in all of the Americas ( https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2015/01/first-americans/ )!

Ali joined AUUC in 2006 after moving to Auckland from Adelaide, Australia. Ali quickly became an active member. Ali has served on the committee as a general committee member, Web Master, and Vice President.

Simon Freeman (2008)

Simon joined the Auckland University Underwater Club in 2001. As a student at Auckland University he studied engineering and marine biology, graduating to a position as a product development engineer at Fisher and Paykel Healthcare.

Simon became Secretary of AUUC in 2004, President in 2005, Training Officer in 2006, Boat Officer in 2007 and Flotsam Editor in 2008. He made an enormous contribution to the club over several years for which we really can’t be thankful enough.

Simon has TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures qualifications and was usually observed diving on twin tanks down around 50+ metres, looking for uncommon species of fish and coral and snapping away with his camera rated to 40 metres.

Dr Garry J. Tee (1981)

After Garry Tee graduated from Auckland University College as M.Sc. (N.Z.), his first job was as a computer, with an oil-prospecting team in northwest Australia. In 1958, human computers began to be supplemented by electronic computers in geophysics, and it was obvious to him that electronic digital computers were going to become extremely important. Accordingly, he went to England, where he became a mathematician in English Electric Company, which manufactured DEUCE computers (based on Alan Turing’s design for ACE). From 1964 to 1968 he was a foundation member of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Lancaster, and then he returned to the Department of Mathematics at the University of Auckland.

He has worked mostly on numerical analysis, and on the history of science. He has looked around in New Zealand and Australia for historical scientific material, and has found much more than he expected. In particular, he has found very many relics of Charles Babbage and many letters from Charles Darwin, plus numerous manuscripts of other eminent scientists, and he has published accounts of those relics.

Garry joined AUUC in 1969. In 1970 he started the club newsletter and five issues were produced in that year. This newsletter later became known as Flotsam.

Dr Roger Grace (1981)

Dr Grace is one of New Zealand’s great underwater photographers. A well known scientist, he has published many reports on the state of our marine environment. Dr Grace often works as a photographer for the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, and has supported marine conservation in New Zealand for decades.

John Catton (1976)

John Catton was well known and respected within the diving community. His disappearance while diving in 1979 shocked all divers in New Zealand, as he was a very skilled diver who was careful about safety. A memorial plaque installed in Northern Arch at the Poor Knights Islands to commemorate his passing went missing (presumed stolen) in 2008, causing deep shock and great disappointment amongst former club members who were mates with John.

Dr Richard Willan (1976)

Dr Richard Willan was a member of AUUC from 1971 to 1979 and Secretary from about 1973 to 1975. He has studied nudibranchs for almost 40 years and obtained his B.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Auckland studying the taxonomy and ecology of side-gilled sea slugs and sea hares. The common New Zealand nudibranch Cadlina willani is named after him. Today, Dr Willan is Senior Curator of Molluscs and Editor of Academic Publications at the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Australia. He is a contributing nudibranch expert on the Nudi Pixel website.