History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After graduating from the University of Bath with a degree in visual communication, I taught art at the prestigious Marlborough College, before a career panic led me to teach English in Brazil for a year and a period spent exploring the Americas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Returning to England, I ran a pub in Suffolk in the early 1970s, saving up to satisfy my wanderlust before embarking on a journey through Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussia, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal \u2013 you name it. It was the old hippy trail. I was a hippy, if you cut to the chase. I don\u2019t mind saying it because it\u2019s almost back in fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After crisscrossing the world, another stint in England and yet more travelling, I eventually landed in New Zealand with my then-partner Lisa in 1979, settling in Akaroa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I worked as a builder\u2019s labourer to support my family, taught at the local school and became director of Akaroa Museum, eventually ending up as chairman of the Museums Association of New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stevelowndes.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Peoples-choice-044-683x1024.jpg\")
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