The Nugget: John Ambler

Whether flying helicopters as the owner of premium tour company Heletranz; sailing a boat, or driving a tractor, John Ambler is in his element in the elements.

No wonder he couldn’t wait to get back to New Zealand after 22 years living in Hong Kong piloting jumbos - with the occasional hand-cuffing of passengers to stop them smoking inflight thrown in for good measure.

As a proud Kiwi he reckons New Zealand still blows his mind with its raw beauty and the places you can access - an opinion now entirely shared by a wide-eyed Barack Obama who John’s company choppered round on his recent trip.

Mind you he does miss the excitement of landing a 747 in a typhoon, amongst the skyscrapers at the old Hong Kong airport where he still remembers clearly being able to see what the locals were eating for dinner.

Away from flying, John - together with his Swedish wife Sofia and three daughters aged 13, 11 and 8 (they call themselves Swewis) live on a farm north of Auckland. They all revel in the fresh air, while John also gets to play with his big boy farm toys, brews his own IPA beers, heads out on the water, and scrolls Trade Me and Wheeler Dealers for helicopters, jets, parts and occasionally jousting sticks.

While the last item may not be entirely true, John’s favourite movie is The Castle which would probably help explain his love of finding a cheeky deal.

It’s also one reason he loves our famous 3 for 3 hundy shirts, trou and jerseys bundle offers. That, and our perfect combination of quality and versatility – which includes the appropriately named Captain suit ($700) which comes with two pairs of trou, our white herringbone Lubeck shirt ($120 or 3 for 3 hundy), the Stealth tie ($60) and Rizzo brogues ($230) he’s sporting here.

With a job that’s his passion and a passion that’s his job, he humbly considers himself very lucky.

We think that makes him interesting. So sit back, relax and enjoy your trip through a few more interesting bits about this good bugger.