14/05/2026
So why do I do it? The Arborist thing?
Let me introduce myself
My name is Arthur Fairlight
Aka Arthur the Arborist
Previously known as Naked Dan the Tree Man
I changed my name to Arthur about 3 years ago with the intention of discovering my True King, if he exists, in between the wild polarity of my Crumbling King and my Tyrant King. The journey has brought a lot of learning, including how annoying it can be be to change one’s name halfway through a life, and a lot of growth - although I still feel like a rebellious squire or an aloof mage more than a king who joyfully tends to all the things in his kingdom most of the time.
There’s also something about Arcturus tied to the name which is still a mystery to me.
So why Arboriculture?
Because I love it - would be a true answer but not very revealing.
Really, the grand vision I had when I was 22 - build an earthship. Or some kind of beautiful natural wood and earth house.
And to do that, I thought I must learn how to mill timber, and to know that I thought I must learn about trees, and then popped up this arborist course in Whitianga.
So I did the course… and I had NO IDEA how much I was going to love swinging around in a tree with a chainsaw!
I signed up for a landscaping course immediately after the Arb course… but it didn’t stick. It just felt so… boring… working on the ground… I wanted to be IN THE TREES! (No offence to landscapers y’all are amazing)
7 years later and I thought I would have moved on to the next part by now - milling, learning timber framing, cob, Strawbale, earthship design and techniques… well to be fair, I have dabbled in all of those.
But my place, for now, remains to be up the tree.
Perhaps that will change when the right land or community presents itself, and the vision for that which begs to be built will overwhelm my love for swinging in trees, and I do feel I’m getting closer to that.
For now, there are people who need trees cut, and it just so happens that I have the perfect combination of madness, precision, adrenaline addiction, love of trees and targeted risk taking to pull off this crazy job.
Time to get back up the tree 🌳
