Our Team

Board of directors

The directors of Pukaki Estate Holdings Limited, the corporate trustee of The Pukaki Trust, are all long-time practitioners of yoga and meditation and serve as directors on a volunteer basis.

Director - blake foster

Blake Foster conceived, created, and works our organic lavender farm which produces award-winning organic oil. Blake is a lavender oil judge for the New Zealand Lavender Grower's Association and has served on the Association's Executive Committee since 2013. Blake lives on Pukaki Downs with his wife Jackie and has been a director since 2010.

director - Jivana Gabriel

Jivana Gabriel is our administration manager, operates our lavender store, takes care of our seasonal workforce, and a myriad of other duties. Jivana is also a qualified snowboard instructor. She lives on Pukaki Downs with her husband Ethan, who manages our visitor accommodation and wilding clearance, and their two children. Jivana has been a director since 2014. 

director - denyse mccracken

Denyse McCracken has worked in the education and health sectors for over 30 years and is a long-time practitioner and advocate of meditation. While raising her two children, Denyse worked within a school literacy program for several years. She has worked for the last 20 years as a retail health consultant. Denyse has been a director since 2017.

director - andre tumahai

Andre Tumahai is a kaumātua of Ngāti Whātua. His family is prominent in the leadship of Ngāti Whātua and Ngāi Tahu. He is the proprietor and sole director of Andre Tumahai Floors Pty/Ltd, a successful Timber floor colouring business in Sydney, Australia. He has worked in the industry for over 40 years starting in Auckland in the early 1970s. Andre has been a director since 2019.

group general manager - george ormond

George Ormond manages and oversees all the Trust’s operations. He has over 30 years experience in property management and development. He is also one of the founding trustees of the Mackenzie Basin Wilding Trees Trust who are leading efforts to eradicate wildings from the Mackenzie Basin

Yoga teacher - tamara waite

Tamara Waite has been practising yoga for over 20 years. She began her yoga teacher journey on the Gold Coast, Australia in 2008, where she completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training with Veda Yoga and then worked as an instructor in a yoga studio in Brisbane for three years. Since 2012 she has taught community classes and hosted wellness workshops and retreats in the Mackenzie region