No Ordinary Ace Software Developer

No Ordinary Ace Software Developer

In a couple of weeks the life of Christchurch software developer, Daniel Wood, will look a whole lot different.

Daniel’s day usually consists of sitting at his computer, building bespoke software systems for clients at Digital Fusion. He’s considered by his colleagues as a gun, a specialist and the “go-to” guy when you want something built fast and flawless. But that’s not all, he’s also the reigning 2012 TeamDF pool champion and is pretty handy around the company basketball hoop.

However, come January 4th, Daniel will be winging his way to Egypt to start an epic journey, cycling from Cairo to Cape Town – that’s 12,000km, 10 countries and a whole lot of time in the saddle.
He won’t be doing it alone though, the trip is organised by the folks at Tour d'Afrique (http://tourdafrique.com) and Daniel will be accompanied by about 50 other like-minded crazies who also thought this might be “fun”. Tour d'Afrique is run most years and despite the dangerous nature of the landscape, political unrest and man eating wildlife along the way… they almost always get everyone home safely.

But Daniel isn’t just doing it for the thrills, he’s also raising money for The Heart Foundation in both Australia and New Zealand. Digital Fusion have created a website (http://www.teamdf.com/gonewild/) to allow punters to donate, and anyone interested will be able to track his progress as the adventure unfolds. Daniel has set himself a fundraising target of $12,000 – that’s $1 for every kilometre travelled and he’s nearly hit the $5k mark already.

So how’s he feeling about it? Good question. For those that know Daniel well, he’s a quietly spoken young guy from Invercargill. His boss, Craig Saunders, fondly remembers taking Daniel on his first trip out of the South Island about 5 years ago... all the way to Tokoroa!

Daniel is no adrenalin junkie, you won’t find him jumping out of planes or off bridges… he’d much prefer a pleasant and leisurely bike in the country.

So biking through Africa is a big deal and he’s understandably nervous. “I’m an anxious person by nature, I can’t help it, I’ve just learnt to live with it!”

Good luck Daniel, you’re a real superstar!

www.digitalfusion.co.nz

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