My interest in squatting began in 1991 after five months traveling through Asia and using the squat toilets there. I even looked at buying a squat toilet and taking it home with me. Being interested in complementary medicines I knew about the health benefits of good elimination ⎯ and that is what I was achieving with the squat position, and the curries!

On a building site in central Australia, perched high, squatting on the rim of a sit down toilet, I figured that some support under my feet would make the whole squatting experience more stable and comfortable. I guess this was my “eureka” moment.

Back in New Zealand I made my first Lillipad. I naively thought that within two months I would have some ready for sale, and that the complementary health community would snap them up. Sadly this was not the case, my rudimentary design probably explains why : ) However, some intrepid souls did purchase the Lillipad and one friend still uses her’s 29 years on ⎯ thank you supporters of fledgling ideas!

How could I make an environmentally friendly product to fit all toilets? This design puzzle obsessed me but I had to get on with my carpentry to pay the bills. The Lillipad's design evolved with my carpentry and joinery skills. In 1997 I went to Munich, Germany, where I helped build sets for industrial fairs and learnt how to use templates to make curves ⎯ a new Lillipad design followed.

Two years latter I was back in New Zealand, and with the help of a government start-up grant I produced a number of Lillipads which I sold with modest results at a music festival. At the same time I was offered a “leading hand” job building sets on the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films so Lillipad went into hiatus. I had a hand in all sorts of sets — mostly dark cavernous ones like Shelob's lair, but my favourites were Weathertop and Hobbiton. It was an exhausting job but my favourite part was taking time to stand back and reflect on the awesomeness of it all.

In 2003 I resurrected the Lillipad business using the internet and it proved a discrete and effective way of reaching my market. The business grew slowly, organically. I added plans to the website for people to build their own squatting platform .

Life is for living and not getting too bogged down, so for two years, my wife Katy and I pursued our dream of doing development aid work supported through Volunteer Service Abroad New Zealand.

During that time I advised the Ebule Rural Training Centre Workshop in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Training was given to students in carpentry, joinery and small business management. The Lillipad slotted well into that environment and gave the students the opportunity to produce a quality product for export. All profits from Lillipad sales up until July 2009 were fed back into the ERTC workshop — contributing to wages, student allowances, maintenance and improvements to facilities.

Our contract in Vanuatu came to an end in December 2009 when we returned to New Zealand and got back into family life, art work, home renovations, and continued producing and developing Lillipads.

In late 2013 we returned from a six month assignment with VSA. Once more assisting with furniture design and production, but this time in a Bamboo Centre near Dili in Timor-Leste. Katy mentored at the Gembel Art Collective.