News 8 Throwback: San Diego news crew gets tough assignment of going to New Zealand in 1987
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The resulting six-part series shows the natural beauty of the country and the hospitality of its people.
SAN DIEGO – In 1987 one of our News 8 crews had the daunting task of traveling halfway around the world from San Diego to New Zealand. The resulting six-part series shows the natural beauty of the country and the hospitality of its people.
Part 1
In Part 1 of the series, reporter Loren Nancarrow sets off on the 6,500 mile trek that begins with an Air New Zealand flight. It shows some of the countryside’s lush green landscapes contrasted by the busy city life in Auckland.
Loren also finds out what sports New Zealanders enjoy on the rugby field and at an indoor cricket game.
And although he was far from home, our reporter found trout imported from California in addition to a small forest of our redwoods.
Parts 2 & 3
Part 2 begins with footage of some of New Zealand’s natural features, from scenic vistas to bubbling mud pits. Next we see Auckland, where the CBS 8 crew first touched down. At that time 800,000 people lived here.
“A modern city with glittering skyscrapers,” Loren described.
In the harbor, Loren found that the view of Auckland was different, but just as spectacular. In the country he found deer breeders who advertised the qualities of venison.
A very different landscape was next seen in the Waimangu Valley. The geothermal valley included steaming craters and a boiling lake that reached 140 degrees and more. Loren explained something about the history of the area.
“New Zealand is not only beautiful, it is full of surprises,” he mused.
Next, in the third part, Loren explored the indigenous Maori and a renaissance of their indigenous art, culture and language. Young Maori men at a technical institute learned to make intricate wood carvings that tell the legends of their ancestors. Meanwhile, Maori children learned a forgotten language from their ancestors.
Parts 4 & 5
The landscape in parts 4 and 5 is spectacular. Our crew visited a 1200 acre sheep farm in the central part of the North Island of the country. Sheep roamed the beautiful hills in abundance. Loren said most of the animals were imported and there were no coyotes. A wild sight inside when sheep are sheared. A fast clipper can whip more than 500 sheep a day. Harry was faster than most – in a minute and two seconds he removed six months of growth from a breeding sheep. Hundreds of homes were available for those who chose to vacation in the country. Undoubtedly, this series inspired many San Diego residents to book flights to New Zealand.
Nothing but the best for our crew – in part 5 they stayed at the Huka Lodge in Taupo. Loren said the price of an overnight stay would make a sheikh of an oil-rich nation gasp. We looked it up and it’s still there!
Here they spent the day fishing for trout. A guide helped Loren, “a dedicated non-fisherman”, in an attempt to catch one. You just have to watch and see if it succeeded. Even if he wasn’t, he was obviously having a great time.
Part 6
The last part of the series is about a city on the South Island of New Zealand – Christchurch. It is considered to be the most English city outside of England. And in the English tradition, Loren enjoyed high tea in a beautiful Tudor-style tea room, The Sign of the Takehe.
This story ends with a humorous lesson in New Zealand proverbs. Loren wondered if we really speak the same language when we say things so differently:
- Hiking = trampling
- Drugstore = pharmacy
- Jandals = flip-flops
- Children’s clinics = plunkets
- Liquor store = bottle store
News 8 Photojournalist Scott Hall, who was on the trip with Loren, is still at the station and shared his memories of their amazing trip to New Zealand:
“One of the most colorful and interesting stories I’ve ever worked on was just a couple of years in my career on News 8. The New Zealand Tourism Association had the brilliant – and to me absolutely amazing – idea of starting a US West Coast camera crew Down Under, who could say no? And the chance to work with Loren Nancarrow for a full week was never something I’d turn down, and the outtakes of this trip belies his true warmth and character.
So producer Bob Sioss, camera assistant / photojournalist Jim Myers and I took Loren on an unforgettable journey through the North and South Islands. We were treated to the red carpet by our kiwi guide from the moment we landed in Auckland. Sail in the harbor, taste the great food, soak up the local Maori culture, travel through mud pots, trout fishing on Lake Taupo, overnight on a sheep farm, fly high over the glaciers of Mt Cook, poke the Avon River and mingle Christchurch’s street musicians and speakers in Cathedral Square on their soapboxes … all vivid memories that I carry with me 30+ years later! So much natural beauty and so many friendly people.
It was a dream job for a young photographer and this older photographer would love to come back for a longer visit! “
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