Dean O'Gorman stars in Pork Pie, screening on Sky Movies Premiere from December 10 at 8.30pm and streaming on Neon from December 18.
HIT
I've been lucky enough to travel around the world a lot, but my all-time favourite holidays are still camping up in Northland over Christmas and New Year. We go up to a family friend's farm, which runs alongside the coast, so there's a beautiful beach. This place also has huge sentimental and nostalgic value to me as my parents have been coming here since their early 20s. There's something really special and familiar about this area, it's just so untouched and secluded — which seems to be quite unique these days. When I go up there, I switch my phone and brain off. I never shave. I go feral. I'll spend most of my days fishing, reading and swimming. The world becomes very small and immediate, which is exactly how I like it.
MISS
I was in India years ago, staying at an old Haveli estate. I'd been travelling for about six weeks and I was exhausted. One of the staff recommended I get a massage from an "Ayurvedic master". I wasn't sure what Ayurveda was, so he recommended a "cleansing massage". Lovely. I agreed, and he began the massage. I then realised I was being slapped to death. He kept whacking my head, legs and face in a very purposeful, business-like manner. This went on for about 40 minutes. My Hindi is made up of only "hi" and "thanks" so I kept giving him my polite but concerned face. He responded with a very energetic "thumbs up" and kept slapping me. Two hours later I rather inconveniently started projectile vomiting at a local market — it felt even worse than the time I decided to get secretly drunk on rum at my folks' house. Weirdly though I woke up the next day feeling unbelievably good. Like someone had replaced my body with a newer version. Turns out the guy really was a master and had removed my toxins that I had been diligently building up in my teens.
