Whanganui Chronicle motoring writer John Maslin goes on a road trip with a twist; one involving some driving but a lot of fishing and meeting a bloke just about as famous as his partner and their baby.
Clarke Gayford reckons he has a seafood recipe book in the wings, one that will be co-written with his partner.
But at the moment that plan is parked up because there's precious little time. While he's busy with his TV programme all about fishing, his partner, Jacinda Ardern, is running the country as our Prime Minister.
Gayford was a key figure in a Holden NZ event held at Whitianga recently. While the three-day programme involved some driving in Colorado utes, a Trailblazer and Equinox SUVs, it was really a day fishing off the Coromandel coast that was the focus.
His TV programme - Fish of the Day – is sponsored by Holden. The car company also brought along two of its brand ambassadors – former All Blacks Mils Muliaina and Steven "Beaver" Donald.
Muliaina has become a familiar comments man in rugby TV shows. He was promoting a sports' mentoring programme in secondary schools but demands of fronting TV rugby shows has taken precedence. Donald is still playing Super Rugby, albeit making fewer appearances and hints another trip to Japan later this year could signal an end to his career. While he is a serious recreational fisher, Muliaina is not in his league.
We drove from Auckland to Whitianga via Thames then over the 309 Road north of Tapu, to the beach resort. While most of the drive was on sealed roads, the stretch between 309 Road and Whitianga and the return journey from Coroglen to Tapu was largely unsealed and a decent test for the vehicles.
One stop, halfway along route 309, brought us to a farm which has a grassed speedway circuit of sorts. Dubbed Whitianga's raceway, it's a place not many would know about but is a graveyard for some cars that locals used to hoon around a paddock. The results of their efforts are now rusting away under boundary trees.
We tried this rogue grass track in one of the Colorados. The ute held its own on a surface that can be generously described as undulating.
As for the fishing, it was an exhilarating day about 20km off Whitianga chasing "kingies" (kingfish), On our charter boat both Beaver and I landed the biggest (our best fish were both over 20kg).
The kingfish is one of those pure game fish; all sleekness and muscle. Landing them involves an intense struggle lasting only a few five minutes but leaving the angler exhausted.
Gayford had his own boat on the water and in an interview with the Chronicle later he explained he was no fishing expert, rather a bloke keen on fishing and not afraid to ask locals for their advice.
He said getting the TV programme off the ground was a struggle but it has gained traction and is now seen in more than 83 countries, including Africa, Asia, the Middle East, some European countries and Australia. The massive US market is another nut to be cracked.
"We really rolled the dice to get it up and running in what is really quite a saturated market in New Zealand. But while it's a fishing show we've used that as an excuse to make it part travel show as well," he said.
A feature of the show – entering its fourth season - is keeping brand intrusion (from sponsors and the like) to a minimum to make selling the show overseas easier.
"Mike Bhana [his producer] and I are such big believers in the Pacific region which offers some of the best destinations in the world for people wanting to get outdoors, going fishing and looking at what we've got. We believe it's so important to show the rest of the world how good it is here."
And Gayford acknowledges there is a strong undercurrent of environmental issues with his TV show.
"You can't ram conservation down peoples' throats but you can gently walk them through scenarios and say to them: 'Look at this. If we look after it this is the result we can get'.
"It's a resource for all of us to enjoy and we're always trying to find that balance, that way to make the most of it. I always see my job as trying to connect people to the ocean around them, particularly New Zealanders. We've got so much coastline, we're all very close to the sea.
"It's about having people looking at this big expanse of water and showing them what going on underneath it."
There are plenty of fishing shows on air but the point of difference to Gayford's is showing that everything viewers see is accessible to them all. His upbringing in Gisborne fostered his love of the sea.
"It's not as if it's out of touch. It's just a matter of whether you want to take part in that adventure yourself," he said.
But back to his job and the prime ministerial role of his partner Jacinda Ardern; how do they strike a work-life balance now they have baby daughter Neve in the household?
"None of it has been easy. For the first time in my life I've had to get quite organised," Gayford said.
They both rely on the generosity of their respective mothers to help when either parliamentary business takes precedence or he's off shooting another episode of his fishing show.
"Quite simply I couldn't do it if I didn't have Neve's grandmothers on board."
Given Gayford is such a fishing "tragic" you have to ask if the PM likes seafood.
"She loves it and loves cooking it but we just don't have that much time."
But then given the history of their relationship, she would probably have to like seafood.
"Back in the early days of our relationship I kept turning up with fish and crayfish and she kept coming up with all these recipes to cook them. We joked about writing a cookbook, something along the lines of 'Teach a man to fish and you're going to need this book'."
Meantime, that book's on the back-burner as one of the potential authors goes fishing and the other runs the nation.
