Get Marcus Lush talking about the deep South (locals counter that detested term, he says, with the shallow North) and there's no mistaking the passion, honesty and captivation in his voice.
He can rabbit on about the unique characters, stories, history and geology without any pauses.
And that was the bones of South: seven weeks' circumnavigating the south of the South Island squeezed into seven half-hour episodes.
Even if he warned us to buckle ourselves in for the ride a few too many times, it was a journey well worth taking.
The often remote spots were breathtakingly beautiful; then there were the classic characters: modern-day Burt Munros with strange passions such as making a garden out of buoys.
"There were stories that were just desperate to be told."
We heard about an angry dad who (rumour had it) threw the man who knocked up his daughter off Dog Island Lighthouse, and get-rich schemes that bankrupted whole towns.
The depth of Lush's research was clear.
"So much TV seems to be a big-city person's look at small towns and slightly belittling, as if small-town people are playing with half a deck. I was determined it wouldn't have that whimsical nostalgia look."
Cleverly interwoven into South were archival footage, offbeat quips and unexpected anecdotes.
And if you wanted to see Lush shirtless in a tepee, or swimming in his grunds in a river, here was your chance.
Lush, who usually looks like he's ransacked an op-shop after the cool kids got there, hadn't had his signature scruffy look with his five o'clock shadow and dishevelled hair tidied for the camera.
