Locals feature in This Town (+ video)

Jam TV films Tuhua Mutu yesterday for an episode of TVNZ programme This Town, which will focus on Rotorua locals. Photo / Stephen Parker

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things for the Rotorua community is the focus of an upcoming episode of This Town.

The second season of the TVNZ series will screen in July and a film crew from Jam TV has just spent up to 12 days meeting and talking to the featured locals.

The programme celebrates New Zealanders' connection to where they live and why they call it home.

The series has no presenter and focuses on the people telling their own stories to camera.

Season one explored an Otago family who built their own power station, a Taranaki woman who turned her house into a horse museum and the Patea Maori Club.

Director Dean Cornish said among the Rotorua people they filmed were Noel Hyde and Debbie Stewart, of Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre, Katie Williams of the Kiwi Coffin Club, Rosemary and Ray McCully, and Tak and his brother Tuhua Mutu, of Multi-Day Adventures.

The crew of four spent yesterday afternoon filming the brothers as they took Trenz delegates on a mountain-bike tour at Waipa Mountain Bike Park.

"Each episode is in a different provincial area, Rotorua is a bit bigger for us but it's still interesting. All about the people, good buggers doing interesting stuff. Researcher rings around, puts her sniffers out," Mr Cornish said.

"It's been great to meet interesting people who contribute to the community, they have their own stories to tell, great people doing amazing stuff."