INSPIRATIONS:

Mel Homer is the co-host of Coast radio’s afternoon Drive! show and host of TV3’s weekday show The Café.

what makes TV and radio host Mel Homer happy

WHEN I NEED TO GET SOME SPARK BACK I get in or on the ocean, INTO MY SOUL… either surfing or sailing.

A great book I recently read is… Only one? I’m an avid reader. I really liked American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, but over summer I absolutely could not put down Left for Dead by Nick Ward. It’s the extraordinary tale of the 1979 Fastnet yacht race, which was hit by a huge storm; 19 people died and many boats were lost. Nick Ward regained consciousness only to find his crew had disappeared and he was alone on a boat with a dying man. Amazing story. The three words I use to describe myself are… Funny, loving, ridiculous.

The quality I admire most in people is… The confidence to march to the beat of their very own drum, even when lots of people around them don’t like drums.

My fondest childhood memory is… My dad coming in every night to pull the wrinkles out of my bed.

How do you feel about getting older?

Some days I feel great and happy and lucky to be here doing what I do, and on other days I look in the mirror and think, “How did that 90-year-old sneak into my house?” A book that changed my life is… Where Did I Come From by Peter Mayle. I remember laughing with my sister at, “Peanuts but without the t…” A staple for every kid in the 70s to learn the birds and the bees.

If I could star in anything it would be… A global cooking and adventure show where I travel the globe eating and adventuring. The five people I would have at my ideal dinner party… Dave Grohl, Keanu Reeves, (because who wouldn’t), my friend Sonia, who can make anyone laugh, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Taika Waititi.

My number one pick for a karaoke song is… Shonen Knife’s version of Top of the World.