Hunter gatherer
Leeches, jungle treks and caged eagles... our Rach has come a long way since those Trumpet ice cream ads. By Kate Mead.
IT’S about as far from a glamorous Sports Illustrated shoot as you can get. Supermodel Rachel Hunter is clambering up a volcano in Sumatra. Her outfit is functional, not fashionable. Her face is fresh; there’s not a skerrick of make-up to be seen. Andin her unkempt hair there’s a bloodsucking leech.
Hunter is roughing it in the Sumatran jungle for our viewing pleasure. She’s the first traveller in the new season of award-winning series Intrepid Journeys, where a Newzealand celebrity visits an exotic destination and envelopes themselves in the culture.
Describing herself as a ‘‘lover of adventure’’, Los Angeles-based Hunter finds that this expedition takes her out of her comfort zone. She tells us she’s relishing the opportunity to learn more about another culture and admits the western Indonesian island is ‘‘a world away from the life I know’’.
This is most apparent when she’s climbing that volcano and her aptlynamed guide Smiley is yanking leeches from Hunter’s body during the ascent.
It’s a hard slog that is further hindered thanks to Hunter’s recent back surgery. For her efforts, she’s rewarded with a landscape view awash with fog.
During the episode Hunter also visits the village of Dokan where she enjoys a night cooking with the locals and sleeping in a communal room alongside an extended family of 35.
She’s comfortable here and lets her guard down – both to the camera and her hosts – speaking highly of rocker ex-husband Rod Stewart and revealing she’s at a crossroads in life that’s feeding a desire to return tonewzealand.
The self-contemplation is shattered when she visits Banda Aceh, where the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami devastated the region, causing 61,000 deaths.
Wesee Hunter’s sensitive side when she comes across a caged eagle. Distressed at the sight, she journey along the Inca Trail and comedian Oscar Kightley’s trip to Burma.