TG4 weather girl heads for Hollywood
If you’re going to get your hands dirty in a world of organic farming, then the sunny climes of California would seem the perfect place to go.
And that’s where TG4’s Connemara weather girl Máiréad Ní Chuaig and Donegal-born Hollywood actor Gavin Ó Fearraigh headed in search of adventure.
The intrepid duo front a new series of WWOOFáil California, which kicked off this week and runs to the end of next month.
It’s the latest string to Máiréad’s bow, because she’s already a familiar face to TG4 viewers as both the face of the weather forecast, continuity announcer and former Paisean Faisean presenter.
Indeed her family are well used to the spotlight – mother Maggie is an actress, while father Micheal is an Irish-language poet, and Máiréad herself starred in Cré na Cille and the short series, Síol.
This is her third series of WWOOFáil , and the California odyssey consists of six half hour episodes as Máiréad and Gavin travel from the sunny surfing beaches of southern California to cowboy country in the north, visiting an array of unique farms during their road trip, making new friends and learning new farming skills.
Along their journey they will fish for salmon with the local Yurok Tribe in Klamath, whale watch in Morro Bay, help in the production of organic wine in Sonoma County and roller skate at San Francisco’s famous Church of Eight Wheels.
WWOOF stands for ‘World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms’ and ‘WWOOFers’ travel to participating member farms to exchange their labour for bed and board. The movement began in the seventies and there are around 11,000 affiliated hosts in almost 100 countries with participants choosing their routes according to the seasons and farming cycle.
Stirling Film & Television Productions have produced this third series of WWOOFáil, and producer Grainne McCotter was keen to show that people, no matter what age, can still travel and learn new skills on a tight budget.
“WWOOFing is a free ticket to an incredible life experience. Not only do you get to volunteer on farms, where you learn to be organic and self sustainable, but you also get three home cooked meals every day and a bed to rest your weary head – all in exchange for four to six hours work on the farm!” she said.
WWOOFáil California is on TG4 on Tuesdays at 10.15pm, repeated on Monday nights.