'He had 20 Tupperware boxes full of snakes': Hector on his new series in Australia

Hector Ó hEochagáin's new TG4 series is full of interesting encounters with locals and ex-pat Irish 

Hector Ó hEochagáin in an episode of his latest TG4 travel show Hector OZ/NZ.

Hector Ó hEochagáin has an enviable knack for striking up lively conversation with strangers, a useful trait for a TV travel show presenter. In Hector OZ/NZ – a seven-part series in which he clocks up 55,000 kilometres travelling around Australia and the length of New Zealand’s north and south islands – his unwitting foils include postmen, truckers and snake hunters.

The snake hunter is an occupation peculiar to Australia. The country is festooned with snakes during summer months. Ó hEochagáin and his film crew stumbled upon a snake hunter at a Costco petrol station in Diamond Creek, a suburb an hour outside Melbourne, which was closed off because of a snake alarm. The snake hunter’s job is to catch snakes and release them in the wild. Hector spent a day with the snake hunter to get a feel for his work.