Host Marcus Lush called this 2009 series a "love letter" to the characters and stories of the south. In this first episode he sleeps over on Dog Island (where he learns a lighthouse doesn’t have curved beds). Then it’s down to Stewart Island to join "Robin’s teepee cult" and meet Mason Bay whānau, and back to the Aucklander's adopted hometown of Bluff to chat with artistic beachcombers. South continued JAM TV’s winning collaboration with Lush (Off the Rails, ICE). At the 2010 Qantas Awards, the series collected gongs for best presenter and for director Melanie Rakena.

This episode in the Open Door series looks at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre. The centre rescues, raises and rehabilitates over a thousand birds every year. It runs breeding programmes for kiwi and other native birds as well as education programs for children and the general public. "No bird is turned away" is the mantra of founders Robert and Robyn Webb. This episode features The Centre's most famous resident, Woof Woof the talking tui (RIP) — see it to believe it!