Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL: A Fun Radio Show > LOCKDOWN

Episode Date: August 18, 2021

Kia ora New Zealand, we are baaaaaaaack in lockdown (and in your earholes)! Hope everyone is doing ok. We are acutely aware that the number of listeners we had this morning probably averaged at about 5, but luckily you can catch us on this poddy! Even though the lockdown news is pretty dull, we had some fun on this show to bring you guys some laughs! We spoke to Mitchell who was up at 6.30 drinking bourbon, the true definition of going hard and going early. We caught up with The Hippo AKA Chris Hipkins, and of course while we chatted Covid, we also VERY IMPORTANTLY pitched some more nicknames to him. And finally, Ben went on a couple of on-air dates with some listeners. Weird. Anyway, today's a fun one. Stay safe, stay sanitised and GOOD DAY AOTEAROA!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

happy happy happy oh oh just when you thought you couldn't get enough of jono and ben you can have them anywhere anytime welcome to the jono and ben podcast welcome to wednesday the 18th of august it's the podcast intro with Jono and Ben. You may have noticed something different and more unusual about my voice. Yeah, you're going through the mask at the moment. Muffled. Sounds quite muffled, doesn't it?

Yeah. So we've been told to wear masks and I will continue to do so. Well, you're allowed to. I think we're in our bubble wear. Mask wearing is always an interesting one, isn't it? I found that at the Olympics. Sometimes people would be wearing masks, but then they'd be boxing each other or playing basketball against each other.

And then they'd do it with their medal presentation. With masks on. And then they'd take them off moments after. It's either mask on. You're either going full Batman 100% of the time, or you're going Bruce Wayne. I'll tell you what, I feel like people look cooler going onto a going onto a plane the other day, and seeing everyone in the masks, I was like, oh, everyone looks a bit mysterious.

Everyone looks sexier, don't they? Everyone looks cooler, a bit more mysterious, a little bit more badass as well. You know, like just the whole way. Just looking at eyes. Yeah, I'm like, oh, Jesus, walking onto a plane full of masked people. It's amazing how much the bottom half of your face really affects the way that people perceive you, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

You don't really know if people are smiling. How sexy do I look? Look at your eyes. Yeah, good. Sexy eyes. You're trying to do the smizing, the smiling with your eyes. Something I thought we should do on our social as well, I don't know if it's been done before,

is a wee game called The Masked Singer, where we put photos of singers with masks on, just your standard mask, and we have to work out which singer it is. That's a great idea. It's kind of like that. Oh, no, it's a TV show, isn't it? But different. Different than a TV show.

I thought it was original format. Well, it's original in this way. They're just wearing a mask like you were wearing right now. I'm like, which singer's that? You're like, oh, it's Arun Kandek. Clearly it's such and such, but not quite as hard to work out, but we can do it. I like that. We'll do that. We'll put it on our social right now.

But there's no one in at work at the moment. Empty building. Actually, this is how we started when we worked here for the first time, was in the middle of the first lockdown. And it was unusual turning up to this building with no one there. Didn't know anyone. And then when they started turning up about four or five weeks later. Well, there's a lot of people that work in this place. And we sort of, all of a sudden, during that period, become quite territorial.

Yeah. Who are you? We've worked here for nine years. We weren't here the last four weeks. It is kind of weird. We're just in our own little bubble. It's awesome we get to come to work and sort of help everyone through this lockdown period and bring you the latest news and information.

Today on the show, there was a lot about lockdown here in New Zealand, but we've kind of gone back into it, and you kind of need to refresh all the things you need to know. You basically just got to stay at home. Well, yeah, but there's all this. People say, oh, is this the takeaway? Can I do this? There's so many, you know.

Even the Prime Minister said it. You said it before, but the Prime Minister said it last night. She was like, oh, yeah, I say don't panic, but everyone goes and does it. So even if people know what they're not meant to do, they still. She's like, you know I've got to say this, and you know you're not going to listen to me say this, but don't go panic buy, and the supermarkets are well stocked.

And then if anything, her going, don't go panic buy, and goes, oh, I need to go pick that up at the supermarket. But you see other people there going, well, what happens if I leave it? They've taken all the stuff. And that gets into your psyche as well. I do appreciate we haven't had a be kind so far. Oh, she shucked a little one in the end. Did she do a be kind?

It was more of like, and you know what you need to do, be kind, you know? Yeah, right. It was more of like, and you know it's coming. Yeah. What they are hammering home is a hard and early regime at the moment, aren't they? Yes. Go hard, go early. And we had a lot of fun with hard and early on at the moment, aren't they? Yes. Go hard, go early. And we had a lot of fun with hard and early on the show this morning.

We did. Didn't we? And also, Charlotte Ballas joined us from Afghanistan. She's a New Zealand reporter working for Al Jazeera, the news network over there. And she had some wild stories about the Taliban taking over Kabul. I mean, yeah. The whole country, actually. Yeah, she's awesome.

I mean, what she's doing for a job is just incredible. She was on the side of the road today and a whole ute load of Taliban fighters with machine guns and rocket launchers, they pulled up and started talking to her. She said they were lovely. Yeah, she actually feels, like didn't feel quite as scared as I thought.

I would be petrified being over there, but she is just, yeah. She's like, where are you from? And she's feels, like, didn't feel quite as scared as I thought. I would be petrified being over there. But she is just, yeah. She's like, where are you from? And she's like, New Zealand. And they're like, oh, New Zealand. How's our English? And she said, it's very good. And they just had a wonderful interaction.

That's amazing. Yeah, she feels actually quite safe. Because obviously the news network she works for is very well respected right around the world. And at the moment, they're like, hey, we have you here. And you're providing the message. She's the only female foreign journalist still in Afghanistan. Crazy.

Yeah, well, play that chat in the podcast. Have a great day. Stay safe, stay sanitised and just remember, be kind. Be kind. You could learn a thing or two about being kind to me. When have you ever been kind to me? Be kind. No, I'll be kind. Jono and Ben, the hits.

Back to this again, Altair. Here I go again. There you go. For fans of rock from, what, 1987. Wise thing. David Coverdale. Do you know my only cool story I've got is once I was having breakfast in Wellington and David Coverdale from the band Whitesnake.

To this song here. He sang this song here. He was sitting next to me, and he's like, what's your name, mate? And I said, oh, Jono. That's a shocking impersonation of David Coverdale. And I was with my wife, Jen. He's like, I'm dining by myself. Let's have breakfast together.

And so then I sat and had breakfast with David Coverdale. Did you know who he was? Yeah, I knew who he was. And then he introduced himself. He said, David Coverdale. I said, Jon he was? Yeah, I knew who he was. And then he introduced himself. He said, David Coverdale. He said, John O'Prior. Did he go from Whitesnake? He didn't say from Whitesnake.

I sang that song. Yeah! Oh, yeah. So we had a wonderful breakfast together. He was a true gentleman. There you go. That's my only cool story. He even paid for it.

He paid for it as well. He paid for it. It was one of those buffet situations you could keep going up. Well, we'll repay you that breakfast now by playing a little bit. We'll play it again now. Yeah, there you go. There you go. That's their buffet paid back to David Coverdale.

Well, I thought it was an appropriate song because that's what all New Zealand was thinking last night. The promise to Jacinda Ardern. Just after six o'clock, of course, announced this for New Zealand. New Zealand will move to alert level 4 from 11.59pm tonight. Level 4 will be for initial period of 3 days except for Auckland and the Coromandel

Peninsula who we anticipate will likely be at level 4 for 7 days due to them being most closely linked to our current case. Why is she talking to me like I'm four years old? She likes to spell it out, doesn't she? It will be.

I was thinking that as well. She gets that bit where she goes, New Zealand will go into a lot. That bit in her head, she'd be like, don't screw this bit out, because that's the bit they're going to use on the radio and the news over and over. That's the bit you need to get out there. She always comes in with a long lead-in too, and you're like, just tell us, just tell us. That's what you want to know. You're like, what is it?

Then she threw to Bloomfield. I was like, don't throw to Bloomfield. Come back. We all suddenly go, what is it? Is it a lockdown? What's going to happen? And then I looked at the NZ Herald, and they were like, yep, seven-day lockdown in Auckland,

the three-day, you know, like, they kind of had it out there already. They didn't have the backstory. But obviously, she needs to explain why and the reasons behind and looking at Australia and looking at everything else. And as we all know, there's a case in the community and they don't have any real leads to how they got it.

So it is a little bit worrying. And it's just an assumption that it's the Delta variant at the moment. But they are saying, well, it's been showing up at the borders, Delta. So they are having to act like it is the Delta variant. And what are the results? They're going hard and they're going early. Going hard and early. Go hard and early.

Go hard, go early. Hard and early. Go hard. Yeah, I reckon hard and early. We should be the name of our breakfast radio show. Hard and early. That'd be a great name. Can you hear that again?

Going hard and early. Go hard and early. Go hard, go early. Hard and early. Go hard, go early. Hard and early. Go hard. It's also the name of Jenna Pryor's OnlyFans account. It's a very disappointing account. I mean, the good thing is it saves you on time.

If you're there for a short time, you're in a rush, you're between appointments, check on to my OnlyFans, hard and early. I'm sorry, you've got to do a bit of a laugh. If anyone wants to follow hard and early, check me out on OnlyFans. Obviously we'll be updating you throughout the morning as any new information comes to hand.

There's been a few places of locations of interest that have been announced. We're going to talk to Chris Hipskins, as you mentioned before, the Health Minister, just after 8 o'clock this morning, get the latest updates. We'll get all, you know, we're along with the ride with you. We'll be going hard, and we'll be going early all morning. I have a question, is anyone listening to this?

Are we just three people talking to ourselves? Too early, we've gone too early. Everyone's like, oh, I don't know if anyone's actually listening to us. Well, fine We've gone too early. Everyone's like... Yeah. Oh, I don't know the hits. Is anyone actually listening to us? Well, fine. Don't do this game. Don't play this game.

Was there any point in us even talking just then? Who knows? It is the hits. Stick with us. If you're still there, it is. Jono and Ben. Morning. Of course, as we mentioned just before,

last night it was announced Auckland and Coromandel going into a level four lockdown for seven days. Rest of the country for three days. One case in the community. And we'll find out later on this morning if they've got some leads as to how this person got infected by COVID-19 and what variant of COVID they've got. Yeah, it's quiet out there. I tell you what, I didn't see a soul driving into work, mainly because I didn't have my eyes open for a large part of the journey. There was a few cars on the road.

I was a bit surprised. Yeah, there was probably more than I... This is level four, right? And I had to be like, what's this one? This is the one without takeaways, right? And you can't get takeaways. It's basically stay home, no gatherings. Everyone, we've been through this before.

169 days, I think, we went without any community cases in New Zealand last night. This is a long run. And it's one case, and we've gone hard and we've gone early, as the Prime Minister said. Going hard and early. Go hard and early. Go hard, go early. Hard and early. Go hard.

Now, have we gone too hard and too early on the radio front? So that's my question. What do you mean? Well, is anyone listening to this? The whole country is in lockdown. Yeah So that's my question. What do you mean? Well, is anyone listening to this? The whole country is in lockdown. Yeah, there's no schools. There's hardly any businesses going open. So yeah, you're right. Some people

are probably just sleeping in, aren't they? Yeah. I mean, I don't even want to be here. So let alone anyone at home waking up, oh, I must flick on Jono and Ben on the hits. Yeah, they'll get me through this. We've just checked it out there, is anyone listening? And we've got a full board of calls

This is our most popular photo topic we've ever done At 6.20 in the morning Is anyone listening? Why haven't we done this before? Jolene, welcome, you're in Tairua I am And you're listening Great, thank you, but why?

What's going on? I'm working. What do you do, Jolene? I deliver the hero. Oh, now I tell you what, that's an essential service. Now, what's the feeling in the Coromandel? Because I just saw on the news there was some tensions overnight. Oh, well, we're in Pairoa, so I'm not sure.

Oh, you're in Pairoa, not Taitoa. Oh, right. Yeah, Pairoa, not Taitoa. Oh, right. Are the streets quiet in Pairoa, so I'm not sure. Oh, you're in Pairoa, not Tairua. Oh, right. Yeah, Pairoa, not Pairoa. Oh, right. Are the streets quiet in Pairoa? Well, they were not quiet at 5 o'clock this morning. Oh, really? Yeah, well, I was a bit surprised there's a few cars out and about this morning, because

this is the one... Yeah. There was a lot of cars out. Yeah. How's the L&P bottle? Yeah, it's still standing. Good. Yeah, good.

Good to hear, Jolene. Hey, well, you keep safe and you keep delivering that herald, okay? We have a personal investment in that paper. All right. Mainly because they own this radio station. Take care of yourself. Thank you so much for listening this morning. All right, we'll move on.

Are you listening? Alan, you're on from Masters in Ben's hometown. Hi. How's Masters in? Not too bad, mate. Not too bad? Ben managed to escape Masters in when he was about 18. Alan, how long have you lived there?

Oh, see, that's the tricky part, mate. I wasn't born here. I was an importer. You moved there? Stunningly, I chose to move here. There's actually some wonderful places there now. I think it all picked up once I left. Alan's like, Ben's gone, I'm in.

And here I was, lads, about to give you guys the pitch, going, come on, guys, believe in yourselves. People want to hear you. Oh, thank you, Alan. Thank you. It's good. We started all doom and gloom. Who's listening?

We should be doing that. What are you doing, Alan? Why are you listening? Well, I'm driving on my way to work. I'm going to go and get everything set up, ready for contractors and things like that, under level four. Right. Hey, well, good luck. No doubt there's a lot of admin to do, Alan.

You keep safe out there, okay? Will do, lads. All right. We're going to Christchurch, too. Mitchell, you're listening. How's it going? Oh, good. All right.

How are you this morning? Yeah, I'm not too bad. Pretty good. Yeah, seven listeners is the most listeners we've ever had. Mitchell, what do you do? Why are you up? Normally I start work at six. I got the day off.

Jacinda said go hard, go early, so I'm having a bourbon, and you're keeping me entertained. Oh, you have gone and gone with a bourbon. You've gone harder than us, but that's great. I love it. You're drinking bourbon. Yeah. I'll probably finish early too Alright, well he's followed Jacinda's rules Last night at the press conference she's like

You know I say don't panic boy, no one listens to me Well Mitch will listen He went hard and he went early Mitch you have a great day my friend, alright You too guys, thank you Thank you so much for sticking with us New Zealand We'll have a great day, my friend, all right? You too, guys. Thank you. That made my morning. Thank you so much for sticking with us, New Zealand. We'll have a lot of fun over the next couple of hours.

It is the hits. You've got John O'Byrne. Hard-hitting interviews and informed opinion. Mike Hosking on Newstalk's Ed Bean. In the meantime, here's John O'Byrne. The hits. Good morning. A strange morning for New Zealand because we're back to lockdown all over the country.

Three days for everyone outside of Auckland in the Coromandel. And joining us, and we thank him very much for his time this morning, COVID Response Minister Chris Hipkins. Thanks for your time. Good morning, guys. Lovely to have you on, Chris. It felt like you felt that this was always coming.

Yeah, look, you can be as prepared for it as you like and you can be as vigilant as you like. There's always a bit disappointing when it happens. Obviously, I think everyone would have loved to have been able to get through this without an extra flare-up of cases, but unfortunately, that's not what we got. Now, because last week you were like, you know, if it comes out, if Delta gets out in the community, we're going to go hard and we're going to go early. So did you have an inkling in your gut that it was going to happen?

Oh, well, if you look at Australia, you know, despite the best protective measures that they could possibly put in place, you know, they still ended up dealing with cases. So we knew that regardless of what we did, there was still this possibility that we were going to find ourselves dealing with cases, unfortunately. So we've been prepared for it, but, you know, it's still frustrating and disappointing, obviously.

When you mentioned that, it reminded me of a parent sort of preparing for a child to leave a party early you've got to sort of get in a bit early go guys we're leaving in the next 45 okay put your shoes on it's time to go obviously not not uh the best news this morning with more cases and confirmed it is the delta variant uh i guess it probably shows it wasn't an overreaction by the government as some some people were saying yesterday, to go hard and go early and to do the snap lockdown. Well, you know, to some extent, I'm a bit of an optimist here. And I actually think that the extra cases that we've seen overnight are really encouraging because it shows that the contact tracing system's working. If we know that there are cases out there, and we do know that there are cases out there, the faster we identify them, the better.

So the fact that, you know, we had the person's case A, the person who was identified yesterday, his workmates were tested by the end of the day. We got a positive result from one of them. And their household close contacts were already tested by the end of the day yesterday. That means that we've already got two rings, effectively, of contacts around this case. That's really encouraging. The faster we get those rings of contact around positive cases, then the faster we stamp out the spread of it. So I'm quite encouraged by it. I know it might sound counterintuitive,

but extra positive results early on is actually a good sign. Do you have any inkling how this 58-year-old from Devonport caught the Delta variant? No, we don't, and that's actually another reason why early positive cases is a good sign because it potentially helps us to identify the source of transmission. So

we know we've got a link to the health system now we've got a nurse who was fully vaccinated that's one potential link but we just keep exploring that might not be the link at all and so we've just got to keep digging and digging and digging, making sure we're testing as many people as possible. We're getting those contact tracers on the phones.

The phones will be burning over the next couple of days as we just make sure that we're running down all of the risk. Now, you say that the nurse at Auckland Hospital was vaccinated. Did she have one shot or two shots? Fully vaccinated, so we've had both of her shots. One of the things that we know about COVID-19, particularly Delta, is that people can get COVID-19 once they've been fully vaccinated, but they might not necessarily show any symptoms.

But the fact that they've got it means they could potentially be passing it on to other people. And so that's one of the new challenges that we're dealing with this time that we haven't had to worry about before, that we could have asymptomatic people out there spreading the virus because they've been fully vaccinated. So my message to people is, if you've been in one of those locations of interest, don't sit back and think,

oh, I'm fully vaccinated, I'll be okay. Actually, if you've been in one of those locations of interest and we're asking you to get a test, please do get a test because the last thing we want is vaccinated people thinking we're all safe, we're all okay. And then that slows down our ability to stamp it out. Right. We've got Chris Hipkins with us. He is the COVID response minister. Almost called you a doctor. safe we're all okay uh and then that's that slows down our ability to stamp it out right we got uh

chris hipkins with us he is the covid response minister almost called you a doctor you almost got uh would it be an upgrade to a doctor almost gave you the title there chris i've learned a lot about i've learned a lot about medicine you sound like a doctor no but i don't want to alarm people because obviously we want to stay positive we've been through this before and new zealand knows what to do in this situation but when will we know if it could be longer than seven days or three days and things like that? 1pm press conferences, they're back in action for the government again?

Yeah, 1pm press conferences are back. So starting today, you'll get the regular daily updates from Dr Bloomfield and the Prime Minister up on the podium. They'll have the latest information. We'll know more about what's happening with alert levels later in the week. So it will be later in the week. We need this three days to get on top of this and to get as much information, as many testing results as we can during that time. We do know that at the moment, the biggest risk is Auckland Coromandel. But New Zealand is a very mobile population and

we're dealing with a virus that now spreads very quickly. So it's quite conceivable someone jumped on a plane or got in a car and drove to somewhere else in the country. And that's why we're all at alert level four at this point, because we just want to eliminate the possibility that the virus is out there spreading in other parts of the country too. Did you get much sleep last night? I can imagine it's all go in Parliament. Well, I have to wait up and sign the order

that puts New Zealand into alert level four. So the legal drafters were working up until just before midnight to get that to me so it all came into effect as planned at midnight but it was right at the last minute to get all the paperwork done for that and then obviously we get further test results in overnight as well it'll be a busy 48 hours or so Did you have to wait there for it or could you have gone home and go hey just fire me an email and I'll do one of those Adobe,

the Adobe signature things? Oh, no, look, I was working from home last night. We're all, like the rest of the country, we've gotten pretty good at working remotely now, and I can sign stuff at home using my iPad. Oh, nice. Yeah, good. Yeah, great.

Now, Chris Hipkins, I know you've got a lot of important stuff to deal with today. So just quickly before you go, last time we spoke, I offended you with a nickname that we've affectionately called you the Hippo, but it was just purely based off your surname, Hipkins, not the frame of your body. Now, I've come back. I've come back with some. I'm waiting with trepidation.

Yeah, so am I, too, to be honest. I've come back with a few other options. I gave him Dr. Chris Hipkins, although that was a good one. A few other options and see which is your favourite. He's busy. He's in the middle of it quickly. First one, Mr. Hippie. That's been used before.

Hipstamatic. I like that. That is new. That's new? Yeah. Hip-hop-eray. Hip-hop-eray. That's what we can all say when this is over

Let's go hip hop array Hip hop array when it's all over Chris Hipkins we really do thank you for your time And keep up the great work for New Zealand Alright thanks guys stay home stay safe Morning this show contains Traces of Jono and Ben The hits with Jono and Ben for breakfast

So New Zealand well Auckland and Coromandel in a seven-day lockdown. The rest of New Zealand in a three-day lockdown at the moment. And earlier this morning, you were like, is anyone listening? Is anyone up and about because it is lockdowns? Yeah, Mike, you're there.

G'day, how you going, team? What are you doing, Mike? Just heading down to chase a few sheep and whistle at a few dogs. I suppose you are. As you're farming, you kind of just get to carry on, right? Yeah, there's not much else you can do. The sheep aren't social distancing, I'm sure they're sticking to their bubble though, right?

No, yeah, we've got to start lambing, so we've got to set everything up now. Do animals get COVID? I know we all claim it came from a bat, don't we? Oh yeah, you wonder if it, yeah. I don't know if sheep get it or not. I don't think so. Yeah. Well, we can't ask them. Yeah.

There you go. My young brother just told me they do. Oh, there we go. There's a lot of claims from people that people are being sheep, aren't they, when it comes to the vaccine? It's always the talk online. All right. Well, you keep safe, Mike, and have a great day on the farm.

You too. Cheers, boys. There you go. There's Mike continuing on Life is normal Well yeah, but for many of us It's back to level 4 again, the one without takeaways No leaving your property, no gatherings A lot of working from home

You know I just heard, my body just heard The word lockdown and it put on 5kgs overnight Yeah we're back, we're back to what it was It was in February last year It kind of was in that zone and when you were kind of sitting there and we're in there for a long time we were missing all those things and we put a song together of all the things with laura mcgoldrick from the 3 p.m pickup of all the things that we're missing when we go into lockdown yeah this one right here

goes out to everyone in their bubble are you doing the voice yeah i was gonna do the voice oh no i can't do the voice well why didn why didn't you give it a try? Oh, I know, but there's a lot of words to remember the song. I'm just trying to concentrate on that. Well, don't screw it up. Here's my white friend rapping. Check him out. Seems like yesterday we shook hands like bros. Now awkwardly we bang elbows.

I miss seeing 100% of your face. In that mask, are you going to rob this place? Used to walk straight into supermarkets too. Now we stand in line like we're waiting for port-a-loos I work from home drinking Chardonnay Even when the clock says it's only midday Being locked down feels all kinds of wrong Like two white guys rapping 90's parody songs

Zoom meetings with my staff Wearing nothing on my bottom half Ashley Bloomfield touched our parts Just to clarify we're talking about our hearts Now to Laura on Zoom Cause legally we can't be in the same room. Every takeaway Every cafe coffee

Every hand to shake Every restaurant steak I've been missing you Yeah, sing it, girl. Thinking of the day Sing some more. Yeah, sing it, girl. Sing some more. Sorry, we shouldn't talk in between. From a socially distantly safe two metres, this is New Zealand's Breakfast.

Hey, everyone. Talking this morning because it is the first day of lockdown right around the country. After five cases now, there are five all linked to the Devonport case. The Delta strain has been confirmed. And a lot of people are having to clear things from their calendar over the next three to seven days. Good and bad, I guess, you know. Sometimes you're just like, oh, I don't have to do this thing, yes. And other times you're like, oh, that's a real shame. I was looking forward to that.

Yeah. Now, Juliette's sharing a story about your sister's friend. Yeah, my sister's best friend was due to get married in the Coromandel on Saturday and then go on their honeymoon on Tuesday to Rarotonga. But obviously that's had to be all canned and she's devastated, understandably. Oh, you would be. Do you get your money back in that situation? I don't know. You'd hope so.

You'd really hope so. Because it's not... So technically they could still fly to rarotonga i think it's three it's probably getting yeah what are you having a conversation with yourself what are you saying what are you doing sorry i'll get into the travel details all right we're gonna go out the good and bad things cancelled from You know how he starts mumbling to himself sometimes? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Start my lawn. Get out of here, you kids. All right, we're going to go. The good and bad things cancelled from your calendar. On the phone with us on 0800, the hits right now is Kamara. What is it?

Hi there. What do you mean, what is it? What do I mean, what is it? Yeah, what do you mean, what is it? What a weird question. Oh, Ben, what is it? Good morning. Good morning.

Our biggest thing is the gift fair. Well, it hasn't been confirmed yet, but I'm pretty sure the gift fair is going to be cancelled next weekend, and that's at the ASB showground. It's a business-to-business expo where businesses present their products to other retailers, and then obviously those retailers will buy for their shops, Expo, where businesses present their products to other retailers. And then obviously those retailers will buy for their shops.

And that's our biggest event of the year for our little business. What are you dealing, Kamara? I make a product called a shower bomb. And it's like a bath bomb. It's for the shower. And you put it on the floor of the shower and the hot water and steam activates it. And it fills the whole bathroom up with beautiful fragrances oh a lot of sound of that just treat yourself but like a spa experience in your own home really oh and a beautiful little byline as well it's like a day spa in your own home what's the smells what's the smells we're talking here like what's the fragrance uh

like raspberry and vanilla, sweet pear, grapefruit, lemon balm. Keep talking. Lots of beautiful fragrance. Yeah, but people say talk dirty to me, but talk clean to me. Talk clean to me.

Don't say talk dirty to me. No, no, I wasn't. I was like, talk clean to me, because these fragrances sound amazing. But no,

even the words talk dirty to me sounded weird coming out of your mouth. it did actually. It was, yeah, I was just trying to say, anyway, sorry, I went for something, shouldn't have gone for it. Don't say it again, it just gets weird when you words talk dirty to me sounded weird coming out of your mouth. Oh, it did actually. I was just trying to say, anyway, sorry. I went for something. Shouldn't have gone for it.

Don't say it again. It just gets weird being you say talk dirty to me. Hopefully that goes ahead, the gift fair next weekend. Kasanya, you're on from Wellington. What's canned from the calendar, Kasanya? Hi. Yes, I know it's a really silly thing, but I was really looking for the Wellington speed dating.

Oh, the speed dating circuit. Oh, that's a shame. That's not a silly thing at all. If you're looking forward to something, that's great. But, yeah, it's a shame it's not happening. Yeah, but it was a new age group from 38 to 50. I guess I have to wait for another time. Oh, listen. They could take it online. Yeah, they could do it on Zoom.

Why don't you have a date now with Ben? Get some romantic music, Juliet. Have you got some romantic music? Yeah, I'll find some. Introduce yourself, Ben. Hi, I'm Ben. How are you? Yeah, not too bad. A little bit nervous. It's weird doing this for the first time It's weird Yeah, what's new with you? What's been happening?

I'm still working I'm an essential worker Oh, nice Have you heard about these new shower bomb things? They have in the shower I just heard that Yeah, they sound great, don't they? Yeah, so How long am I't they? Yeah, so...

How long am I going to keep going with this? I have no... I literally know... Jeez. Kisanya, dump him. Dump him. On to the next one, thanks. Is that all?

Oh, my God. How did you get married? All right, let's go to the next caller. Lizzie, you're on from Te Kaumudu. What's been canned from the calendar? Do you want to go on a date with Ben too? No. No.

Okay, Lizzie, introduce yourself or give Ben another chance. Hey, Lizzie, how's it going? I'll take anything. She's desperate. All right, Let's go. Oh, Lizzie. What are you carrying from the calendar, Lizzie? So I am missing a haircut and a facial.

And honestly, when you get to my age, you need all the help you can get. You keep safe and locked out, Lizzie, okay? I'm thrilled I don't have to be at work, so hey. I'll send Ben down shortly to Te Awamuru. All right, strap yourselves in. Okay. You won't be worried about a haircut, are you, anyway? And, David, welcome to the show.

What's been canned from the calendar, mate? We were planning to have our son's fifth birthday party last weekend. Bummer. But unfortunately, it was a little bit under the weather last weekend, so we decided to can it and postpone it till this weekend. So hopefully, we can go to level three for the weekend. Oh, yeah. And then we can actually have a party.

Well, hopefully, fingers crossed that you can do that. Oh, poor Lord. Especially with kids, they build up so long in advance for their birthdays. They do. It's such a big thing for them. What's his name, David? Alex. Well, I assume he's a huge fan of Tiger King and Carole Baskin.

And I've got a little birthday treat for Alex. Here we go. It's your birthday. We're going to party like it's your birthday. We're going to sit the party like it's your birthday. And you know we don't give a fudge that it's your birthday. Why don't we play that? That's from Carole Baskin.

I barely remember that. Fifth birthday. You keep safe out there I tell you what, we'll send your boy something for his birthday Toilet paper? We can give you the toilet paper, we'll find something nice for him as well It's not the printed stuff is it?

Not as white as you can at least draw on it It's a three ply job What's nicer than three ply toilet paper? At the moment this is great, this is the jumbo roll too Advanced as well. Technology somehow. Two rolls for your son. There we go. Have a great day. Take care.

You got John on there. Tested safe for listening from home. John O'Byrne, New Zealand's Breakfast. Big news going on at the moment. Over in Afghanistan, too. Crazy scenes this week that we've witnessed on the news with the Taliban taking over the country. They're ruling now in Kabul.

They've taken over the presidential office. And you see people sort of trying to grab onto air force planes. Oh, that's what really got me, the heart-wrenching scenes of people just wanting to flee. You know, as you say, grabbing onto a plane. There was a shot of people inside a plane that basically got on there, 600 of them, people, just trying to get out, just trying to flee the city. Now, there's a Kiwi journalist who's based over there.

She's working for Al Jazeera, the news network in Kabul. Her name is Charlotte Ballas. She joins us live from Afghanistan. How are you? I'm very well. How are you? Alyssa, doing very well. Are you safe?

I feel safe. You sound safe. Yeah. There you safe? I feel safe. You sound safe, yeah. There's plenty of armed men around, so I feel like security is tight. So whereabouts are you right now? I'm in Kabul. I just got back to our bureau. I just left the Taliban's first press conference.

Oh, wow. Whoever thought in your lifetime you'd attend a press conference held by the Taliban? Yeah, it was very interesting i think they're trying to market themselves as a taliban 2.0 i mean if you were in kabul right now the scenes are just uh i mean you've got all these police trucks that are kind of former afghan police and army with all these taliban on them, wrapped in different kind of rags with old machine guns and rocket launchers driving around the town, waving, taking selfies with people. Yeah, just kind of running the show

and everyone's just got to get on board. Well, because we've seen the scenes on the news where people try to grab onto planes that are leaving. I mean, it seems like a lot of people want to flee the place right now. I think there's a lot of distrust because of how the last 20 years have played out. I mean, at this press conference, they were saying, we don't want people to leave. The Afghans are our assets.

We forgive everyone. We just want to move on. They said that they're really upset to see people leaving, and they hope that people stayed and didn't run away. I think people are just scared generally. And a lot of people are staying home waiting to see how it plays out. But the first, like, this is day two of Taliban rule. And, I mean, I've been out on the streets as a blonde woman.

Today I was standing in the middle of a roundabout filming and probably there was about eight of them on the back of a truck, slowed down, pulled over, said, hello, we speak English. And I was like, oh, that's good. Where are you from? And they said their province. And then they said, where are you from? And I said, New Zealand.

They're like, oh, New Zealand. Oh, that's great. Do you think we speak good English? And oh, it's so nice to meet you. What's your name? Okay, see you around. I was thinking, what the hell just happened these dudes like they had like goggles on and machine guns and things yeah yeah wow so I mean they're all in very good spirits but it's probably because they've

essentially won well so how long are you are you planning on sticking around I mean your job is obviously there right now what's what's happening with, I mean, most people evacuated in the last couple of days. Most foreign media. I'm the only Western female left, I think. But it definitely helps that I work for Al Jazeera and I live in Doha, so I already knew a lot of the Talibs because the leadership's based in Doha. So I had a little bit of reassurance because I talked to them and said, if I stay, is it cool?

And they said, yeah, don't worry about it. We'll look after you. So I decided to stick around. Gee, is there a part of you that's a little bit nervous? No, they're fine. Yeah, I mean, it's a very structured organization and the leadership, at least the people I know in the leadership, are very well-balanced, educated people

and their followers do as they say. So if they say somebody's protected and should be looked after, then you're in very safe hands. And there's a lot of talk about the US, whether they should have pulled out. Was it their responsibility to keep peace in the place? What are your thoughts on that? It hadn't really worked. I mean, 20 years, the government was corrupt. Fighting was ongoing. More and more people were dying.

It didn't matter how many people the Americans threw in here or pulled out. It just wasn't getting any better. So my personal opinion is that the Americans did need to go and Afghanistan had to learn to stand on its own two feet. A lot of people are upset, obviously, that the Taliban have rolled into town. They wanted more of a diplomatic kind of talk space process. But there is a silver lining in how the country collapsed in that there wasn't much fighting the taliban did deals with governors and all these provinces and said like look you know we're going to roll you so give us the keys to the city and we can all be friends and most of the governors did that

and that's why the country crumbled so quickly but at least not many people die like if you'd had a civil war that lasted years then then it could have been pretty horrific. So I think now people are just hoping that what the Taliban say about we're going to protect everyone's rights and we're going to be better this time, that it's true and that they keep to their word. They're opting for a

rebrand. Yeah. Okay. Taliban 2.0. 2.0. Hey, wait, when you guys, we've changed. Charlotte, well, thank you so much for your time. We really do appreciate it. And take care of yourself over there. And, yeah. Do you know, Charlotte, I remember when you were first starting out here in New Zealand,

and, you know, you've gone on to, I think, the BBC and Al Jazeera, and we've gone on to playing pink songs on the house. Yeah. You know what? I remember when I was starting out, and I made some mistake on air, and you guys clipped it up and put it on your show. No, not us, not us. And my sister called me and she was laughing and she was like,

oh, my God, you've made it onto John Arby and they're laughing at you. Oh, no. So I feel like we've come full circle. Hey, we're John Arby in 2.0 as well. Yeah. I really do appreciate your time, mate, and keep safe over there, we're joining on being 2.0 as well. Yeah. I know. Really do appreciate your time, mate. And keep safe over there, okay, Charlotte?

Will do. Will do. Take care. See ya. Fascinating. Yeah, Charlotte Bellis working for Al Jazeera over there at Kiwi. It's just interesting where New Zealanders end up. Yeah.

Isn't it? Yeah, amazing work that she's doing. Don't forget, after 8 o'clock this morning, we're joined by the COVID response minister, Chris Hipkins, with all the latest on the COVID cases. There are five in total now. It is the hits. You've got John Owen Bennett. I care more about what other people say.

Everyone waking up this morning to the first day in lockdown, a three-day lockdown for everyone in New Zealand outside of Auckland and the Coromandel. As it was one case reported yesterday, but now seems to be four more cases, including an Auckland hospital worker. They're all linked to the original case and the Delta strain has been confirmed.

Do you reckon the All Blacks regret drinking out of that giant mug that they won on Saturday? No, but they're in their bubble. They're in their bubble. Yeah, true. If they went around and gave it to all the 25,000 people at Eden Park, then they might have regretted that. Well, probably given the amount of people there,

they could have shared it with you. 52. 52 Stonelager Pures was what I read on social media. That thing holds. That's 52 Stonelager Pures. 52. Yeah. 52.

God, it would be weighty, too, wouldn't it? It would be probably about... Yeah, it's a lot, eh? 50 kilograms of beer. Yeah, it's a lot. Anyway, we've got Dave on the phone. Now, Dave, are you in the Coromandel? No, no, I'm just coming out of Pukekohe at the moment,

truck driver, so... Now, your daughter works in the pub. That's a location of interest. Yeah, so I spoke with her last night as soon as I saw her on the news with the Star and Gata was the first name off the list. And she said she was in the pub at the time and as soon as they announced the Star and Garda,

the pub just emptied. Oh, last night. They had to kick people out, yeah. All the people that were there at the time just left their drinks and gone. And so she drank them all, all the leftovers? No, no. Be the sensible thing to do, wouldn't it?

Not in a COVID environment. Oh, we can't let these go to waste. So you sound like it was busy over the weekend too, which you understand it would be a weekend in the Coromandel at the pub as well. So hopefully. Yeah, well, they would have been all in there watching the footy. Oh, yeah. Well, the Star and Garda Hotel has never received so much priceless marketing.

Yeah. And it says if you were there between 6.39 and 7.40 on Friday, the 13th of August. I'm just looking at the locations of interest. I don't know if you can tell. I'm doing it live at the moment. Am I doing a convincing job here? And then Saturday as well.

So they went back on the, they did a double header in the Star in Gaza. Yeah, yeah. That's probably the place to be. Well, hopefully we get some, you know, we've been lucky with the case in Wellington,

you know, from Australia. And then there was people travelling around New Zealand a few months ago. We were lucky. So hopefully again, we're lucky as a country and it's not so bad this morning.

Dave, is your daughter worried? No, not at this stage, but she hasn't got any symptoms or anything. And like I say, she wasn't actually there on the days, but she works with people that were there, obviously. So, yeah, they just had a clean-up last night and then, yeah, they're off for a week. So, yeah, hopefully everything's all right over there. Yeah. Yeah, the roads are pretty quiet.

That's for real. I can imagine driving around in the truck. It'd be quiet this morning. Oh, yeah, it's good. Yeah, actually quite nice for truck drivers. We've got the roads ourselves. I was going to say, no annoying car drivers cutting you off, Dave. No, not today.

So, yeah, absolutely good. And, yeah, take care of all those people in the Coromandel. Good on you, Dave. Thank you. Cheers, Dave. Have a good day. Lovely. Good talking to you.

New Zealand's breakfast. This is Jono and Ben on the Heads. Kia ora, New Zealand. Welcome along to the show. Wednesday morning, and here we go again. We're back to this again, New Zealand. Where do you start, Jonathan? Where do you start?

I don't know. Maybe you could have prepared something. I have. But I kind of feel like, you know, like. Maybe you should have written something down as a starting point. Where do you start? Do you reckon John Campbell on Breakfast is going, starting the show going. Yeah, well. Where do you start? Do you reckon John Campbell on breakfast is going, starting the show going, where do we start?

Maybe that's the real way to start the show. Because I have, I mean, I've obviously written down all the things, and we'll get into it shortly, all the things you probably know. But where do you start? I'll tell you where I'm going to start. Juliet letting herself go. Oh, yeah. She's coming here, track pants, she was applying deodorant.

She's like, oh, no, it doesn't work. Anytime there's a lockdown, I come looking my worst at work. I'm going to make sure we do lots of social videos today with you and the social videos. Yeah, this is what happens. You won't be into social media videos when there's a lockdown. I just come looking my worst every day. I've set the bar low so that when you do get locked out, you're just consistently dressed. That's true.

Anyway, we've got to catch up with the hippo today on the show, aren't we? Chris Hipkins, health minister. I reckon, do you reckon they knew about this a week ago or they had an inkling? Here we go. Get off TikTok, mate. Get off TikTok.

5G, I'm just not fully sold on it. Because they did hold a press conference going, if it comes, we're going hard and fast. Yeah, but that's, well, you can ask him about it. Obviously ask him about this. We'll hit the hippo. But that's like, it goes circling all over the world. Of course they're going to be prepared for it.

They're not going to go, well, that's never going to come to New Zealand. It feels like a dam, you know, like one of those Looney Tunes cartoons where a dam that's bursting and they plug cork holes in, but they run out of corks. And then they have to use like the hippo sticking his toe in one hole, his thumb in another. But that's the thing. Everyone's got these series. I heard, even last night, like, the hippo sticking his toe in one hole, his thumb in another. But that's the thing. Everyone's got these theories.

I heard, even last night, oh, here's got to be a three-day lockdown. Oh, here's got to be a week lockdown. Everyone's all weird. I was like, how the hell do you know? Are you on the inner circle of the government? Seven days, seven days, that's it. Everyone knows, you know. So everyone had theories before it even came out.

I mean, Bee Humps, he was saying a week ago we were going to have a lockdown. And now he was claiming it yesterday. He was like, oh, it was a week early. I was like, I was a week early. I was a week early, but still it happened. So anyway, we'll fill you in with all the information. I'll actually get some things prepared for this next. That'll be helpful. All the things you need to know right now to get you through the next couple of days.

Stick around. It is The Hits. You've got Jono and Ben. The Hits. The Hits. It is 6.30 on your Wednesday morning. Jono and Ben hanging out with you guys as New Zealand wakes up this morning and lockdown all over New Zealand.

But OMG still continues. And here is today's two options. Thank you, Jono and or Ben. Today, it's your choice. Your social calendar gets a classy upgrade with Prize A. We're popping corks with a winery day with the girls. Or ditch popping corks and opt forery day with the girls. Or ditch Popping Corks and opt for Popping Candy with Prize B. A bougie kid's birthday party.

Ooh la la. Text OMG to 4487 now to get in the draw. We're going Popping Corks or Popping Candy today for OMG. Jeez, we're giving away a lot of prizes in that prize pool. I don't know, it's great, eh? Tomorrow we should give away a literal pool of prizes. That'd be a fun campaign, wouldn't it? A prize pool.

Yeah. I like that. All these soaking wet prizes. You've won a TV that's been floating in a pool. You probably don't have to fill it, but you're right. A literal prize pool. Yeah, I love it. Anyway, yes, this afternoon, Stace, Mike and Anika will be calling you,

could be calling you if you text OMG to 4487, and you made that decision. Yeah, been fun. Now Ben, everyone keeps telling me to stay calm and don't panic buy and all I want to do is not stay calm and panic buy. I think you mentioned this before, Jacinda Ardern

even said it last night at the Prime Minister, right? She was like, when I say it, I say it and everyone does the opposite. No one listens. I say don't panic buy there's plenty of supermarkets and everyone goes and panic. Because there's that human instinct, isn't panic, boy. There's plenty of supermarkets and everyone goes in panic. Because there's that human instinct, isn't there, that when you feel like you're going to be trapped or locked, that you need to gather, hunt and gather.

Yeah, and also that stage where you're like, well, actually, I don't have enough. I don't have food for the next couple of days. My parents were due to go away tomorrow, so their house was, they had no food. They were going to go away for a week and a half. And you know when you usually go on holiday, you make sure there's no food

in the fridge or you eat what you've got. And they're like, we'll actually need to go to the supermarket. Yeah. And everyone's judgy, McJudgy.

Yeah, I know. Look at these guys. You know, buying up. Oh, it was a shopping day anyway. Yeah. Oh, yeah, whatever, mate. Yeah. Anyway, we're going to talk

to Chris Hipkins, the hippo, after eight o'clock. Didn't I the hippo? We did hit him up about the hippo, didn't we? Yeah. Maybe I should pitch a couple of more nicknames. Yeah.

Do you reckon he's in the right headspace to do some nickname brainstorming? I don't know if it's quite the day for nicknames for Chris Hipkins. I'll get the vibes. I'll get the vibes. I'll see which... The hipster? Yeah. Hipstermatic?

Yeah. I do like those. The hip replacement. Oh, yeah. That's good. That's good. All right. We'll pitch these.

I think it's a good day to pitch them some new nicknames. Yeah, all right. There's the hits. You've got Jono and Ben. It is L.A.B. You're on New Zealand's Breakfast. Jono and Ben hanging out with you guys this morning. We're going to look at some big news from a small town.

And we're going to ignore the biggest news. Yeah. Which we'll get back to later in a moment's time. But this was news that had been dominating headlines for the last couple of days. And Ben, for whatever reason, you became unusually fixated on this story and getting to the bottom of it.

I did. I wanted to find out a bit more. I wanted to find out what the people, you know, in the place were saying. You know? Go to the heart. Like John Campbell, you know, when he was off the East Coast.

I'm going to go to the... Send me out there. I'm going to go do a story out there. Send me out to the West Coast story. Yeah. So Ben Boyce said after the show yesterday, he's like, we've got to get to the bottom

of why the water is green in Queenstown. It's turned a toxic colour of green. A neon sort of green colour. You water is green in Queenstown. It's turned a toxic colour of green. A neon sort of green colour you're right, in Queenstown and no one's really sure why it is. Is it a prank? Is it something that's is it a spill? Is it spilled into the water and it's made it green? No one

really knows and I thought well maybe we at the station, we're the people to find out. Which again is raising my suspicions that you are the orchestrator of the prank and you're just people to find out. Which again is raising my suspicions that you are the orchestrator of the prank and you're just wanting to keep lip service going about this. You want to keep the talkability up and then he's going to reveal it was me the whole time. Not at all. He hadn't planned

a lockdown though, had he? Take the shine away. So yesterday he's like, we've got to call Queenstown. Yeah. And who did you want us to call? I wanted us to call the Cookie Time. You know, the Cookie Time. They've got a great store in Queenstown as well. I frequented many times with the family. I was there a couple of weeks ago.

So I thought I'd call them. They're just across from the little river that's green and find out what they had to say about the Green River in Queenstown. Cookie Time, Jenny speaking. Oh, hello. It's Jono and Ben calling from the Hits radio station. Oh, hello. How can I help you?

Well, we want to... We've come for free cookies. Please tell me I'm not live. No, you're not live. We're recording this and we'll talk later about whether you want to play this on the radio or not. Ah, all righty-ho. But for now, should we plough on or should we call it quits?

What do you reckon? I will put you on to my colleague. Okay. And she will talk to you. Okay, but what about this little bit we just had there? Were we able to play that little bit? Ah, maybe. I will put you on to my colleague. Okay. And he will talk to you. Okay. But what about this little bit we just had there? Were we able to play that little bit? Oh, maybe.

Oh, maybe. Okay. We'll come back to you at the end. Do you come back at the end? We'll find out, okay? What was your name, sorry? My name's Jenny. Here's all of you.

Okay, Jenny. Okay. All right. Jenny. We'll go back to Jenny and get her permission at the end. Hello. Hello. It's Jono and Ben calling from the Hits radio station.

Oh, hey. How are you guys? We're going all right. You sound a bit more casual than Jenny. Jenny wasn't sure about whether she wanted to be on the radio. Oh, yes, Jenny freaked out. Yeah, Jenny did freak, but then we're going to come back to her at the end and see if we have her permission to put her on the radio.

In the meantime, do we have your permission to put you on the radio? What's it about? It's an expose into your cookie franchise. No, not at all, not at all. You've got to keep dark secrets of the cookie time. I was not at all. Not at all. Hey, Mona, say it. You've got the big dark secrets of the cookie time world. I was down there a couple of weeks ago. Wonderful.

It's very busy at night. You know, it goes off. It is pumping. Yeah. Wonderful desserts. It's like... You do desserts there? Oh, yeah.

It's incredible. What desserts do you do? We do giant freak shakes, all sorts of hot cookies. Ice cream. You can get s'mores and ice cream and all sorts in between stuff. Oh, my goodness, me. Those giant big freak shakes. Yeah, I'd get dragged along by the kids every night on the way home,

and it was awesome. But I'm here to, you're so drunk, they'd have to drag him along. But we've actually called about the green water in Queenstown. It is. It's a bit of a hot topic, actually. Now, what do you think it is? What are your thoughts? Well, either Shrek has been bathing in the water. Shrek, I like it. That's good. It's a bit of a hot topic. Now, what do you think it is? What are your thoughts?

Well, either Shrek has been bathing in the water. Shrek, I like it. That's good. I like that. Or it's just a water treatment testing thing where they can see where it runs through. Yeah. Apparently they're testing it, but we're not going to get the results for ages. So, yeah, it's been the talk of it.

It's been news all over the country. Yeah. No, it's a hot topic. It's been all over social around here, but I'm actually not 100% sure what it is. Oh, well, I was accusing Ben Boyce of attempting a prank. No, it's not me. And then he pulled out because he saw it was getting too much heat. No, it's definitely not me.

And so what are you going to do now? Go back to cooking. Yeah, you're going back to cookies. Yeah, you're probably going back to cookies. That's fair enough. That's probably what I'd do too. If I was there, I'd probably leave the council to sort it out, right? I reckon. Yeah.

Okay, well, maybe we should have run the council. I don't know why we decided to run the cookie time. I was like, we'll call cookie time. Yeah, but anyway. I don't know what's happening. They have all the hot gossip. Yeah, they do. They've got the end of the ground.

You keep up the good work. Shall we go back to, is it Jenny? Yeah. We'll go back to Jenny. Yeah, see if we can round this out with Jenny. Yeah, they do. They've got the head of the ground. You keep up the good work. Shall we go back to, is it Jenny? Yep. We'll go back to Jenny. Yeah, see if we can round this out with Jenny.

Oh no, we're getting a dead no from Jenny. Thumbs up or thumbs down from her to play that little bit at the start with her or not? Can we, they want to

play the little bit at the start. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Yeah, go for it. Oh, Jenny. I knew she'd come through. She sounded like someone who was going to give us a thumbs up.

Yeah, she's great. Yeah, I'll decide. She's playing hard to get at the moment. Yeah, no, it's good. That's why we'll keep coming back. Will do. Hope you get to the bottom of the green water. Thank you, thank you.

There you go. That's the... Getting to the bottom of it. Yeah, there's big news going on right now, and there's other news Who'd say which is bigger Well probably the news that's happened Yeah you're probably right

But anyway that was big news yesterday Day late news Jono and Ben That is the hits you got Jono and Ben That doesn't mean we ignore The big stories in the world When she was at school they said she would never amount to nothing. But look who gets up every morning at 4 o'clock and reads stories on the radio about celebrities kissing each other.

Yeah, boy. That's Juliet. What's happening in Spidey? So in some light-hearted, non-COVID-related news, yesterday we were talking a bit about J-Lo and A-Rod. And A-Rod has been pranked by we don't know who, but basically someone ordered some pizzas to his house under the name Ben Affleck and sent them to his house

saying, Ben Affleck ordered you these pizzas and just as a bit of a stitch up. He hasn't commented on that, it's just the pizza places just come out and said that. So who revealed it to the... So the pizza company that delivered these pizzas told these news... Oh, that someone had done this.

That someone had done this. So we don't know who did it. It wasn't the legitimate Ben Affleck, but someone was getting a bit of a laugh out of... Is it a prank or a generous gift of free dinner? I don't know. Is it a free pizza turned up? It is a lovely prank when you think about it.

It's a beautiful prank. It's a 2021 prank. You're like,'s a free pizza turned up It is a lovely prank When you think about it It's a beautiful prank Yeah It's a 2021 prank You're like Oh free pizza Yeah Oh sure it's got my You know

The name of the person Who's now with my ex But you know You've spent money on me Yeah And now I can provide My family with free pizza Not that A-Rod probably needs

You know He can probably get His own pizza as well He can afford it Which is even why It's even more lovely Yeah He can buy pizza Any day of the week.

That is true. He's got the free stuff, so that is generous. And that is your very quick spy update for this morning. We probably need to get to news next, because we've got some important news going on. Yeah, we do. Fair enough. That is just moments away.

It is The Hits. You've got Jono and Ben. The Hits. New Zealand's breakfast. It's Jono and Ben. Got me in love. On The Hits. Morning, New Zealand. It has just's Jono and Ben. Got me in love. On the Hicks. Morning, New Zealand.

It has just gone seven o'clock. Jono and Ben with you. By now you know. Well, let's recap on all the things you need to know right now. Make this an official COVID-19 alert update. All New Zealanders now at COVID-19 alert level four. Yeah, the alert level is going to be reviewed after three days, except for Auckland and the Coromandel

Peninsula, which is likely to remain at level 4 for a period of 7 days. Now, we just heard in breaking news there are 4 new cases of COVID-19, including a staff member at Auckland Hospital. They're all linked to the Devonport case, and the Delta strain has been confirmed. Now, I didn't think Delta was meant to tour

New Zealand until October. Oh, jeez. She's obviously decided to come early. Stop it, stop it. I'd bought tickets, but... Now, you know the drill. We've done it before. Stay home where possible. Follow the Alert Level 4 guidelines.

This will stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. Now, everyone is going to be asked to wear a mask. Keep a two-metre distance from others. Whenever you leave your home, if you're sick, call your doctor or health line on 0800 358 5453, and they'll give you some advice about getting tested. Scan your QR codes whenever you're sick, call your doctor or health line on 0800 358 5453, and they'll give you some advice about getting tested. Scan your QR codes whenever you leave home, and practice good hygiene. That's just a great rule for life in general.

Well, you're right. Services include supermarkets, pharmacies, clinics, and petrol stations are going to stay open during Alert Level 4. No takeaways, unfortunately, but we can get through this, as we said before. And if you want more information on Alert Level 4, you can go to covid19.gov.nz can you play the sound effect here we go it was a wonderful that was a yeah it's important to get these updates out to you just to remind everyone what's happening uh jacinda ardern as well uh reminded everyone about policy in new zealand last night and that was to go hard and go early. Going hard and early. Go hard and early.

Go hard, go early. Hard and early. Go hard. Now, we're taking that same policy, haven't we, to Christmas on the show. We're going hard and we're going early. Yeah, and some would say that I blame the government for trying to overshadow this.

They didn't want us to go hard and early on Christmas. We've gone too hard too early with Christmas. We wanted to be the first outlet to play the first christmas song of 2021 we've gone really early we launched this kit now there's no coincidence and yes i've got my theories on 5g there's no coincidence that we announced our campaign yesterday ben and this suspiciously rolls out last night the government are trying to shut us up. Just after I've read a government announcement. I'm doing a full 180.

He's all over the place. We'll tell you what's going on next as far as us wanting to be the first station in the world to play Christmas music. It is the hits. It's Lady Gaga, Bad Romance. It is the hits. Jono and Ben, oh, oh. What's your bad romance? It's Lady Gaga, Bad Romance. It is the hits.

Jono and Ben, 7.13. Now, this week we wanted to be the first, the first in the world to do something. Yeah. Oh, sorry. No, no, no, you go. Sorry, have I made this weird? Just by saying yeah?

A little bit. No, you feel like, yeah. And I was like, oh, he's going to pick it up from here. So you go. No. I was just being supportive. I was just so afraid. It was weird. It was weird you being supportive. I'm not used to it. I'm not used to it. I was like, oh, he's going to pick it up from here. So you go. I was just being supportive. I was just so afraid. It was weird.

It was weird you being supportive. I'm not used to it. I'm not used to it. I was on your team, mate. I was like, he's son of stuff. Amen, brother. I'm not used to it. I was like, you're the pastor, and I'm the church going man.

You're Brian Tarmachy, and I'm at DC Church, and I'm supporting you. Okay, well, anyway, this is what we wanted to do. Look, can I just play the thing? Play the thing. Ho, ho, ho, little boy. What would you like for Christmas? I actually want my dad to tell me he loves me well that's never going to happen what else would you like something more achievable well i kind of want john or ben on the hits to play the first christmas song of 2021 on their show this friday the 20th of august well isn't

that a very specific request, little boy? And I want the audience to vote for what song it should be. Well, aren't you just the strangest of all the little boys? No, no, I'm actually a fully grown adult man with a wife and two kids. I just have a very small childlike frame. Christmas has come early. Real early.

Some would say way too early. Santa hasn't even begun to think about starting up his elf slave labour sweatshop. But with only 130 days until Christmas, Jono and Ben believe it's time to start the festivities. This Friday, they'll play the first official Christmas song of 2021, and you get to decide what it is. They'll beat the malls, beat the buble, and most importantly, beat the breeze to Christmas. So it's still going to happen this week. On Friday, we're going to play a Christmas song from start to finish. It feels like we need a bit of Christmas cheer right now.

Yeah, we're not going to let no lockdown stop our Christmas cheer because we're going to be the first outlet to play a Christmas song in 2021. Yeah, it might be 131 days away from Christmas. Is it too early? Who's to say? Probably everyone. There's some great Christmas songs here. Have a look. And so we're going to have a brutal knockout

round. Yesterday, Mariah Carey took on Michael Bublé and you voted Carey through to the next round with All I Want for Christmas Is You. So that's the one song that's going to be, that's the finalist, that's in tomorrow's knockout final. And we put two songs on social media last night.

I went with Band-Aid, Do They Know It's Christmas? Well, they probably don't at the moment. Yeah, right now they're like, no, no, it's not. Isn't it August? Do you guys know it's not Christmas? Yeah, so,

and you went with a classic. Yeah. Sno's not Christmas. Yeah, so, and you went into it with a classic. Yeah. Snoopy's Christmas. I don't even know, who even sings this? The Royal Guardsmen, I think, the group that sings it, the Royal Guardsmen. Yeah, so that's what I've, now we're opening the text, text line's open now, 4487. What is the one Christmas song you want us to play on Friday? And this is the only way you can hear Christmas music before Christmas.

Only way you want. Yeah, they won't let you do it on Spotify or Apple. They won't let you play it. No, we are the only option to play a Christmas song. And we're going to be the first to do it on Friday. So you can decide which one it's going to be. Yeah, bringing the Christmas cheer early because it feels like, hey, we need it more than ever right now here in New Zealand. And speaking of which, we've got some more updates, including someone connected with a pub in Coromandel.

Yeah, there's been four cases confirmed and the Delta variant has been confirmed as well. And a hospital worker from Auckland Hospital has contracted it too this morning. So we're going to be talking to Chris Hipkins later on as well, get some more updates from him too. That is the hits. You've got Jono and Ben Jono and Ben, New Zealand's breakfast on the hits. 7.31

you've got Jono and Ben with you as you just heard in the news, five cases now of COVID-19 in New Zealand, all linked to the Devonport case, Delta strain confirmed and you know we've got the COVID lady, she's back on radio and TV again isn't she? Yeah wheel her out again we should try and track down the COVID lady. She's back on radio and TV again, isn't she? Yeah, wheel her out again. We should try and track down the COVID lady.

Who is this lady? She's got a wonderful voice. She's got a good voice to deliver information, doesn't she? She has. And that distinctive little musical little start that they have to the COVID ads that you hear and you know. That's it. That's exactly what I mean. Gives everyone PTSD.

Yeah. But it's not much of a party being back in level four lockdown. So we wanted to kind of merge that little musical sting thing there. Can you play that? With a banger. With a banger that sounds quite similar to Darude Sandstorm. So have a listen to that together to get the party started. This is a COVID-19 announcement.

When you're feeling unwell, isolate wherever you are. Isolate wherever you are. Call Healthline about a COVID-19 test. By getting a test, you're helping keep your community safe. Keep your community safe. This is a COVID-19 announcement. Isolate wherever you are. Keep your community safe.

There you go. There's many downsides to lockdown, but, you know, one silver lining for us is we get to wheel out our COVID content. Yeah. You know, we've got a lot. We're prepared as well. We are prepared. You know, just like the government.

Yeah. We're going hard and early. This is part of our preparation as well. We are prepared. Just like the government. We're going hard and early. This is part of our preparation as well. Hey, next, this is really, really interesting. A big news story all over the world that's happening in Afghanistan with the Taliban taking over. And we're going to talk to a Kiwi reporter who's there. Just walked out of a press conference with the Taliban.

Was actually talking to about five or six of them who stopped her on the side of the street today with machine guns and missile rockets. What's it like being a Kiwi over there right now? Is she trying to escape? It must be terrifying, but we'll talk and find out what it's like next. It is The Hits. You've got Jono and Ben. Five words for 5K on The Hits.

You're only five words away from a massive payday. Wanted to continue to play this game because it's potentially giving someone $5,000 cash. So that's a good reason to, you know, that's a great reason to have this on the show. No Delta variant will stop us from playing New Zealand's favourite game show behind Will Ben ever take a paternity test? We're trying to trick him into one, but he's a cheeky little snake, aren't you, mate? Can't weasel him out of that test. You know you've got the anyway. Tony, welcome to New Zealand's Breakfast. How are you in Christchurch? He's a cheeky little snake, aren't you, mate? Keep weaseling out of that test.

You know you've got the anyway. Tony, welcome to New Zealand's Breakfast. How are you in Christchurch? I'm good today, boys. What do you do, bud? I'm a line-haul driver. I just left Blenheim at 3 o'clock this morning and just pulling into Christchurch now. Road's quiet out there, Tony?

Not at all. I actually saw more cars than I did trucks this morning. It's quiet in Christchurch. Yeah, right. Yeah, I noticed this morning there's quite a lot of cars on the trucks this morning. It's quite in Christchurch. Yeah, right. Yeah, I noticed this morning there's quite a lot of cars on the road, which was unusual because obviously we're in lockdown all around New Zealand. But the more important question for you this morning is who do you want to send? No, the more important question is why are these people out? Yeah, true, you're right.

I'd like to send Ben. Oh, he's answered the question. I didn't even ask it. Yeah, Ben's going into the soundproof booth to try and match five words with $5,000. What would you do with the cash tone? Ah, pay some bills off, mate. It's a boring answer, but it's such a practical answer that you've given there. We've had a lot of groans and moans lately.

Disappointing groans, people going, It sounds like a room full of retired people trying to get up off the couch so let's hope we don't add you to that mix, Tony, this morning. Here we go. Okay, match five words. First word that comes into your head when I say inter-Islander. Cherry. Tattoo.

Ink. Banana. Peel. Sitcom. Television. And storage Shed Those are nice quick answers. Really good.

There's a lot to be said for the quickfire tactic. Ben Boyce will get him out from his lonely thoughts in the soundproof booth. What dark things were you thinking about in there, pal? I was just thinking it's a great self-isolating space in the soundproof booth. Oh true! Delta's not getting in there. I might stay in there for the next couple of weeks. Do you want us to tell your family? Yeah, I'll be here.

Alright, Tony did well, played a very quick game. So I want you to play a quick game as well, okay? Inter-Islander. Fairy. Tattoo. Ink. Ooh! Banana. Skin.

Banana skin? Whoever says banana skin? Isn't it banana peel? Well, that's what Tony said. Damn. Sorry, I was playing a quick... Oh, yeah, you probably... It should have been peel, shouldn't it?

Yeah. Oh, listen. Sorry. They don't have skins. They don't have skins? Yeah. I'm going back to Southport. Yeah, go.

Lock yourself in there, mate. We don't want to see you again. Don't come out for seven weeks. Seven weeks solitary confinement in there. Hey, Tony, keep safe in Christchurch, buddy. Cheers, guys. Thanks for playing. It's back tomorrow at 7.45.

After 8 o'clock, Chris Hipkins, COVID response minister, joins us with all the answers to the big questions that we haven't thought of just yet. 660 All She Rode, it is the hits. Jono and Ben, 8.18, of course, first morning of lockdown for all over Aotearoa this morning. And, you know, it was quite interesting last night going through your calendar for the next week, particularly because we're in Auckland, the seven days of lockdown.

And you're like going, oh, OK, well, that's not happening. That's not happening. And, you know, kind of getting rid of stuff, good and bad. Yeah, it must have been. What were some of the ones where you're like, thank God that's not happening? A lot of stuff to do with you. Yeah. But you can't avoid the morning catch-ups, you yeah there's probably some uh later there was a few things over you know you're like oh what are we doing you know a lot of driving

around you know we talk about that as a parent you know i'm really driving around taking kids to this ben's become a stage dad now he drives sian around to auditions driving to that one won't be sitting outside waiting for that one. I won't be sitting in a little room waiting for her to do that one. So that must be a happy time for you, cancelling a couple of those. So I'm going to couple off. You want her to pursue her dreams. Exactly. But, you know, we can button off a couple of auditions.

Yeah, or for a week at least. Yeah. I'm just so grateful I haven't smelt my own breath in, jeez, it'd be months. You know, wearing a mask thisez, it'd be months. Wearing a mask this morning, that was a bonus. You know our boss, Todd. Can we get Todd on the phone? We'll try and call Todd now.

Todd has had, well, for radio fodder, a champagne run over the last two months. But for personal reasons, this is disastrous. Todd went to Australia to see his mum, I think for like a weekend. He got caught up in their lockdown. Last night, he just got out of managed isolation. Last night? Last night. And now we're into lockdown.

And now we're into lockdown. And he sent us a photo from a bar last night. Hello? Todd Campbell, it's John on Ben. You're on the air? I'm on the air. Fantastic. What's happening? I don't know. You sound frazz air. I'm on the air. Fantastic. What's happening?

I don't know. You sound frazzled. Have we caught you at a good time? No, I'm doing good. Oh, good. Now, we were just regaling to our fine listeners of the hits about your situation, going to Australia for only a quick trip. How long ago was that? I left June 18.

June 18. For a four-day trip. For a four-day trip. And it's now August 18th That's two months you've pretty much been Stuck in Australia, couldn't get home And then you came back to MIQ for two weeks And just got out last night

Got out yesterday And got out at 4.30 And went into lockdown Jeez Do you know what Todd, I'm going to ask you this question Do you really love your family That much that you would put yourself through this? Because I don't know if anyone does. Oh, look, you know, it's one of those things, mate.

In hindsight, you know, what would you do? I mean, look, you know, I don't know, mate. I went over there for some special reasons. You know, they're a special family. I'm a special guy. You are a special guy. But look, you know, you've got to take the good with the bad. I mean, I did have five beautiful hours of freedom in the gorgeous city of Hamilton, and I enjoyed every second of it, every second of it.

And now we're here and just got to get through this. Well, it's not too bad, is it? I mean, you know. You're like, what's another seven days to the mix? You're used to it, Tony. Oh, you surrender to it after a while. You actually just start to, like, I might be in lockdown so long that I'll need therapy to convert back into just getting out there in society.

He's getting Stockholm Syndrome. He's falling in love with his captor. Yeah. Well, Tony, a hell of a run. We just wanted to get it on the run. We want to check this out there. 0800 the hits. 4487 this morning. This pending lockdown, or the lockdown that's

currently underway, what has it canned? Good and bad from your calendar. Yeah, you might be happy about something you're not having to do over the next three days or the next week, or you might be gutted because you had something really special on this weekend. Juliet, your parents are meant to go on holiday. Yeah, this is their fifth trip cancelled thanks to COVID. No way.

Yep, yep, yep. Fine. I know, it's crazy. All right, 0800 the hits, 4487. We've got two massive rolls of toilet paper that we found at work. These are the big industrial type. Yeah, these are last year, at least till 2032. We're going to give these away to our two favourite corners.

You won't have to panic buy with these, because these are huge. That is over a decade's worth of wiping I'm have to panic buy with these because these are huge. That is over a decade with the wiping I'm looking at right there. Yeah, these are massive. So we'll give those away. I'll enter the hits or 4487, the jumbo toilet paper up for grabs next. It is the hits. Yeah, yeah, nah.

Yeah, nah. The home of yeah, nah. She'll be right and at the end of the day. Jono and Ben breakfast on the hits. It is the hits. Jono and Ben hanging out with you on first day of lockdown in New Zealand. Very shortly we'll get to end of the day... Jono and Ben, breakfast on the hits. It is the hits. Jono and Ben hanging out with you on first day of lockdown in New Zealand. Very shortly we'll get to some of the things that had to be cancelled from your calendar

over the next few days, good or bad. But right now, OMG I Want One is back and today's two great options are... Thank you, Jono and or Ben. Today, it's your choice. Your social calendar gets a classy upgrade with Prize A. We're popping corks. With a winery day with the girls.

Or ditch popping corks and opt for popping candy with Prize B. A bougie kid's birthday party. Ooh la la. Text OMG to 4487 now to get in the draw. Do you know the most disturbing thing is that voiceover guy, and he's wonderful. He actually does that live. But every day he says, thanks, Jono and or Ben.

Like, he hasn't taken time to learn your name, Ben. No one knows the difference. You throw to him every time? Even I get confused sometimes. OMG, obviously we're not going to be delivering the prize directly to your door this afternoon, as we have done for the last few weeks, which is good. Like, to be honest, we did it once,

and we were sifting outside someone's house in our cars. It was kind of awkward until we got there, you know, because we didn't want to do it until we were live on the radio. Are these people about to break and enter in here? We sort of slowly walked up a driveway, and it was like... And then we walked back out. I was like, what are you up to? Yeah, anyway, but we will be

back. Well, you'll be winning that today and we'll be delivering it as soon as it's safe to do so. Yeah, that's right. The only people winning out of this competition are you and the couriers.