Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL: Is Ben Boyce Palmy's Next Mayor

Episode Date: February 12, 2023

Ben is live in Palmy Jono's Ed Sheeran yarn Windy weather everywhere! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kia ora, it's the Jono and Ben podcast brought to you by Challenge Petrol Service Stations. Jono here in the normal Hits Broadcasting studio and Ben Boyce currently in the broadcasting mecca that is Palmerston North. Went there for a family weekend and found himself unable to escape Palmerston North. Hey, hey, hey, I'm happy here. I'm having a great time here at the moment. A four minute commute to work, it was a dream this morning. Yeah, all morning. Plenty of parking outside. All morning, he's been fending off digs and jives about the Manawatu. One of my work, Hayley, one of my workmates, my new workmates, she brought me a coffee. You've never brought me a coffee mid-show. No, because I'm doing the show with you.

Oh, I tell you the excuses, mate. Oh All you bloody Aucklanders, you're up yourself, bloody wankers, aren't you, out there? Here with a real folk, with the heart and soul of New Zealand, mate. I love the Manawatu and love, you know, Palmy. So here's where I'll be. Here's where I'll be from now until the end of time. Do you need me to sort anything out here? I don't know, mate.

I don't know. Just do something in your life's here. I don't know. Just do something in the house or something. I don't know. Something like that. We've got some animals we do need to work out, but no, we will be back at some stage. I mean, that's the thing. There is a lot of disruptions around the place,

you know, and we really, but, you know, we feel fortunate that we're not, we're safe, you know, as a lot of other people just getting battered by the storm and no power and it's just, it's heartbreaking to see all those scenes. Here's a serious question. When do you actually want to get out of there? When is going to be too long? No, I don't mind. It's just one of those things you just go, it's, you know, it's what will

be will be really. Got to roll with it, don't you? Where will you fly out of? Wellington, I guess? Well, Wellington or Palm Beach, I think at this stage, they reckon flights might go back be really got to roll with it don't you where will you fly out of wellington i guess well well wellington all upon me i think at this stage they reckon flights might go back again after tuesday afternoon but then things are changing you know like we talked to phil duncan this morning with the latest information on the show from weather watch and he was like well tuesday might be out for flying as well so i reckon we're going to get to august and you're going to be like man i still can't i can't catch a break i I'm here. I'm trying to get out.

Have you bought a house, Ben? Yeah, but I can't. I had no other option. I mean, look at the house. I've got a big property here, mate. It's great. The kids were looking. I'm going to look at some schools today for the kids, I think,

and roll them into some schools. So, you know, this is where I'm going to be. Because obviously you had to get up early this morning, and you're probably staying in a motel room. Were you quite tippy-toe around the place where you are yeah i'd like to be fair when i when i first started this job getting up early i was and now i'm like yeah clump smash turn the tips on family are used to it you know so turn the taps on try to make myself a coffee as well so did you did you yeah and you boiled a jug and it wasn't just a one room such

a monster it was great you know turn the telly on just catch up with the news that's what i've done mate open the curtains i've got to do what you do too. That's the plan. So you were in the NJME Palmerston North offices by yourself this morning? Yeah, we've got some workmates have come through now, waving through

the building, through the window here so I'll go out and hang out with them, see what they're up to for the rest of their day. You're just going to be a pain in the arse, aren't you? You're just going to linger around the office. What's the weather like up there where you are at the moment like i know it's hard to see out through the windows and the hits uh it's it looks like it's raining i'm sorry there's a shocking year and i can't really see uh driving into work this morning um the harbour bridge was shut and i was thinking it probably doesn't need to be shut. It just felt like a normal day, a bit of a wintry day, you know?

They opened it up again, didn't they? But then they're obviously going to keep close watch on what's happening and may close it throughout the day. Yeah, speaks volumes for the bridge when you have to close a bridge, doesn't it? Well, that's why. Does it maybe be, hey? It's high, Gusty. It's high, Gusty.

It's not saying the bridge is going to topple over. It's just saying if you're It's high and gusty. It's not saying the bridge is going to topple over. It's just saying if you're driving, the conditions aren't great. But yeah, honestly, you need to be prepared. I was out there bloody with the spade and clearing out the gutters of the street. That's good. No, you weren't. I make it sound like the street. It's just a bit outside my house.

Right. But everyone was doing it in the street because we were all told to, you know. Leaves and junk and debris and stuff. And I tell you what, fostering through the gutters with, you know, because I had to pick up stuff with my hands and stuff that was kind of stuck there in between the grates of the drain. You know, there's gloves you can, you know. You know you can.

Yeah, I know. I know. But that's fine. That's fine. When I do my gutter work, I know. I know. But that's fine. That's fine. When I do my gutter work, I like to be all hands, baby. John O'Prior, gutter radio and gutter cleaner in the neighborhood as well. Do you want to podcast? No, we'll talk over each other.

I'm in Parma. I love it here. And I'll go. All right, have a great day. You and Mike West are going to have a good day. But Mike West is the radio icon of Palmerston North. Let's see how long Mike West has been doing that show. We could give Ben a bit of a bingo,

Palmerston North bingo to do before tomorrow or something. That's a good idea. Although I was thinking about watching the Super Bowl, so as long as it doesn't... Sorry, mate, you're in Parmy now. You know when Ben goes, oh, yeah, he's not. It's a good idea But hey you know

Mike West Mike West is the legend though Of Manawatu Radio Until you know 40 years Jeez He's hosted the Manawatu More FM show

For 30 of those years Backbone Wow Backbone You know what Let's go through to Mike West Let's go through Do you have his number

I think Do I have his number Do you have his number let's go through do you have his number I think do I have his number Jay Pryor he was the next Mike West yeah you know what you don't I don't have his number we'll call more FM Palmerston North and see if we can get put through because I'll just go hey there's another big dog in town. All right, all right. Let's go. Okay, here we go. Is that all right there? Who's that, mate?

Good morning, Caitlin speaking. Hello, Caitlin. Hi. Is this MediaWorks? Yes, it is. It's Jono and Ben here, mate. How are you? I'm good.

How are you? We're doing really well. Now, Ben is stuck in Palmerston North. Not Jono and Ben here, mate. How are you? I'm good. How are you? We're doing really well. Now, Ben is stuck in Palmerston North. Not stuck in Palmerston North, mate. I love it here. Don't ever say that. Yes, I can't get back to Auckland, but I am loving it. I'm fine.

He's loving it. Okay, he's overcompensating for something there. But anyway, the question I have is Mike West, radio legend, been doing the show there for 30 odd years, right? Yes. Do you think someone like Ben Boyce rolling into town is a threat? Are you worried at more FM? Over to you. Let's just say

I don't think they've got anything to worry about. It was a hearty laugh and then you backed it up. And you're right. You're right. But that doesn't help my confidence levels at all. I've been flying the flag you laughing and you backed it up and you're right. But that doesn't help my confidence at all. I've been flying the flag for the Manawatu this morning and I feel like he's a legend, but

hey, maybe there's room in the market for a legend. Well, I was going to say not too legend, but another guy who could aspire to one day be a legend. Yeah, you know, two days of flying the Manawatu flag doesn't quite compare to two years of it. Yeah, you're right.

You're right, OK. You've got a long road ahead of you to get on that level. Yeah, OK. If you want to be P-Naughty, you have to P-Naughty for 30 years, Ben. All right, Jono, book out our joint calendar out for the next 30 years. Here I am, on the air, this is my commitment, all right? All right. Perfect.

Will you tell Wes there's a new player in town? Yeah, I'll give him the heads up, all right. I'm going to change my last name to East. So we've got East and West in the model, too, right? Yeah, great idea. Be an East signing off in the model, too, right? You have a great day. You too.

Bye. There you go. We told them. Yeah, here we go. We showed them, mate. They'll be Bye. There you go. We told them. Yeah, here we go. We showed them, mate. They'll be quaking in their boots. I don't think she knew

who you guys were. No, probably not, but hey. Oh, all right, Ben. Well, you have a great day at Palmy. Enjoy the podcast if you're listening

and keep safe if you're in a storm or a cyclone. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. It's something in the orange. It is The Hits, Jono and Ben.

606 on your Monday morning. I hope everyone's doing okay this morning. Tropical cyclone Gabriel, very, very scary. It's arrived in New Zealand, causing a whole lot of heavy rain and wind warnings around the country. A state of emergency in Auckland. It's gnarly, Jono. Well, I'll tell you what's even more gnarly is you're trapped in Palmerston North. It sounds like Palmerston North is taking you hostage.

But you couldn't get a flight out. Now, I think this is a genius play from bloody New Zealand. Old foreigns coming here. Can I be blatantly honest with you right now? I'm broadcasting out of Palmerston North because I can't get back to Auckland. Now, I can see your lips moving on the Zoom screen, but I couldn't hear a single word that you were saying. Can you hear me now? I'm on radio right now. Now you're talking. I can see you lips moving on the Zoom screen, but I couldn't hear a single word that you were saying.

Can you hear me now? I'm on radio right now. Now you're talking. I can see you talking through a Zoom connection, but I can't hear anything you're saying. This is going to be the most wild show ever. I love a show where you can't hear what I'm saying because I just... Oh, we got it.

We got it. We're back. Hi, dramas. Everything I just said, you repeat it back in a different way. Oh, that's good to know. Hi, dramas. Everything I just said, you repeat it back in a different way. Oh, that's good to know. Oh, geez, some technical difficulties this morning as we make our way. As I mentioned, yeah, stuck in Palmerston North, you probably said the same thing.

Now I've said it three times. Wonderful time in Palmerston North. In fact, I feel like maybe I'm living here now. Yeah. That's great. I'm happy. I'm the new Mike West in the mornings. Mike West, he's a radio legend.

Ben Boyce, the radio legend. Too much legend for one small city there, Ben. But here's my theory on Air New Zealand cancelling all the flights. Foreigns are like, mate, we are under the pump. Let's save on some petrol money, cancel some flights for a few days, fill up the tanks, and Bob's your uncle.

I don't know if that's quite the case. That's the play. Genius play. I mentioned before, a terrible, terrible cyclone arrived in New Zealand. Lots of warnings, a harbour bridge closed, lots of schools and trains and ferries all cancelled and closed today. So a lot of carnage over the next couple of days around New Zealand. Kind of feels a little bit like the lockdown vibes again.

Everyone going to the supermarket, panic buying, having to stay home. It's kind of that same feeling all over again for New Zealand. Except I'm not coming to work in gloves. I did come to work in gloves during lockdown. Hands are empty, mate. Naked hands. So this morning we're going to be keeping you up to date with everything. We've got Roger Ball, National Civil Defence Manager joining us. Phil Duncan

from Weather Watch. You name it. If you want a show that is going to be heavily focused on weather content, well then you've come to the right place. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Monday morning, Jono and Ben with you. That's Rihanna. She's going to be playing the Super Bowl today, the halftime performance. Her first

live performance, Jono, in nearly four years. Oh, she'll be a bit shaky, won't she? She'll be a bit rusty. Hopefully she's done some sort of warm-up gig or some little gig, but 100 million people are going to be watching today at the Super Bowl, they reckon, and Rihanna might bring out an unexpected guest.

Okay, who do we think the unexpected guest will be? I'm picking Jay-Z. Oh, that would be amazing, wouldn't it? I reckon her mum. It was a way of getting her mum in for free. Free tickets to the Super Bowl. So she's going to bring her mum out. It's my mum!

It's going to be pretty incredible, the Super Bowl. The Chiefs taking on the Eagles today. It's about midday New Zealand time. You can watch it as well. The original Super Bowl was looking, the first ever, $6 tickets. And it didn't sell out. That's how much it costs if you wanted to go the first one. Now, today, the average price is $9,000 American dollars,

and if you buy for Scalper, you can pay up to $2 million to $3 million for a single ticket to the Super Bowl. Wow. Everyone talks about the cost of the advertising during the halftime show. $7 million for a 30-second ad. Wow. We should put some marketing in there. It's breakfast with Jono and Ben and we'll be like, who and who?

Players get paid, I was reading before, they get $157,000 if they win, $82,000 if they lose, and they get a fancy loaner car to drive in all week, which is nice. Every single player. Yeah, I don't know why it's necessary when they're probably travelling on team buses, but I guess it's one of those things they do for the citizens. Because there's about 900 people in a football team. I know.

How many cars are they handing out? It seems wild. So enjoy the Super Bowl if you watch it today. And stay safe wherever you are around the country. As John, I mentioned before, we're going to have the latest weather updates throughout the morning as well as civil defence on the show to bring you up to speed with what you need to do to stay safe as we get through this New Zealand together

at 6.14. You're on The Hits, Jono and Ben on your Monday morning. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. That is Lewis Capaldi. You're on The Hits with Jono and Ben. I saw he raced on stage at the Brit Music Awards overnight and gave Harry Styles a big kiss. Oh, I saw that as well.

Yeah, that was a bit of action, isn't it? But now they're getting taken to task for queer baiting. Oh, are they? Yeah. No, you can't do anything nowadays, Ben. Can't do anything. Biggest news back home, of course, yeah, the cyclone that has arrived, very, very scary,

particularly up north today. A really feeling for everyone up in Northland. A state of emergency up there. And Auckland today, some scary stuff with the Harbour Bridge being closed. All the schools seem to be closed. The trains aren't running. It really is bearing down on New Zealand as it moves its way slowly down the country.

I spent a lovely weekend in Palmerston North with the family and obviously there's no flights today. So as I said to the family, we live in Palmerston North now. So this is where we are. So I'm broadcasting out of Palmerston North with the family and obviously there's no flights today so as I said to the family, we live in Palmerston North now. So this is where we are so I'm broadcasting out of Palmerston North. No one else in this empty building, it's just me. What you need is bloody Elton John with his private jet

flying you off to Hawaii, mate. But yeah, so that's where I am right now. But everyone I talked to in Auckland over the weekend was saying how eerily sort of calm it was and up north as saying how eerily sort of calm it was, and up north as well, before the storm sort of arrived. You could almost sense something was going to happen. It's been also a great excuse for people to just cancel stuff.

A lot of events being cancelled. I know work's been like, hey, we can't do this in two months because of the cyclone. And it's, you know, one of those wonderful excuses like COVID where businesses were like, well, we're going to have to lay off 80 people that we wanted to get rid of anyway, but we're going to pin it on COVID.

We are thinking of everyone though. It's a very anxious time, particularly for those affected with the wild, wild weather overnight. And you said you went out panic buying. I did panic buy. I was clearing the drains out on the street with the spade. You're not meant to be panic buying though. That's the thing. They're like, don't panic buy.

But no, the problem is I saw other people panic buying, and it made me want to panic buy. I got swept up in the panic buy. But anyway, as I bought my 82 rolls of toilet paper, I was waiting in line, and there was a guy behind me, and he's definitely called Talkback Radio before. Okay? He's of that demograph voice.

And he said to me, this whole bloody storm, they're just trying to get us all wound up. He said, it's a storm in a teacup. And he didn't realise how that phrase worked on so many great levels. But I was like, if you feel like they're just fear mongering, why are you here panic buying? That was what I was... I didn't hit him up about it

because I'm a non-confrontational person. I like to regale these tales on the radio. How's making this up? Like, the weather is shocking. It's like the wild scenes. We're feeling for everyone. There's power outages. There's all sorts going on.

You know who's making up, mate? Who? This left-wing Labour government. Oh, jeez. Oh, God. Control, Ben. Control. Again. Alright, we are thinking of you this morning. What communist sort of state is

this? 4487 on the text so 0800 the hits. We'd love to hear from you. Hopefully you're doing alright and as I've said a couple of times this morning, we'll get through this together, New Zealand. We'd love to help you through it. We're going to have all the latest weather updates for you very shortly. It is the hits. You've got Jono and Ben. The hitsits, the Jono and Ben podcast.

It is One Direction, Story of My Life. You're on The Hits. Jono and Ben is the worrying tropical cyclone. Gabrielle is here in New Zealand. I hope everyone is okay. A wild night for those up north. Anxious time for those further south as it moves its way down New Zealand. And we all need a bit of motivation for the week, Jono.

Well, Ben, I don't know if you need much motivation in Palmerston North where you're stuck at the moment because you can't get back. You'd be feeling alive would you in the Manawatu? I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. Like, yeah, prospective schools or I think I might visit some today for the kids as well.

Yeah, it's great. Go and talk to Mike West if you two can do a show together. Me and Mike West. Yeah, well, he's the Palmy legend, right? He is the Palmy radio. He's been doing that radio show for about 52 years, Mike West. I could start now. This is me for the next 40.

I'm in Palmy now. This is me. I'm not coming home. You've got to stay in your... This is his jurisdiction, mate. You know? All right. Stay in Palmendale. This is me. I'm not coming home. You've got to stay in your, this is his jurisdiction, mate. You know? All right. Stay in your lane.

Stay in your lane. Anyway, Motivational Monday today. Get the week started with a bit of a pep in your step. And this I found really inspiring towards the end about how little sleep you need to be successful.

Have a listen. There was a young man who, you know, he wanted to make a lot of money and so he went to this guru, right? And he told the guru, you know, I want to be on the same level you are. And so the guru said, Have a listen. He said, walk on out in the water. So he walks out into the water. Watch this. When he walks out into the water, it goes waist deep. He came, dropped his head in, held him down. Just before my man was about to pass out, he raised him up. He said, I got a question for you.

He told the guy, he said, when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful. And when you get to the point where all you want to do is be successful as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful. And when you get to the point where all you want to do is be successful as bad as you want to breathe then you'll be successful. Most of you don't want success as much as you want to sleep. If you really want to be successful some days you'll have to stay up three days in a row. Don't go to sleep until you succeed.

There you go. So a couple of takeaways from that one for me. Firstly, that old man needs to be done for attempted murder. Yeah, that sounds very, very scary. He nearly drowned a man. He nearly drowned a man. And secondly, you need to be a sleep-deprived, unhinged psychotic in order to be successful.

He goes on, like it's a long video. He's like, go three days without sleep. Three days? Three days? Three days! That's not R&B. Three days without sleep. Can I counter that? I was watching something with Paul Rudd, obviously the new Ant-Man movie coming out this week.

In fact, he's going to be joining us on the show. And they talk about Paul Rudd being like 52 years old, looking amazing. And he's like, what's your secret? He's like, well, I sleep a lot. That's his secret. He gets like, he says at least eight hours a night, that's his thing, maybe 12 some nights as well.

12? He's sleeping like a little newborn baby. Yeah, so I was like, well, maybe if you want success, don't sleep. If you want to look as good as Paul Rudd, maybe get a few more hours. Yeah, I mean, to be fair, after listening to that, I'm pretty chill with getting some sleep and being unsuccessful.

The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. I did hear that you had a bit of a debate in your household over the weekend as far as what took priority in the fridge. Oh, yeah. Jen's like, you need to get all your hineys out of the fridge. We've got to put water in here.

I said, mate, the heinies have done nothing to you. They've been there. The heinies were there first. She's demanding that I take them all out and put water in. For purposes of survival. Yeah, so that was a debate raging on in the household last night. Anyway, I've ended up with, I held six in there, Ben. Oh, that's good.

I gave it. That'll keep me going to this afternoon. Now, the Breakers, the New Zealand basketball team, great performance from them last night. They've made their way into basically what's going to be the finals. If they win this, they're in the final, this series. They won last night, and then at 2.30 in the morning, they're driving through the horrible weather

just to get to the airport to leave New Zealand for the next game. Yeah, pandemonium as basketball commentator Andrew Mulligan was calling it. Pandemonium! It's pandemonium! That was when they won the title a few years ago. Absolute scenes, I think he said. He was very excited. It's a wonderful moment for New Zealand basketball

because they pretty much came from the doldrums at the beginning of the season, didn't they? They really turned around their performance. Oh, yeah, because they've been in Australia with lockdowns and all sorts over the last couple of years, not having any home games. So it's awesome to see how well they've sort of turned the season around and how everyone was in behind them.

And even when a cyclone had arrived in New Zealand, it was still like a packed stadium at Spark Arena last night. Yeah, I know. Wayne Brown, mere communicator extraordinaire, he came out and he said, you'd have to be a pretty big fan of the breakers to go along tonight. And, well, hey, there was 12,000 of them. It was absolutely heaving.

It was pandemonium. Pandemonium. Pandemonium. So what happens now? We're talking all over each other here in Palmy, but what happens now to the Breakers? They've got another game, and then on Thursday night in Tasmania, if they win that, they're through to the finals. If they lose that, then they have another game to see who goes into the final here in Auckland a couple they win that. They're through to the finals. If they lose that, then they have another game

to see who goes into the final here in Auckland a couple of days later. So that's the latest on the breakers. The latest on the Cyclone coming up very shortly. Stay tuned to The Hits all morning, 6.44 on your Monday. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Weather has hit the country, continued to hit over the next couple of days.

It's going to cause a lot of disruptions, a lot of rain and wind warnings around schools, shutting flights cancelled, and 25,000 power outages at this stage, particularly up in the north of New Zealand as well, Jono. So that's, you know, kind of scary for those people that won't have power for potentially the next couple of days. Just looking online too, there's a very helpful website,

vector.co.nz forward slash map, which has a map of all the power outages. So if you're wanting to know if you don't have power, then you'd probably realise that. Or you could go to this website to just confirm why nothing's working. Let's do this. Board of the Rings trivia with Jono Pryor,

who's never watched the films. Stitcher. Here's a series of radio Stitcher, but we've never seen one. Believe it or not, Jono's never seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies, any of the Hobbit movies as well, which I think is an atrocity. I think we should kick him out in New Zealand. Forget about the 501s and all who should be in New Zealand. Get rid of this guy. He's never seen Lord of the Rings. Zealand. Forget about the 501s and all who should be in New Zealand. Get rid of this guy.

He's never seen Lord of the Rings. He's worse than a 501. Yeah, so each day, 0800 the hits is the phone number. You give us a call and you can face it. Jono and the Lord of the Rings trivia. And if you beat Jono, hopefully you'll beat him. You get a trip for two to the ultimate Hobbiton experience. Will you be in the draw for that?

We'll give that away on Friday. You'll take part in the Middle Earth Halfling Marathon in Hobbiton, which includes entry, travel, accommodation, and a tour and a lunch experience. It seems really cool. They have their own little Halfling Marathon there in the amazing Hobbiton, which I presume you've never been to,

but I have, and it's incredible. Yeah, no, I've never been. I know Ed Sheeran, he turned up there last week and confused a bunch of Danish tourists with an impromptu gig, didn't he? Yeah, yeah. No, it is awesome. It is really worth it. But, yeah.

He was going around the country doing impromptu gigs everywhere. I was having my prostate exam, and he just popped out from behind the curtain. Oh, geez. And he started playing, you know, The Shape of You and gave me and the doctor a double pass to the show on Saturday night. It was a wonderful moment. Oh, my God, I don't know how I added that.

Let's get Sue on from Morrinsville. How are you, Sue? Good morning, boys. Great to have you on. Hey, listen, not a long trip from Morrinsville to Matamata to Hobbiton. No, it's not. Just down the road, mate. So you're going to take me on at trivia.

Let's be honest, I've never seen... My only reference to Lord of the Rings is Ben once dressed me almost naked in some sort of loincloth, and he's like, wander around and say you're Gollum or someone. And that's my only reference point, Ben. I know. All right. Well, let's see how you go.

Here is the first question. You guys can both jump in if you know the answer. The first question, Lord of the Rings trivia. Who directed the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit? Sir Peter Jackson. Sir Peter Jackson. Producer Joel, you're going to have to be the person deciding on who's come through there

because I can't hear Sue, just to be blatantly honest. Okay, I think you should be able to hear Sue now, Ben. But yeah, I think that was probably Jono Pryor. Are we using a buzzer? Because he just yelled out Superior Jackson. I just obnoxiously yelled over Sue. Superior Jackson. Okay, Jono, you've got one.

So Sue's got to really get the next two right to win this competition. Okay. What is the famous line, Bilbo... I am going on an adventure. Oh, there you go. Hold on, Hold on. Hold on.

That is one of the... No, no. Hey, is anyone else going to call out the elephant in the room? He didn't even finish the question. She's already saying... Hey, mate, have you seen the movies? How do you not know that he doesn't say nothing but we're going on an adventure from start to finish for all the...

You don't know that because you haven't seen it. What I do know is Sue's probably been given answers by a scheming producer. No, not at all. I don't even have a chance in this competition. And the final question, it's one all. No, Sue, what's the answer, Sue? I don't know the answer to the question.

Okay, well the question is, how many members make up the Fellowship of the Ring? Sue, nine. Yes, Sue, well done, nine. Good on you, Sue, for letting him get the question out there, Tom. Sue, you're in the draw for that amazing trip for two to the ultimate Hobbiton experience. Good luck for that one.

We'll be drawing that on Friday. Thanks, guys. Good on you, Sue. Love your work. You're on The Hits. Jono and Ben is the wild, wild weather hits New Zealand over the next 24 to 48 hours, so hopefully everyone's doing okay. And you've been directly affected, Ben,

because he's coming to us live from the teen pregnancy capital of New Zealand, Palmerston North, this morning. Hey, stop it. Stop. This is, we don't, me, us, me and the fellow people here in Manawatū, we don't need this. We don't need you besmirching the good name of Palmerston North, mate. I live here now and I love it.

All right? All right? Have a great weekend in Palmerston North. He would rather be trapped in Palmerston North than be trapped in a room with me. And I don't blame him. This is where I'm living here now. But over the weekend, I've been to a couple

of hotels as we're away on a bit of a family adventure around the place and I had a wee bit of an embarrassing situation where there was a toaster in the room and I decided that I was going to have some toast and I put it down and as I went to the bathroom

and I, you know, when it's not your toaster and it's all on me, you don't check the settings to see how high you've got the toaster going on. But you also, you know, in defense to you, you don't know. Here's a message for the toaster industry. Let's get some calibration, some regulation across all toasters. Yeah. Because they're all toasting at different levels.

There's no consistency from one toaster to the next. So I put the toast in the toaster, went to the bathroom, thought I'd have, you know, a good, you know, a little bit before the toast was ready. Went into the bathroom and then came out and there was just smoke everywhere. The alarm had just started to go off

in the room. I'm like, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, what's going on now? I'd just come out of the bathroom in my boxer shorts at the time. I sort of grabbed a towel to try and sort of wave that away, and then bang, bang, bang, knock on the door. I'm like, oh, that's quick. Quick turnaround. I don't know how quick and why this happened so quickly, but there was not only someone

from the hotel there, but someone from the fire brigade as well. Jeez, have they got a team of firefighters ready to burst into a room of nearly naked people at any moment? And next thing you know, I'm getting ushered out as well while they deal with it. I'm like, it's just toast.

It's just the smoke from the toaster. And I'm getting ushered out there. In my boxes, I'm like, oh no, please don't make other people from the hotel see me like this. But I'm waiting there in the corridor with other people. Well, they would have been like, who's this malnourished little boy? Where are your parents, little boy? don't make other people from the hotel see me like this, but I'm waiting there in the corridor with other people.

Well, they would have been like, who's this malnourished little boy? Where are your parents' little boy in your underpants there? That is a wild response time from the fire crew there. Well done. I feel like they might have been already in the building for that to happen, but hey. Maybe being Palmerston North, they're so used to smoke-filling rooms.

Oh, hey. Hey, hey, stop that. Stop that. Can I ask an important question? Yeah. Did you get some new toast? Yeah. You did?

Toast was all good, yes. No, but did they give you new bread? Yes. Oh, they did? Yes. Lovely. It was wonderful. But actually, I told this story to you guys before the show,

and producer Behumps told us about Sam Wallace. Oh, Sam Wallace. Sam the weatherman. Now, Sam Wallace, you'll know, used to work on this very show until Ben and myself savagely came in and we said who are the nicest people in this company? And they're like, Sam Wallace, Tony Street.

That's not what happened. We're like, great, we'll take their job. Thank you very much. That's not what happened. You know that's how it went down. You know that's how it went.. You know that's how it went. So after we savagely rolled Sam and Tony here from the show, they know it, we know it, Ben, and it's about time the message got out there. But Sam Wallace, he was apparently staying in a hotel,

similar situation, but the sprinkler, I think, kicked off. And so you had your boxer shorts on. He had nothing on, nothing on. So he put like a table or something underneath. He had to stand on the table and was kind of cupping the sprinkler system, trying to not let it soak everything in the room. So you can just imagine both arms are up. And he's on the table, fully on display.

And boom, the door comes open. Four staff. Four staff walk into the room. And he's butt naked on a table holding a sprinkler system. Now, being a weatherman, he might have forecast that full frontal, but I'm not too sure. So good. So we want to know this morning, alarming stories,

stories of alarms going off and you being called out. Yeah, and a lot of alarms will be going off at the moment around the country too. So 0800 the hits, 4487 that's alarming. You call us, you tell us when an alarm went off, what happened and we'll put you on the radio. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast.

As the wild weather hits the north and moves its way down the country I hope everyone's doing okay. 4487 on the text as well. We'd love to know how you're coping and how things have been. A lot of power outages, a lot of disruptions with school and travel. So really, I think everyone out there this morning. A lot of alarms going off too.

That's a tenuous tie into what we're talking about this morning. Ben Boyce caught in an alarm scandal over the weekend in Palmerston, all through he's currently located and can't get out of. It wasn't a scandal. It wasn't a scandal. It wasn't a scandal, but you made it into a scandal. But we wanted to know. Caught in his underpants. He comes to Palmerston North.

They welcome him with open arms. They do. They've been lovely. Nothing but hospitable. And all you can do is set off a smoke alarm and then run around in your underpants. Disrespectful. Disgraceful.

Just a normal Saturday night for me. So that's alarming is the topic this morning on 0800, the hits. Jesse, what happened to you? I bought a car from Ashburton Way, and I was heading back through to Oamaru. I was low on fuel, so I stopped at a fuel station in Timaru, and the alarm started going off, and it wouldn't let me get fuel because this car had been in a petrol drive-off.

Oh, so it recognised the licence plate. Yes, yeah. Didn't know that was a thing. That's a good tip for new players. Yeah. So what? It wouldn't unlock the petrol pump for you? No.

No. The guy was waving his arms out at me and I just took off. Now you took off. Now you look even more suspicious, even though it wasn't you. I thought the wise thing to do would be speed off and look even more guilty. Well, I know every time, and it's a constant complaint I make about the petrol station forecourt, is I go on there

and a lot of the pumps, understandably, are on prepay now, but I grab a pump, I stand beside a pump, they know I'm there, they can see me, and I know they've got the release button. They have the power to release the pump, and they never unpump the pump. You don't know, I wouldn't for you either. They wouldn't for you either, Jesse?

No. So what do you do in that situation? Do you either, Jesse. No. So what happened? What do you do in that situation? Do you have to re-register the car or? I never did. I sold it, so it's the next person's problem. The burden can just keep getting passed on to the next owner and the car never gets filled with gas. What a dream scenario. Thank you very much, Jesse. No worries. See you later.

Katie with us on 0800 The Hits. That's alarming is the topic, Katie. No worries. See you later. Katie with us on 0800 The Hits. That's alarming is the topic, Katie. What was the story that was so alarming? Well, it was just a beautiful day, you know, hot and sunny and the kids are in bed having a morning sleep. So I thought I'd have a shower. And I went. As I came,

the bathroom door was open and the steam was going and it set the fire alarm off. Oh, the smoke alarm. Yes, right. Okay. Because of the steam from the shower. So I thought, oh gosh, I'm going to have to do something about off. Oh, the smoke alarm. Yes, right. Because of the steam from the shower, so I thought, oh gosh, I'm going to have to do something about this. I don't want to wake the kids up. So I'm running around the house madly with my towel wrapped around myself.

And in the end, I figured the only way to turn it off was to actually flick the steam away with the towel. Oh, that makes sense. Jumping up and down. So yeah, you remove the towel and you're waving it. Yeah. Waving it around. And I'm actually in the open plan family living area. And there's a knock on the door.

And I turned around and there was a guy standing there wanting to sell me something. And there I am standing there. Please tell me it's like a wooden door or is it a big ranch slided glass? No, it's a great big glass. So they're looking right through as're just waving around almost like some sort of sexy dance or something yeah i mean thankfully i'd been for a run a few days earlier you're like i was looking great i was looking great the only thing is you couldn't look him in the eye i couldn't i was not

i was trying to not knock myself out in the process. What do you do in that situation? Did you open the door or was it just like, oh no, he walked away? Oh no, he left. I mean, hopefully there was no photo attached to that either. Oh, Michelle, that is brilliant. Here you go and have a great day.

I will. Have a good one, guys. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. On your Monday morning as Cyclone Gabriel hits in the far north and moves its way down the country, causing a lot of disruptions and devastation as it goes. Really, really thinking of everyone out there. And we wanted to know the latest on what's happening with it. Hello.

Your job never stops. The weather doesn't give you annual leave. No, it doesn't. Maybe we should have a bit of a negotiation with Mother Nature about get a full week of Phil Duncan over the Christmas period. What do we reckon, Phil? Yeah, no complaints from me. Is it getting wild out there, mate?

It is, and, you know, I'm hearing from people saying, oh, this isn't that bad. It's worth noting that the cyclone is still north of New Zealand. It hasn't got here yet. It doesn't actually reach Coromandel, Auckland area until around about maybe 4 o'clock tomorrow morning. So nearly 24 hours away, and the storm is about to intensify. So that's the reason why, sure, it may not be that bad just yet,

but we're still expecting severe weather to actually increase later on today. Sorry, I was one of those people people and I was blaming the Labour government. I've seen that online, believe me. So what can we expect over the next 24 to 48 hours for the country? So rain is basically spreading down the country at the moment. Now, we had the first outer band of rain yesterday that came through Northland and Auckland. It caused a few issues in some areas,

but really for Auckland in particular, it wasn't very much. But that was always expected. Today is the day when the real rain comes in. The heaviest rain is closest to the centre of this storm. So that is coming through across today, and we're still expecting some pretty big rainfall totals, you know, between 100 and 200 millimetres for northern New Zealand still yet to come through.

So that's the part that's sort of concerning some forecasters. It's really this event hasn't really started yet. What can people, if they haven't prepared, what is the essential thing they need to do? Well, look, I would say keep your phones charged. You know, the power is going out all over the place, and just because it hasn't gone out where you are doesn't mean there is no storm, which is something I read a lot of.

So keep your phone plugged in. If you've got a laptop, keep it charged up, that sort of stuff. And also, critically, make sure you've got junk food. What else do you do in this weather? I'm one of those people that says, I don't like doing the whole, you know, stress too much about it,

because there's really not a lot you can do other than have the basic stuff ready. And if you've got young kids, you're making sure that you're sort of prepared if you do need to leave your house for some, you know, whatever reason. You mentioned junk food. The last thing I need, Phil,

is another fattening up session. I'm still getting over lockdown. Lockdown was so long ago too. Isn't it a feeling, I don't know about you, but there is this feeling of the COVID lockdown all over again. Yeah, yeah. Sort of, you know, stay home, be safe and all that sort of stuff. It does feel, I have to say, kind of, for some people,

it's a bit traumatic hearing all this stuff again, but this is a really serious storm. And so hopefully, you know, in 48 hours, that's the end of it. But the next 48 hours are going to be pretty rough for some areas and just wishing everybody the best. Trying to keep a good end of it. But the next 48 hours are going to be pretty rough for some areas and just wishing everybody the best and trying to keep a good sense of humour. But yeah, it's not a small system and it's not a fizzle.

Phil Duncan, on a personal note, I've had a wonderful weekend in Palmerston North and I'm still here at the moment because there's no flights up to go up to the country. When do you think that may be possible for someone like myself? Well, I would imagine, I would be hoping that by Wednesday,

depending on the conditions, obviously down in Palmerston, more importantly, I'd say up in Auckland, they'll be improving. So you'll probably, hopefully Wednesday at some point, but then certainly Thursday, I'd be imagining things will be, you know, getting better. And also, you know, our thoughts with you being in Palmerston North.

Hey, man, I'm having a great time. I'm loving it. As I said to Jono, I think I live here now, and I'm very happy. They'll welcome you. It's very friendly. Manawatu is very friendly. Yeah, they are. What I like, too, is it's so windy in Palmerston North.

This cyclone weather is just what they call a normal Tuesday morning, I think. Hey, hey. Hey, I'm defending that. I live here now, and I love it. Is it going to be affecting the South Island? Are we going to see this weather touching Wellington and those parts of the country? Well, yeah, and actually, to be honest,

Manawatu as well as Palmerston North are going to be getting some very strong winds later on into Tuesday because as the storm centre moves down the country, like I say, it's going to deepen. For anybody who understands air pressure, the central air pressure with this storm because as the storm centre moves down the country, like I say, it's going to deepen. For anybody who understands air pressure, the central air pressure with this storm can get down to 957 hectopascals around Great Barrier Island.

That is unprecedented in the North Island. And so that just means the storm is big and powerful and can send severe weather all the way down the country. So, yes, very heavy rain around the Kaikoura Ranges and we'll be seeing gale force winds around Manawatu and Taranaki and Wellington as well. So this is a big event. And shout out to Phil Duncan for the first and last time

the word hectopassels will ever be used on this broadcast. Yeah, there you go. Where do we get the name Gabrielle from? Well, the Australians named this one. Because if the storm forms around the Fiji side, Fiji Met Service names it. If it forms west of the halfway mark of the Tasman Sea, then the Aussies name it.

So, this one was an Aussie named storm. So, is there any reason why they would go with a name or does some guy at the Met Service or whatever over there or some guy at Weather Watch over there goes, oh, jeez, I had an ex-girlfriend, Gabrielle. That was a bit of a shocker. I don't know. It's a very strange process, and every sort of region does it differently. I wish that they had more inclusion of New Zealand

in some of these names. It'd be great to have, you know, like a storm that sounded classically New Zealand on its way down here. Although sometimes Aussies have some classic ones. They had a Cyclone Sheila a few years ago. Cyclone Sheila. Well, Phil, again, we do appreciate your time.

Thank you for keeping us up to date. And no doubt we'll be phoning you and harassing you this time tomorrow. If I've got power and coverage tomorrow, I would happily talk to you. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Jono and Ben with you on The Hits. The wild weather is here and will continue to hit over the next couple of days. Cyclone Gabriel, the worst is yet to come for a lot of the country by the sounds of it, causing disruptions, power outages, schools closing, flights cancelled,

severe weather warnings for a lot of the country. So take care out there and we'll keep you up to speed with all the latest info throughout the morning on The Hits. Now, a lot of concern about rising water levels around New Zealand, Aotearoa at the moment. Yeah, gnarly waves as well, I just saw some footage of. I've just had my own horrible experience, Ben. A tale of anguish, heartbreak and betrayal. So I went to the ablution block here at work and tended to my ablutions. You make it sound a lot more fancier than it is. Well, I like it. I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm to my ablutions. You make it sound a lot more fancier than it is.

Well, I like it. I appreciate it. Yeah. I'm calling it ablutions. Yeah. And it's a scenario that I'm sure many listening might have been in before, but it's like a car crash. You're like, you think it'll never happen to you.

So as the system flushed, the water rises slowly. And it's one of those moments where you're you're talking to yourself out loud going no no no no no and the water just keeps getting higher and higher like if there was someone in the next door they'd be like oh my god what's going on in there no no no no no it's a frightening moment i haven't had it before where it just keeps rising it just keeps going and you're like i don't pray to god much but i was like literally there is a God, you need to help me in this lifetime right now. You start, like, I'm running through my options. I'm like, do I lock the door?

Do I climb out of the cubicle? Do I just, you know, do I hand in my resignation? Because telling another human being what's happened, that's not an option. Okay? And I'm sitting there going, what do I do? And I took a huge gamble. As this thing is like, it's toilet an option. Okay? And I'm sitting there going, what do I do? And I took a huge gamble. As this thing is like, it's toilet seat height. It's like, you know when you fill a glass so high,

it's like meniscusing or whatever they say. It's that full. And I'm like, I'm going to take a gamble here and flush again. Flush again? I flush, I push the button. No. And it was at this moment. Like I said, I don't pray to God much, but I was like,

please, if you do anything for me in this lifetime, please flush this toilet. Also grow some hair on my head, but more importantly, flush this goddamn toilet. And in, I would say, a miracle moment, the water went down. Oh. And I was just like thinking of all the things you could pray to God about,

you know, keeping your family healthy and safe, looking after the weak and vulnerable, flushing a toilet. God's answering all the prayers out there, and he's like, there's some bald idiot stuck in a cubicle just needing this toilet to flush. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Oh, Jay. You got a lot of religious propaganda on the air there,

didn't you? The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Let's go. Jono and Ben with five words for 5K. Stop any time to keep the cash. Thank you. Or play on to win more. Don't you hate it when your unwanted guests come over

and end up flooding your house? Oh, yes. No, I'm sorry. I did it once, Ben, and it was an accident. I fell asleep while having a bath. And I apologise, and I thought you'd got over it. It's okay. We're an association. We play it every morning. You know how it works. So who are we bringing on today, Jono? Let's welcome in Justine. She's in

Nelson. Good to have you on, Juzzy. Hi. Hi. Hi. What are you doing right now? Right at this moment, what are we looking at? Oh, making school lunches. Oh, yeah, the old Marmite cheese. Get some mini chips in there and get them on their way, Justine.

All right. Now, you need to choose who you're going to send into the soundproof booth this morning, mate, to match five words with and win $5,000. Ben. All right. Ben, off you go to the soundproof booth. Okay, he's in Palmerston North right now, the permanent soundproof booth. Oh, I don't know.

What? Oh, okay. Hey. Do you want me to go into the booth now? Yeah. Okay, I'm in the booth. want me to go into the booth now? Yeah. Okay, I'm in the booth. Ben, get out of the booth! I'm multitasking here.

Yeah, no, she doesn't trust you. I'm going into the booth now. Okay, I just left the studios here in Palmerston North. Someone's waved me back in. Okay, all right. So you want Jono? Okay, hopefully this is a winning decision. Let's see what pops into your head

Justine from Nelson. When I say Pamela. Pamela. Anderson. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Hula. Hula. H-U-L-A. Hula. Hula Hoop. Yeah, Hula Hoop. So far

we're matching 100% but you don't want to hear that because you've chosen Jono. Gravel is word number three. Gravel. Drive. Drive. Briscoes is number four. Sorry, what was that word?

Briscoes. Briscoes. You know the shops, the stores around the country? Briscoe. Yeah, Briscoe's linen. Linen. They love their linen, don't they, at Briscoe's? And finally, roast is the final word this morning.

Roast. Pork. Roast pork. All right, well played, Justine. Producer Joel, if you could wave to Jono and the Auckland Studios, get them out of the soundproof booth. I'm here. I'm alive and well, Justine.

Hi. Yeah, missed you, babes. What's going on? Oh, it's all gravy in the Navy here. The show catchphrase. That seems to have taken a life of its own. All right, let's see how we go, trying to match five words and win Justine some money.

Word one, $25. The $25 word this morning, Jono. I said to Justine, Pamela, what did she say? Pamela Anderson. Yeah, well done. That documentary on Netflix at the moment. Justine, do you want to go? Do you want to risk it all for $50?

Yeah, keep going. Keep going. Word two, $50. Hula. Hula. I'd say hula hoop. Yeah. $50, Justine. Now, big decision big decision you want to jump up to 100 you go on word three 100 what's this gonna say people get greedy you know have a think about

what's coming up justine too late for that now mate your common sense is out the window we're going to word three which is gravel gravel oh okay like gravel pit rebel it was drive a gravel drive there was lots of options that gravel road was another one stones yeah justine and nelson i know it's a beautiful day there you're making lunch but there is a bit of moisture in the air and it's the tears running out of your eyes right now. I'm sorry for letting you down, Justine. That's all right.

You keep safe. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful Monday, okay? Okay, cool. So Jono and Ben with you on a Monday morning as Cycloneriel hits the country a very very scary time for us all particularly the kids and we wanted to know how best to deal with that and explain it to kids and get them through these next couple of days so holly jean

brooker from the parenting place joins us good morning good morning great to have you on mate buddy good to have you on you're keeping safe and dry and well oh yeah absolutely it's pretty lucky here how are you guys? Yeah, no, we're good. We're good. Ben's stuck in Palmerston North. Well, he's not stuck in there. He's living his best life in Palmerston North, aren't you, Ben?

As I keep saying, I think I live here now, and I'm okay. I'm okay with that. My husband's family's in Palmerston North, so, yeah, I feel for you. I'm having a great time. I'm having a great time. He's sitting in the HITS Broadcasting Tower, a.k.a. a blackboard room on a Zoom connection. Yeah.

Hey, now, Holly, at The Parenting Place, you do such great work, you know, helping out families and kids around the country. And something we wanted to talk to you about today was obviously with the cyclone here, is how you talk to kids about it. I've had the same conversation with one of my daughters over the weekend many times,

seeing the footage on TV or reading about it and being quite worried about it, which is understandable. I think we all are worried about it. But how you explain it to kids and how you can help them deal with some of their anxiety? Yeah, yeah. You know, we had the floods last week, and this week we've got the cyclone.

And like you've said with your daughter, it's pretty typical for us and our kids to be feeling some kind of anxiety around what's going on and things are out of our control. So I think what's really important for us as parents or caregivers is that we are able to manage our own stress because our kids can pick that up because we actually show our own stress through behaviour as well.

So giving kids language to help them explain what might be going on for them can be so helpful. So it's just validating their emotions. Sometimes we can get into this habit of just going, oh, it's okay, everything's fine, you don't need to worry. But actually that's not validating their feelings, they are worried, so it's better to kind of show empathy for

that and understand that so that you can then move on to address and kind of reassure them about the steps that your family is taking to keep everyone safe um i i do like making them suppress their emotions holly that's my parenting style that's what i prefer to do no emotions in the prior household yeah is it we're rock solid no but it's an unsettling time and it's been a really odd start to the year the school year particularly particularly for the kids in the North Island. Oh, totally. Getting back into the rhythm, into the vibe, into a routine

has been a bit stop-starty. What's your words around that? Oh, mate, I just feel like it's survival at the moment. I think it just comes, you know, like for me, I'm able to work from home, which is amazing because I can, you know, continue my job at home with the kids. But it's super stressful and it's really draining and I feel pretty just exhausted myself.

And I think this is where it's really important that we can put our own oxygen mask on first to make sure that we are okay because, you know, if we're okay then we can kind of, our kids can be okay and we can give out to them. So, you know, I'm doing things like if my husband's at home going out for a walk for half an hour just to get some breathing space from everyone because i feel quite you know edgy myself just need some space again just referencing my own personal uh but i

do a lot of drinking uh that's that's how i get through it ollie start to get a bit a bit shouty later at night. Oh, geez. One thing I did find yesterday, because we are away from home at the moment, and I found it was helpful with Indy that we went out and we got together a little kit, you know, like for her she got to choose a little torch and, you know, made sure we got candles and stuff like that. So we've got a little kit, you know.

And I felt like that was a good step into making it feel like at least we had some sort of plan if things were going to turn bad. Oh, you nailed it. You don't need to talk to me. This is amazing. It's so true. I don't know about that. Doing the practical stuff is so important.

We did the same thing, and the kids loved just rushing around. Their priority was getting all the devices charged up on full charge just in case we lost power. Got to get the roadblocks in or something. Thank you so much for that advice, as always, Holly. And if your people want to get more, they can head to parentingplace.nz. It's a really, really handy tool for parents. And you stay safe.

We'll talk to you soon. Cool. Thanks, guys. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. The Hits, cash and car. You can win a brand new Skoda Kamek Monte Carlo worth $47,990

to be exact and thousands of dollars in the back of the boot. You need to guess how much money is in the back of the Skoda and you can take home cash and the car. We've got cash keeper Alex in the studio with us, and she's more than just a cash keeper. She's a wonderful human being, aren't you, Alex?

That's very kind of you to say, Jonathan. You don't know how to react to a comment like that, no. No, you really don't. Like, if you agree with it, you come across a little arrogant. Yeah, but thank you, Jonathan. Yeah, no, there we go. Spreading the love this morning tanya how are you in gisborne hi all gravy in the navy here in wetland all gravy in the navy and gizzy

the storm looks like it's going to be battering you the cyclone ah this afternoon it looks like it's coming hey it's coming for you tanya you keep yourself safe strapped down now someone tells me a little birdie tells me that i should stop, someone tells me, a little birdie, tells me that I should stop talking to birds. It looks a little crazy. But Tanya, you got the answer correct. The last time we did Cash and Car, you just couldn't get through on the phones.

That's right. And my answer is actually one of the clues for last year. It was the closest one that had been picked. So, Tanya, frustration on the phone lines. What words were you saying out loud when you couldn't get through? No, don't say those now. Please don't say those now. I can't repeat that on air.

Thank you, thank you. Jono, where's your responsible broadcasting? Tanya's more responsible than you. All right, Tanya, we're going to throw you over to cashkeeper Alex right now and you can have your guess and hopefully you'll guess correct for two years in a row. Good luck. Thank you.

Tanya from Gisborne. Hi Alex. Hello Tanya. What is your guess for how much cash is in that boot? My guess is $20,230.50. Tanya from Gisborne with a guess of $20,230.50.

That is incorrect. I'm sorry. All good. As long as you can give us a clue. I wish I could. So did you take this guess because of something from last year? Well, the winning amount is etched into my memory forever. It could have been mine. Yeah.

So I know it was higher than last year and lower than the $44,000 one. So I was just kind of taking a wild stab. And based on the 2023, I tried to get those figures in there. Jesus, you've gone in deep, mate. You give me a lot of credit there. You have gone in. You remind me of that lady. You remember that show, Carrie? What was that show? deep, mate. You give me a lot of credit there. You have gone in deep. You remind me of that lady.

You remember that show, Carrie? What was that show? Homeland. Homeland. She had all the pictures up on the wall. I'd love to see Tanya's lounge at the moment. A lot of just numbers. No, you wouldn't.

It's a total mess from kids. No, you couldn't come here. Well, Tanya, that doesn't mean it's the last time you can get through. You can keep following the competition, obviously, and hopefully you can get through and win that amazing car and cash package thanks to Škoda. And, Tanya, you keep safe and gizzy, okay? Thank you very much. I'll be ringing you again tomorrow morning at 8.

The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. I hope you guys are doing all right out there as the cyclone hits New Zealand. It's bringing a lot of wild weather, wind, rain, huge tides, schools shut, disruptions to travel. In fact, I'm still in Palmerston North, had a lovely family weekend down here in Palmerston North and now I'm broadcasting

from the studio in Palmerston North a four-minute commute this morning, which was a dream, Jono. It was a dream. Now, you're stuck in P-Naughty. What fun and frivolity have you got planned today? Can I go and ride a wind turbine, take one of those

for a straddle? What are we going to do? Yeah, plenty to do here. The choices as I said before, I think I live here now. I think this is where I'm living now, so you may never see me again. You were there all weekend. You said there's plenty to do there. Surely you've done it all. No, mate, there's so much to do. I haven't barely just even scratched

the surface. I'm getting very defensive every time you look look stop okay you don't understand mate i'm part of the manawa two now this is my home okay what else is there what else what else they've treated me so they've treated me beautifully there so i won't have a bad word about it i am loving it here okay all right and this is why we don't like organ does okay people like you okay now over the weekend i actually uh we saw some guinea pigs uh and very adorable guinea pigs and i was talking to my kids about it and they were like wouldn't it be cool to get a guinea pig and it and i had a you know one of those memories

where you know it flashes back to your childhood i was like i did have a guinea pig my sister and i amelia and i we had a guinea pig when we were little for probably only 24 hours molly and matilda we called them and we had them outside in this little sort of run around pen area and the next morning we came out and they weren't there and my mum i remember her saying to me my mum jenny that they'd run away overnight and now as an adult i'm looking back going uh hang on maybe they didn't they definitely didn't run away we all know the truth gu Guinea pigs are very cute, but, you know, they're just a fluffier, fatter rat, aren't they, really?

And everyone's like, oh, they're so adorable, guinea pigs. But I'm sure, you know, they're probably the cousin of the rat and the poor rat's getting, you know, killed and trapped and poisoned. Not the guinea pigs. We love guinea pigs. So I feel like, and my mum lied to me, and I know that parents that tell these little white lies to protect their their kids all the time but it's really you know it's i'll be thinking a lot

about it over the weekend thinking i was lied to yeah the trust in my relationship between me and my mum it may have gone now we're going to call jenny boys uh and i think you can confront her and do a head on. Okay, good. This traumatic childhood incident and we'll get some answers for you, Ben. All right, thank you. Jenny speaking. Hi, Jenny. It's your son, Ben, calling. Oh, well, hello. And your other almost like a son to you, Jono, here. Oh, Jono.

Oh, Jono. I got an oh, Jono, and Oh, Jono. Oh, Jono. And you go, ha, ha, ha. We know which son she's most proud of. I'm very blessed. Jenny and Benny and Jono. We're all here.

Now, we were just talking about when I was a child. I was there too, you remember? But, Marston, we were living, you know, on the school grounds. Amelia and I, we had some guinea pigs. Now, we didn't have the guinea pigs for very long. Molly and Matilda, I think we called them.

Cute names. Oh, yes, right. I feel like we had them for almost 24 hours looking back. And the next morning we went outside to, you know, excitedly to see the guinea pigs. They weren't there in the cage anymore, you know, and you said they had run away. It's time to come clean, Jenny.

Well, they sort of did, but they got helped. Okay, let's talk. Let's talk. What went on? Don't spare any details. You can take it now. Yeah, I'm a grown adult. They did go and play with the local dogs.

Oh, no, I thought. They played inside their mouths. Yeah, because it just dawned on me. Indy the other day, you know, obviously you know Indy, your granddaughter, but she was like, did you have any guinea pigs? We were talking about that growing up. I'm like, yes, I did.

And they ran away. And then I was like, oh, maybe they didn't. Well, I did get help, but they sort of ran away. They sort of ran away. We did our best not to have that happen, but they didn't want to stay with us. They lived happily ever after in that dog's digestive system.

Oh, jeez. Oh, how's that? You knew the truth, Ben. Yeah, I did. And it's hard hearing the truth, but you're right. It's probably what I suspected. So, Jenny, when you were brainstorming what had happened to the guinea pigs, what other options did you have in the mix there?

Actually, well, we didn't have a swimming pool at the time, so we couldn't... They went swimming? It's like a cover-up of some sort of police scene, isn't it? You could have gaslit both the kids and gone, what guinea pigs are you talking about? You're right. We were pretty silly kids, you know?

We probably would have believed it. You dream that, you silly kids. I try not to tell children lies, but sometimes you do a little bit of an exaggeration. Yeah, well, you did lie to them when you said you loved them. They played inside their mouths. Yeah, because it just dawned on me. Indy the other day, you know,

obviously you know Indy, your granddaughter, but she was like, did you have any gu guinea pigs we're talking about that growing up i'm like yes i did and they ran away and then i was like oh maybe they didn't well i did get help that they sort of ran away yeah they sort of ran away yeah we did our best not to have that happen but they didn't want to stay with us no No, they lived happily ever after on that side of that dog's digestive system. Oh, jeez. Oh, how's that? You knew the truth, Ben.

Yeah, I did. And it's hard hearing the truth, but you're right. It's probably what I suspected. So, Jenny, when you were brainstorming what had happened to the guinea pigs, what other options did you have in the mix there? Actually, well, we didn't have a swimming pool at the time, so we couldn't swim. They went swimming.

It's like a cover-up of some sort of police scene, isn't it? You could have gaslit both the kids and gone, what guinea pigs are you talking about? You're right. We were pretty sad. Most of his childhood. When really we know you love me more, Jenny. That's true.

It's all true. All right. Love you, Mum, but not as much as you love johnny see you jenny the hits the jonathan ben podcast as well weather lashes the country and i thought it was going to be all right actually jonah because every time i've ever tied down my trampoline or attempted to do that uh to the deck i it's never been worth it's never been unnecessary i've got caught up in the news and i've tied it up and you know i can't i can't actually imagine you tying anything like what sort of knots do you use is it like a bow like you tie your shoelaces up whatever you're rocking pretty much it's probably not a good one but i did that before i i headed away for the

weekend but i thought this will be unnecessary but maybe on this occasion it's not as the weather seems pretty shocking around the country. I did actually, because I know you're stuck in Palmerston North at the moment, all of a sudden has become Palmerston North's greatest ambassador. Yeah, mate, I love it. All morning, he's been fending off jibes about Palmerston North. You just, you know, you come down, experience it for yourself, mate. It's a dream.

He's been defending it from me, from callers, from guests, all morning. Yeah. And he's like, no, no, no. He's been shielding them off. I've been saying it's the teen pregnancy capital. Hey, hey, hey. Anyway, what do you want to say? Apart from anything about Palmerston North.

I wanted to say what a great guy I was yesterday because I was like, I knew you were stuck in Parmy. I said, do you want me to go around your house and tend to anything? You did? And I said, I'll help you tie down anything. You did. You rang up. But how relieved were you

when i said oh no um family have kindly agreed to stay while we're away you would have been a little bit relieved i could not have been happier because it's a huge win for me i look like a generous guy and no follow-through required speaking of generous people uh ed sheeran uh just uh just left new zealand uh an amazing few, it looked like he had here. Surprising schools, surprising Hobbiton, some incredible performances. The circular stage was just futuristic. And we went along on Friday night and saw him, and he was incredible. And he even navigated a few technical difficulties really, really well, which would have been frustrating.

He turned it into an acoustic performance, which was awesome. Yeah, it was, it was. And I don't think the crowd really cared, they understood. It was amazing to think, you know, even at that level, which was awesome. Yeah, it was. It was. And I don't think the crowd really cared. They understood. It was amazing to think, you know, even at that level, stuff goes wrong. Yeah. Hey, even at that level. And he took it in his stride.

I thought he would have been underneath that futuristic stage, but he ripped shreds off people down there. But he looked pretty chill about the whole thing. But you tried something when he took a wee bit of time away to get things sorted. You tried something which doesn't always work in New Zealand. It was a chant. A chant. Well, because some hero had started a Mexican wave.

Can we call it a Mexican wave or has it been cancelled yet? I'm not sure. I keep wondering about that one. Is it just a wave now? Maybe it's just a wave. They started a wave, a circular wave around the ground. It's easier when you say what the name is. But anyway, yes, it's a wave.

That all nationalities can do. And I don't know where it originated or what originated. But hey. The United Nations of waving. Non-discriminatory. And I thought, oh, this is great. You know, the Mexican wave, everyone was getting into it. And then the Mexican wave sort of slowly petered out as it does.

And I was like, now's your time to step up, Pryor. Chant. But, jeez, what you need when you start a chant is you need the backing of the people. I tried for a bit. I tried to get involved. A few of us did. But you're right. It didn't really get the groundswell like the wave.

No, because it was a simple chant. It was just Ed, Ed, Ed. One syllable. That's all I was asking for. It wasn't a sentence. It was just Ed, Ed, Ed. And there was a smattering of people around us who kept going. But then the chant's worst enemy is lost confidence.

And Ben, you lost confidence. You sort of started stopping. Yeah, I did. And then people around you. And then it's just me just chanting Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed. And then I slowly got embarrassed and faded out as well. What I love is the last bit of a chant when the last person, which was you on that occasion,

just slowly, from Ed, Ed, Ed, and just slowly like turning down the volume in the cast area. You just sort of faded out. It's a humbling experience. It really is. Do you know, because Mike McRoberts was kind of sitting in front of us, two rows in front, and he turned around to me midway through the concert and he's like, you watch concerts like you're a cricket umpire.

He did. I heard him say that. I couldn't tell if it was a compliment for the fact that I'm rock solid and unflappable or that I'm so white and boring there's not a rhythmic bone in my body. You watch concerts like you're was the white and boring one