Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL SHOW: Jono gets leeched and we say goodbye to Sri Lanka!

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

On today’s show: Jono has gotten someone's name wrong again — and it put Ben in a very awkward position. Why didn’t Jono want to take the leech off? A hotel where you can get whatever you want! We were given our very own homemade “NZ news.” Ben’s daughter is very worried about… her screen time! Is Ashlee sick of travelling with the boys yet? How Go Media completely transforms the stadium in just 24 hours. High, low… buffalo Instagram: @THEHITSBREAKFASTFacebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & MeganSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jono, Ben and Megan podcast thanks to Dilma. Goodness really does taste great. Dilma, making the world a better tea. Welcome to the podcast. We are still on... Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka. Oh, Jesus. Jono's got a pad with lots of buttons on it and it has effects of... It doesn't affect my voice, but I'm not going to talk. No talk, it's funny. Oh, my God.

It's not working out. Anyway. The wheels are off. The wheels are off. They are off. They are off. We've only got one more to do after this, so we'll try and make it through to the finish line, Megan.

But how's things in New Zealand? How are you going? Do you know what? It's very cold this week. It's been pretty good weather but it's pretty cold we've got budget day today other than that not much budget day it's the most hyped up yeah but also same time disappointing day on the New Zealand really nothing ever happened I mean there may be little bits here and there, you know, but it doesn't seem like it. No matter what government's

in power. No, you're right. Yeah, and she did say it's not going to be unicorns and rainbows, so I don't think it's going to be very exciting. Well, that's funny, because they were promising unicorns and rainbows when they were campaigning to get into Parliament. Yeah, yeah. The thing is, when you get into power,

you can't really do too much, can you? Really. Yeah, for sure. Whether you're Labour or not, blue or red, you're kind of stuck. It's probably a lot harder than it seems when you're out of power, right? Yeah. It's a lot easier to throw stones when you're out in there, I guess. But yeah, I hope that goes well for everyone.

Yeah, you've built in on that one. What would you like to save money on, if you could save money on anything in your life? Daycare. What would you like? Really? Daycare, yeah. Your subsidy for daycare, that's a good one. Weren't they going to do that?

And then they're like, oh, no, actually, we can't. I thought there was in the first year or two. Nah, it's once they turn two, you get a little bit of a reprieve. Oh, okay. Yeah. So you're talking all of daycare. You'd like a full subsidy, half subsidy? What are we talking?

Just a little bit cheaper would be nice. A little bit cheaper, yeah. That's good. How about you, Ben? How would you like subsidised by the government? I would like... I tell you what, I'd like to go back to free sport all the time. On TV?

Yeah. Just free all the time. That's a good idea. Isn't that the thing in Australia? If it's of national importance, I think it is. Yeah. Like if it's a big Australian cricket game or something like that. Yeah.

That's actually really good. But then Sky would be like, oh, thanks, mate. I don't want people to lose their jobs or anything. So do you want free sport or not, mate? Because there's going to be casualties. Not if it comes with casualties. Yeah, I don't know if Sky's in a position to do charity work at the moment. Yeah.

Well, they can get their jobs. They're still providing the sport for free. The government's paying for it. But then they'll be spending money on sport. It's a slippery slope. I see why it's hard to get anything done in Parliament. You said you wanted free rugby league. I might just turn them down.

This luxurious trip that these boys are on, it turns out there might be a catch. It's first in the podcast today. You guys need to go to bed. Yeah, we do. John O'Byrne and Megan. The podcast. The hits.

We are in Sri Lanka on our Dilmar Golden Ticket teabag mission. It's been pretty incredible to see some amazing sights over the last few days. We've packed a lot into these days, and you could be winning an epic trip like ours thanks to Dilmar Tea. Yeah, who not only do tea, but they've got their own resorts, which is sprinkled all throughout Sri Lanka. They've got schools. They fund organisations that help disadvantaged children and people

and teach them how to cook. We went to a school today, very cute school, year one students, so they're only five years old. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! It's like talking on the phone to someone you like. Bye! You say bye. Bye!

Those kids liked us. You made a couple of other kids cry in the class just by sitting too close to them. That's the sort of effect that you have. Without a word of a lie that happened, didn't it? Yeah, they were preschool i just sat down to this next to this girl and she just yeah not a fan not a fan but my aura was not not her jam but jono you know megan from time to time will uh you know you've heard it many times on the radio right we'll get a name wrong

yeah sometimes it's even written in front of him but he still manages to get the name wrong what's he done in sri lanka but he still manages to get the name wrong. What's he done in Sri Lanka? I don't think we're going to beat this peak. Yeah, so just imagine the chef coming out. He's talking about what meal that we're going to have as part of the meal for one night. He's got a chef's hat on. He's coming out here and he gets introduced as the chef.

Jono, for some reason, thought his name was Jeff. So the whole time, everyone else is calling him chef. Jono's continuing to call him. Yeah, thanks, Jeff. Alright, Jeff. All the way through. I think we need to get your hearing checks, Jono. I think so.

No, he didn't scream Jeff, did he? I mean, maybe a little bit of a language barrier. I don't know. You know, maybe you could put it down to that. Yeah, but having the hat and the uniform would probably give it away. That's partly on you too, Ben. You can hear him saying the wrong name, but you don't want to correct him? Well, it's kind of...

No, what happened is the guy's like, as I now know, the chef is about to come out. And I said to him, before i had any time i said who's jeff and then before you know this guy walks out jeff walks out there you go mate and uh this big chef's head on and chef's apron hello i didn't know any time to process oh yeah you would have been like oh my God, Jeff the chef, that's funny. Yeah, I did. I was like, you are in the perfect profession. I think I even said that to him.

Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Yes, we are in Sri Lanka on our Dilmar Golden Teabag ticket mission. Put two golden teabags inside two Dilmar teaboxes, which should be out in New Zealand. Look for ourags inside two Dilmar teaboxes, which should be out in New Zealand. Look for our faces on the Dilmar teaboxes if you want to win a luxury trip to Sri Lanka. Yeah, now we left yesterday and Ben had just got over a huge anxiety hurdle

of sleeping next to leopards, elephants and snakes, scorpions. The wildlife in the jungle. We were tending in the jungle. Yeah, in the jungle. And then I thought in the jungle. Yeah, in the jungle. And then I thought I was over there, and then I discovered there was a whole lot of leeches where we are, particularly when it's raining in the tea fields,

and we're going in the tea fields to learn how to pick some tea, and they were like, there's going to be heaps of leeches. Was it raining yesterday? Yes, it rains for bits most days. It's beautiful and lush, but it does rain for a wee bit. So fresh after a hot, humid rainfall, that is prime leech territory.

Okay, yeah. This is their happy place, the leeches. We spoke to Amrit, who's Dilhan's son from Dilmar. He says he's had a leech strapped onto his precious parts. Yeah, those are the sort of stories that you don't want to hear. No. You know, you're going to be inside leech town for a wee bit. The leech pit.

Yeah. When you're working in the leech pit. Yeah, we were working it off. We were obviously having to work to pay for, you know, for the fact that we came over here thanks to Dilmar. And we arrived for our shift with Dilhan from Dilmar. And yeah, maybe we're a little late. Well, here we are at the factory, 6 o'clock, like agreed. Welcome to Dunkel, but gentlemen, I don't know what you're doing in these golden suits but you're six hours late.

It's midday, not in New Zealand it's not though. In New Zealand it's night time isn't it? So we're even later in New Zealand. Yeah you're right, damn it. So what would you like us to do? Well you've got to pick tea, that's how it all starts and just watch out for the leeches. Yeah and the real thing, we got leech socks given to us which sort of go up your leg to stop I guess the leeches getting in there. You know you tuck in your shirt and out you go, we're in our gold suits out there. Picking tea, because that's what they do from Dilmar, they pick the tea straight from the

source. Yeah and well one of us got leashed. Oh, please tell me it was Ben. And it was... No. No. No. We emerged and we were talking and doing some stuff and sort of about five minutes into it,

I could feel something nibbling away just above my pubic bone. And it wasn't me. It was a leech. And here's what happened when we discovered it. Oh, is that a leech? Here we go. Okay, I've been leeched I want to see how much he can suck out of me He likes the attention How big can they get there Amrit? Well this guy's gonna double What? Five times the size?

And he's loving uh your branding on the underwear there yeah so he's hoping for a calvin klein endorsement so for lee how long do i have to leave him on there for him to blow up he needs a few minutes to uh have a good drink okay but so what he's doing now is he's uh injecting his saliva so that you don't feel any pain it's uh dissolving the uh yeah making sure that the blood flows more freely. It numbs it, makes the blood flow a little more freely. But why are we discussing this? Yeah, is this a Ryan Comerford thing or should I be getting it off there?

Let's get it off here now. Did you leave him on there? It's got some salt sort of on it, and that salt sort of gets it away. Honestly, I was genuinely interested to see how much it would expand. To be honest, I just wanted to suck the fat out of my guts for the last six days. Oh, my God, if that's what they did, leech me up, baby. Yeah, go grab your cousins, Have a field day on there. But you had quite a lot of blood on this.

Like afterwards, you put your shirt, you know, tucked it back in your shirt. Quite a lot of blood. Yeah. It was only on there for a short period. But I'm sorry. I really, he probably, he probably was like, damn, finally I've got on to someone.

And then, you know, how heart-wrenching would it be for the leech to just be flicked off there? Yeah. We wanted to know, though, on 100 of the Hits 4487 to make Jono feel a little better, what have you been bitten by? Have you been bitten by a shark? A horse? An alligator? A horse?

Yeah, a horse. Yeah. Maybe an insect that put you in hospital. Have you been bitten by the soulless industry you work in? You know, maybe that could have had a, you know, metaphorically speaking, you can find a bit, if your work's taken its toll. Waka Kotahi bit me with that parking ticket. Does that count?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but probably more animal insect related. But anyway, thanks for the abstract examples. We'll check it out for stuff, mate. All right, okay. Yeah, okay. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast.

The hits. We're live in Sri Lanka on our Dilmar Golden Tea tea bag mission putting the golden ticket inside two boxes of Dilmar tea which are on sale any day now in New Zealand if you find the golden tea bag ticket you could be winning a trip like ours to Sri Lanka

Would you say life changing experience? Incredible, like really just surreal the whole time, just a fascinating country full of like jaguar, no leopards. Leopards. Beautiful. Life changing. I don't know why I was thinking jaguars.

Leopards right out the window. Just amazing people, amazing scenery. All the stuff that can potentially harm you like when we're in the jungle. But you could be winning this luxury trip. Thanks to dilma and something that you won't be doing though is going into the into the tea fields and doing some picking we had to do that to pay back our trip and johnny you got bitten by a leech yeah uh there's a lot of talk about leeches and uh some you know shared leech previous leech experience from people who had had leeches latch on to all sorts of appendages.

Did you wear two pairs of underpants? Yeah. Yeah. I double underpinned it. I didn't want it going in that region. I was curious to know what it was like anywhere else, but did not want it going inside there. To be honest, yesterday when you were talking about the leeches, I was like, it's going to be such a disappointment if one of you doesn't get bitten by one. So I'm glad.

I would have preferred Ben, but I'm glad one of you did. We all would have preferred Ben. I've still got tomorrow, guys. I've still got tomorrow. Okay. I'm glad. I would have preferred Ben, but I'm glad one of you did. I've still got tomorrow, guys. I've still got tomorrow. Okay, I like Jono. What's the most unusual thing that's ever bitten you on 4487? Sultry Sandra. Welcome. What bit you? What happened, mate? A donkey. A donkey? Now how did this happen?

Well, I was 10 years old and we lived in West Africa and I was at a party and the donkey I was sitting on was fine. But they brought one from the bush that hadn't been really around humans. And that one got a bit antsy and it bit my donkey from behind. So mine turned round, flew me off and in the middle of it all, I got bitten on the top of my arm. Oh my God. What does a donkey butt feel like?

A bloody sore. Have you got a scar on your arm? I've got like a little, it looks like, you know, when you get your booster injection. It's a bit like that. It's similar to that, but it's not huge. I mean, it just broke the skin. But because of that as well, I had to have the rabies injections.

So it's not much of a battle wound, I'm afraid. Also, other question, why were they bringing in a bush donkey? They already had a tame donkey. Yeah, but they only had a few tame donkeys. And I guess they were probably just pushing the boundaries. I mean, we're talking about West Africa, so it's money to make. So they probably thought, let's bring some more donkeys in on this

that are probably just used to carrying, I don't know, loads around, not people. Well, I can think of a Shrek with donkey. Donkey had a great set of teeth on Shrek, right? So, you know, I can imagine that chomp was quite, you know. And did you catch rabies? No, I didn't. Every time I got an injection, because we went back to the UK

and I got the injections there. And every time I got an injection, I think I got about maybe four or five injections. I got a gift, so it all worked out in the end. Thanks for your call, Sandra. Have a great week. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The Podcast.

The Hits. Yeah, we're live here in Sri Lanka on our Dilmar Golden Teabag ticket mission. We put two Golden Teabag tickets inside two boxes of Dilmar tea at the Dilmar Tea Factory in Sri Lanka. Those boxes will be sold in New Zealand with our faces on them. If you find one of the golden tickets

you could be on a luxury trip to Sri Lanka. And might I just warn the winners who are lucky enough to head over here, is they've spent six days, the Sri Lankans, fattening us up, haven't they? Sometimes, I would say you'll go breakfast, and then you'll go a morning tea, and then you'll go a lunch, and you've just finished lunch. Within 30 minutes, there'll be a high tea. Yeah, they really are lagging on, like amazing hosts, aren't they? You were eating some exotic dessert the other day.

Was it like 11 p.m. while we were recording the show? You were eating a fancy dessert? Just so much food. And you say, like, honestly, Janica, who's the hotel manager here, we sat down for breakfast this morning and we were all like, we felt like we couldn't move. And we're like, okay, no one doesn't want to eat breakfast. Maybe fresh fruit.

Fresh fruit, yeah. So we sit down and he's like, scrambled eggs. And we're like, no, not this morning, we're full. He's like, great, bacon, eggs, hash browns. And we're like, no, not this morning, we're full. He's like, great, bacon, eggs, hash browns. And we're like, no, thank you, no. He's like, okay, you're having porridge, you're having a hash brown. And everyone's like, no, no, no, we want nothing. He's like, fantastic, I'll bring it all out now.

And then the plate comes in front of you, bacon, eggs, sausages, hash browns, and you eat it all. You hate yourself for it. You hate every part of it. You can't say no, though. Oh, yeah, it's pretty special. How awful for you. Yeah, we feel very spoiled as you start doing that.

You should be. You should be. I am so full. I couldn't be any more full. It's been awesome. There are starving children in the world. Oh, don't.

And I'm sitting here unable to move. I'll tell you what, I have struggled with it. You know, sometimes, you know, making a joke with, you know,

people that don't speak English as well has fallen flat. I mean, my jokes fall flat at the best of times. We had a moment today where we were at a school. Beautiful, a beautiful school. Met some amazing kids. We's fallen flat. I mean, my jokes fall flat at the best of times. We had a moment today where we were at a school. A beautiful school. Met some amazing kids. We played some cricket

as well. It was really great. And then we were talking to the principal. You weren't like skibbity riz bongo to them, were you? No. I thought Jeezy would. Definitely would have stood me there, that's for sure. But I was just making a joke about, you know,

some principal humour about us going to school. And then I made the joke. He didn't quite understand, obviously, which I get. I understand. And then the teacher next to him would explain it. And then I was like, uh-oh, I'm getting my jokes translated. And so now you have to watch. You have to watch.

Like, you have to go, okay, I'll say the joke. Then you watch the translation. Then your face goes back to the person who's just been doing no i don't know how the delivery was from the person translating yeah no listen i want i pin it less on the translator's delivery and more on the the content but then john i was like say another joke because that one didn't work so i'd try something else why did the teacher wear sunglasses to school? Because her class was too bright and then you'd have to hear a translation

and then he would be like, and then the principal would be like, hmm. Yeah, yeah. Ah, hmm was as best as I got. Very slow moving freight train.

Definitely lost in translation. Definitely not your fault at all, Ben. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The heads. Coming to you yelling in a hotel room here in Sri Lanka at the moment on our Dilmar tea mission to put two golden teabag tickets inside two Dilmar tea boxes.

They're going to be on sale very shortly. You look for our faces on the boxes and you could win if you find the tickets a trip to Sri Lanka. Yeah, we're staying at the moment on the tea trail where they actually pick and process the tea. Amazing little slice of the world here, isn't it? Just surrounded by hills and hills of tea

plants. Yeah, green, lush, isn't it? Lush, so lush, Ben. So lush. And these houses were built over 100 years ago when the first people came here. And they Lush, so lush, Ben. So lush. And these houses were built over 100 years ago when the first people came here. And they planted tea. So the tea plants are over 100 years old, some of them. And they've turned it into accommodation

that the people that win the trip will be able to stay in this wonderful accommodation. And the people here are so friendly. Apart from the people probably next door to us tonight who are having to listen to this radio show in real time. Yeah, but the Sri Lankan people that work at the hotel

are just incredible. And one person today did something really special when we came down for breakfast. Janaka's the manager here and he surprised us with something.

So we have just awoken here in Sri Lanka and the wonderful Janaka has printed out a very special edition of New Zealand news. You've made almost like a New Zealand herald, like the newspaper back home. It's called New Zealand Today, all this news here at the moment. It's good, I'm pleased I can read about the Warriors, they've got good young signings. Happy about that?

I love the rugby and everything. Yeah, you've got all the sports. He's a good signing. Yeah, he's a good player, 19 years old. Do you know rugby league? Yeah, I know. Yeah, so it's like you've got rugby and then you've got all the sports. He's a good signing. Yeah, he's a good player, 19 years old. Do you know rugby league? Yeah, I know. Yeah, yeah. So it's like you've got rugby and then you've got rugby league.

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. I need to tell him about it. Don't mansplain. Don't mansplain that one. Weather, ooh, a bit cold there, 11 degrees. Yeah, weather is so bad, no? Yeah, partly cloudy, partly cloudy.

17. Yeah, it's better, no? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's where you want to be. Thank you very much. This is very nice. Health staff told not to chat more than five minutes a day. Tough, tough.

There is tough. Tough stuff going on in New Zealand. Five minutes of chat a day? How long do you chat with the staff for? Longer than five minutes? Yeah, maybe. Yeah, maybe. Maybe he's not saying that on camera.

I love New Zealand country. You love it? Yeah. Have you been? Not yet, sir. Oh, no. Maybe I's not saying that on camera. I love New Zealand country. You love it? Yeah. Have you been? Not yet, sir. Oh, no. Maybe there. I hope to sit there.

Well, we would love to show you around. Exactly. And we'll make Srinagar news when you come to New Zealand for you like this, okay? All the things you're missing. All right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much, sir. Yeah, Janaka, lovely guy.

Isn't he lovely? This is so cute, Megan. So nice. How nice is this? Honestly, it's a two-page little newspaper, basically, that he's created with all New Zealand news. I mean, basically, it's like our radio show all rolled away. He's done all the prep for us.

It's got all the things that's happening back home. Did he break down the budget? Oh, did he break down the budget? Well. If he has to include the budget. Oh, yes. No, he has. He's talking about how Labour slammed it.

Yeah. So, yeah. Actually, what has happened with the budget, though, Megan? Because it's obviously the big news back home. We've kind of missed it being over here in Sri Lanka. God, if you're asking me. Yeah, Megan, over to you. Over to you for your in-depth analysis.

Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Very disconnected to what is going on back home, Megan. The podcast. The hits. Very disconnected to what is going on back home, Megan. That's why we thought, well, the budget.

It's been the biggest news in New Zealand this week. You are the person to tell us what's going on. Great. Love that. So the budget came out from old mate yesterday.

She had a big speech. The National Party chick. She did a big speech. Chantel. Chantel. Was it Chantel? No, I don't think that's her name. No, she's Luxo's mate.

Nicola Willis? Was it Nicola? Are you the one who's got a budget experience? Or is it Brock Van Veldin? It's one of those two. Oh, she's that. It's the one in the blue blazer. Yeah.

So she delivered a big budget. And I can tell you, one of the ones that I did take notice of was the KiwiSaver contribution's going to be halved. So you know how the government puts in money? As long as you've put in your own money, they are going to halve how much money they put in for you. And if you're a rich B word, they're going to not give you money. So if you earn over $180,000, they're not going to give you any more money. That's what I would do.

Oh, right. Because that would match a certain amount. Okay. So they're not doing that anymore. No. They're going to extend the duration of a prescription. So you know how you have to go back every three months to get a new prescription? They're going to extend that to a year.

So you still have to go and fill it at the chemist, but the prescription will last a whole year. So you don't have to go back to the doctor, pay a doctor's fee, righty-righty-right. Okay, that's a good one. Yeah. Then around 142,000 families are going to get an extra $14 a fortnight under the Working for Families changes.

Okay. What else did ChatGPT say? The government is sending a message to parents, support your unemployed children. Don't expect us to. So they're going to change some kind of thing for unemployed 18 and 19 year olds. I would love if the news was this way. Just like ad-libbing?

Oh, they're going to change some kind of... They're kind of doing something. Lily with the blue blazer was saying some stuff. Is he Brooke or is that Nick O'Williams? Read it yourself. Look, if you start noticing an extra $14 a fortnight in your bank account, it's because of that. Yeah, and if you start noticing less money in your KiwiSaver,

it's because of that. Yeah. Okay. The lady in the blue blazer. The bougie. That's the summary. Thanks, Megan. I feel no more smart after that at all.

Megan Pappas, economist. The KiwiSaver thing was beneficial, I guess. Now I understand that. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Yes, we are live from Sri Lanka. We're barely alive at the moment.

It's getting like one in the morning here. Excuse me. Local time. Excuse me. Don't start with the complaining. Yeah. You're not allowed to complain. You've seen elephants.

You've seen baby elephants in the flesh. Yeah. Okay. We have seen some pretty amazing things. Live from Sri Lanka. Megan is back here pushing buttons in the studio. So don't start with the, we're tired.

Yourself, you've said, that's not the holiday for me. You know, I've been attacked by leeches, Ben Boyce's, what have you been attacked by just anxiety that's every day for me this is an incredible incredible place and the two people would be lucky really lucky to experience all these things with dilma yeah something that'll stay with us forever you know one thing that's really confused me about the

sri lankan community is you'll ask them a question like a yes or no question but they will answer yes but their head is shaking no it's like a year and a half in New Zealand though it is

it's like their requirement is it'll be year and a half yeah and it's just I think they'll do it's just like a we say year and a half and everyone's like

what the heck does that mean you're just giving me both options it really threw me I asked a guy a pretty simple yes or no question but his head was saying no.

But he was saying yes. He was saying yes. Yeah, no, it was true. Now we have been away for pretty much a week, you know, about seven days and, you know, for family at home,

you know, you're missing your family, you want messages from your family and, you know, my daughter Sienna now, you know, in teenage years and got a text through the other day.

I was like, oh, this is exciting. We don't have, like, Wi-Fi and phone data all the time. So when you do get a text at the hotel, you're like, oh, this is exciting. I wonder what she's reaching out for me. She must be missing you. Yeah. Her dad, who's, you know, you've been very loyal through her theatre career. Yeah, I have, yeah.

You guys work together. You do a lot of work together. We do, yeah yeah i love my daughter a lot and you know and this you know text came through and i was like oh this is a text that says screen time request the center has asked for more time on tick tock will you approve this okay and well that was one tick so i ignored that i ignored that you're like i'm not gonna approve that i'm over here in sri lanka yeah and then the next text, a day or so later, I got another text. I thought, well, my daughter has come through.

This time it's a screen time request for more Instagram time because we've got to sit on an app. And then there's another text after that for more Instagram time about a day later as well. And that's the only comms you've had? Oh, no. To be fair, she did call me. I was like, call me on WhatsApp phone.

I was like, this will be great. First thing she rolled into was like, hey, I'm at the mall. your card so it's my first card for some reason um can i buy this top and justify the reasons why she needed this top so that's been my correspondence so you know how are you going uh you know with your fear over being attacked by a leopard or an elephant not so much of that i mean she has been involved in the family chat a little bit but more of it or an elephant. I'm so glad that scorpion didn't bite you. Yeah, nothing like that. Not so much of that. I mean, she has been involved in the family chat a little bit, but it was more top-based, a glasses conversation.

Not much I could do, really, from this spot. Again, you could say no. It wasn't looking on. I would have just denied the screen time request and be like, send me a heartfelt message beforehand at least. Yeah, well, there's some wonderful touching messages from home. The lovers slowly die. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast.

The hits. Bryce is travelling with us right now. I was surprising her with a bit of a chat. She's sitting here watching radio be recorded at 1 o'clock in the morning. We call her the CEO of music, Ashley Bryce. Yeah, she's come on tour with us and has done a wonderful job capturing social media, making sure all our equipment is working in the evenings. But I've upset her once already this trip.

We've talked about it, haven't I? Yeah, you said she was part of the lowest point of your holiday. We did highs and lows of the day and i was really struggling to come up with a low and i went for a comical one that didn't land it didn't land and it was still with an airdrop but not coming through connecting and us waiting outside a tent in the middle of the jungle for quite a long period of time right now i worked my way back from that yeah yeah i thought we had well you still marked her as the low point of your journey. I'm so sorry, Ashley.

Thanks, Megan. She's dealing with your diva demands, but what's he done now? I am. So many diva demands. Well, just before, a song was playing before, Jono, you went off to the bathroom and I was like, oh, I'll just have a moment, look through Instagram. And scrolling through Instagram stories and I went, oh, Ashley Bryce, the one that came across your social media. I was like, what's she got?

And I said, they're out loud to you. And then her little footage of the hotel room that we're currently in right now started playing. And I looked at that, and I went, oh, yeah. And then I flicked on, and she went, oh. Did you just swipe through my story? I was like, well, yeah. And she got offended by it. And I was like, but I am sitting literally in the room right now of that story.

You're in the story. I can look around and see exactly what is in there. You could miss something. When you're interested to see her POV of you. It wasn't even me. It was just the room. Oh, that's why he skipped through it. He's like, I'm not in this.

Skip. This isn't about me. Yeah. no but i was like in my defense i could just look up and look around the room actually i've seen the room i'm sitting in the room was that the only story he skipped or did he do it more times well there was there was multiple stories up, so he did kind of... He watched the ones with the... Yeah. Yeah, he did. He saw those stories. And then as soon as he was gone, nah.

Born next. Well, this really backfired, didn't it? If you could just do the special categories on your Instagram, those little circles. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast.

The hits. A huge weekend of sport, Megan. And because Ben is a logistics guy, he needs details. The man who runs Go Media Mount Smart Stadium is going to give us those details. Scott Couch, good morning. How are you? Very well, thank you. How are you getting on?

I'm good. I wish I was in Sri Lanka. Sometimes. Why are they in Sri Lanka? Sorry. That's not coming in right now. It's that questioning what's going on with us, okay? Come on, mate. I want to know why you're in Sri Lanka. Should you be here? No, is the answer.

We'll answer the questions here. They were there for a very simple job to put some golden tickets into some Dilmar boxes, which they've done days ago. So now they're just taking the piss. Junk it. Now we've ended up in a seven star resort, Scott.

You guys have always landed on your feet, haven't you? You really have. That's the important questions this weekend. A lot going on at Go Media Stadium Mount Smart. Very exciting weekend. Two big games. Yeah, no, it's brilliant, isn't it?

So, yes, a very, very busy weekend for us and everyone involved. So you've got the football Saturday. Auckland FC, their semi-final match, yeah. And then the Warriors on Sunday over, you know, in a space of under 24 hours. How do you transform one field to another? Ground staff are incredible. You know, like what they have to turn around, you know, for a multitude of under 24 hours, how do you transform one field to another? Ground staff are incredible. You know, like what they have to turn around, you know, for a multitude of sports.

But how does it work with the lines? Because the lines are subtly different between the two sports. Do they paint green over it? This might be a dumb question. Or is the paint, you know, can you wash it out? I mean, how does it work? You'll see them straight after the game. If you were in Sri Lanka, sunning yourself, you could be there and watch them actually them actually be out there with the water blaster. Water blasting the lines off and then they repaint them on.

So, yeah, she's a 24-hour gig on weekends like this for our poor grounds crew. How many people do you reckon are going to go through the gates this weekend? Oh, we'll get pretty close to 60,000. I think we've got all our temporary seating in to increase our capacity. So, yeah, we'll get close to 60,000 people through in probably less, like you say,

in less than 24 hours. Scott, can I ask you, is it the WAS year and Auckland FC? Please don't do that to me. I've been a Waz supporter since day one. You know, so I'm one of those tragics. So for me, look, let's hope so.

But you just never know. It's a hard competition. But, you know, I'd love to see both our home teams at Go Media Stadium do the job this year. It would be fantastic. And, I mean, Auckland FC, you couldn't write a... It's a fairy tale beginning to their career, the club's career. It's amazing, eh?

I don't think anyone other than them believed that they would do this well this soon. So, yeah, incredible story. Let's hope they go all the way. Obviously, they've got to get through this weekend first. But, yeah, we're all gunning for them. Oh, well, thank you so much for your time. It's going to be a very exciting weekend. How many people have punished you for tickets?

Yeah, I'm surprised you haven't phoned me already, actually. I was expecting a call from both of you, you know. Because they're in bloody Sri Lanka, Scott. Otherwise, they would have. Yeah, I know, I know. And it's always sweet tickets as well. So just, you know, just remember that. Yeah.

Tell it. Just pencil this down for the Auckland FC final if they make it there. You know, just remember that. Yeah. Tell it, just pencil us down for the Auckland FC final if they make it there, you know, how's that sound? Yeah, I'm sure you'll call me back.

I'm sure you'll call me back. John O'Bannon Megan. The podcast. The hits. Approaching our end of our time in Sri Lanka, all thanks to Dilma on the Golden Teabag

ticket mission. You could be winning pretty much the trip that we've got to experience over the last week. I wish this could go on for another three years, but poor old Dilhan can't afford that from Dilmar. And we have families and commitments back home. Responsibilities. But it's been pretty epic. Incredible.

So many surreal moments. We thought we'd reflect just quickly on something we like to do. The high, the low, and the buffalo. High, I would i would say uh well i mean there's been lots of highs but one of the highs was just seeing elephants and not just seeing elephants in the place where they rehabilitate them into the wild but also seeing them at the part one on the path at the hotel have a listen oh my gosh there's an elephant in the bloody what the hell Oh my gosh, there's an elephant in the bloody... Can you see it? What the hell?

This is the worst thing. A lot of commotion going on over the walkie talkies. And the more he said please go back, the less we went back and the more we started filming with our phones. We were the idiot tourists, we were like how did these people get mauled by a stampeding elephant? Yeah, that was us. But pretty surreal just to see them. They're elephants. You drive down the road in the countryside, which is pretty incredible.

Let's go low. Well, amazing accommodation that we stayed at. It was like these glamping tents in the middle of the jungle. But going outside of that, you had to be chaperoned at night by someone from the staff, because there's all sorts of things that can get you. And on our way to dinner, we saw a scorpion on the path. We haven't passed it yet.

No, we haven't passed it. We stopped at it. Te Lanke, you've been bitten by a scorpion. Do people get bitten by them all the time? Yeah, all the time. Yeah. Yeah, what happens? Poison, right? Yeah, very poison. Yeah, yeah, yeah.? Poison, right? Yeah, very poison.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very, very poison. Ben got no sleep that night, did you? Yeah, no sleep. Very, very nervous. Even though it was a lovely, lovely room. All the scorpions and the snakes and they had plotted against him. He made it through alive.

And I would say the buffalo, the strangest moment, is there's just thousands and thousands of tuk-tuks. Even where we are broadcasting from right now, we're in the tea trails where they grow tea in the highlands. In the countryside, there is tuk-tuks. Even where we are broadcasting from right now, we're in the tea trails where they grow tea in the highlands. In the countryside, there is tuk-tuk. Tuk-tuk everywhere. Everywhere, going up and down the hills. But gee whiz, they've got no concern for their own safety,

these tuk-tuk drivers. Or road rules. We got on one just after we got to Colombo and Sri Lanka and it was a wild ride. OK, there's a lot of stuff going on. I don't know if road rules are a thing here. You thought the southern motorway on a Monday morning was bad. We're in a tuk-tuk on a four lane motorway. Oh god. Oh, uh oh. Big bus, big bus.

Don't just stop. What are you doing you mad dog? No sound effects added to that as well. There were literally buses charging straight towards us. But no accidents. I didn't see one accident. No, you're right. Everyone just, they slow down and they make way for each other. It does.

For some reason, it works. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. If it were New Zealand, that would end up in fisticuffs in the middle of the intersection. It's been amazing being here and you could win it. Thanks to Dilmar when our teabag boxes hit the stores very shortly. In fact, some of them could already be in the stores right now. Now, Megan, some bad news. Our flight just got this through.

Our flight's been delayed. Yeah. Oh, you better be joking. You better be joking. No, it has, mate. Sorry, yeah. We'll see you Thursday, mate. Have yourself a great weekend.