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Amy Shark is an Aussie indie pop singer-songwriter, but don’t let that make her sound small-time.   She’s just released her new album ‘Cry Forever' which features collaborations with Travis Barker and Ed Sheeran.  Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen for Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has been talking to Jack Tame about the best ways to care for kids post-separation. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Roald and Beatrix: Dawn French and Rob Brydon star in this heartwarming TV film inspired by the true events of Roald Dahl’s childhood meeting with Beatrix Potter (Neon).    Utopia: An Australian satire set inside the offices of the "Nation Building Authority", a newly created government organization responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects (Netflix).  The Masked Singer NZ: based on the South Korean series King Of Mask Singer, The Masked Singer NZ is a reality singing competition where 12 celebrities compete against each other in song, masked head to toe in extravagant costumes that completely conceal their identities (Three, from Sunday). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudking has been watching COVID-themed heist movie Locked Down, and modern take on Oliver Twist; Twist.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Mother’s Day Sticky buns  This is one of the simplest and quickest sticky bun recipes I know and the buns are top notch.  Makes 9 large buns  Topping ½ cup brown sugar 3 big tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons maple syrup  Filling 2 tablespoons butter ½ cup brown sugar 3 teaspoons mixed spice 1 cup walnut pieces  Dough 3 tablespoons warm water 2 teaspoons instant yeast 1 teaspoon sugar  3 cups plain flour 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup plain yoghurt  1 large egg 100g butter, softened  Preheat oven to 190 C. Line a 22x22cm baking tin with baking paper, making sure it comes up the sides.  Melt brown sugar, butter and maple syrup and simmer for 1 minute. Pour half of this into the base of the lined tin.  Make the dough by stirring the yeast and warm water together and leaving to froth for 5 minutes. While this happens whisk together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together frothy yeast mix, yoghurt and egg and pour this into the dry ingredients. Mix together - you can do this in a beater with a kneading attachment or with a knife  - until combined. Add in butter, a tablespoon at a time and keep mixing until it’s incorporated.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to bring together. To assemble buns: Roll out dough to a 20x30 rectangle. Butter with softened butter then sprinkle over sugar, mixed spice and ¾ of the walnuts. Starting from the long side furthest away from you and roll up tightly, bringing it towards you. Use a sharp knife or, my preferred technique, dental floss or thread (see note) to cut into nine equal portions. Place in lined tin, evenly spaced to allow for expansion, cut side down. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove buns from oven and let settle for a few minutes before turning out onto a serving dish or board. Peel off paper to reveal the syrupy buns!   To serve, top with remaining brown sugar, maple and butter mixture and sprinkle over remaining walnuts.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Land and Kiwi documentary James and Isey.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Book reiewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keffe.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Kevin Milne's spent a bit of time at the panel beater recently - and he reckons a good proportion of car accidents are caused by drivers who're using their phones. The fines have been upped this week, but could they go higher?LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been talking about caring for your parents - and the impact that can have on your other relationships. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

The IRD's sent a warning shot to influencers - you could be liable to pay tax on your freebies. Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been looking into who might be at risk. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Mike Yardley has been sharing his tips for the best way to go free-roaming South Taranaki. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

British indie-pop band London Grammar are planning to play Vector Arena in March next year. If you want to take a listen and get on board the hype around a real-life international act playing at Vector, their new album is California Hil, and our music reviewer Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Churchill and Son by Josh Ireland, and The Castaways by Lucy Clarke.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

Winter crops need planting  There’s still some warmth in soil so it’s a good time to get planting. If you are in south, maybe get some punnets, rather than sowing seed.  Brassicas do well in winter: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, (Chinese cabbage for stir-fries) Brussels sprouts (but hurry!); these crops will stay “cool” and can be harvested during winter. Fabiaceae – a science word for beans and peas… Peas are good to grow now – harvest them when your conditions have allowed them to set fecund pods.Broadbeans are an acquired taste (I think) but autumn planting will allow them to be ripe in spring. Spinach (the real spinach, as discussed a few weeks ago) and silverbeet are also good to plant right now. But my favourite winter crop (and one that goes on to well into Summer 2022!!) is the “Perpetual Spinach” that looks like a silverbeet but is a lot milder and not so crunchie. This goes well into my favourite rice dishes (in the oven): Cook your rice; fry onion and mince (or bacon – or shrimps – or bits of steak) mix it into your rice. Then chop up raw perpetual spinach a dash of sweet chilli sauce, and work it all in a large ceramic pot (covered with lid) with parmesan cheese; whack in the oven at 180 degrees for an hour, while you open a beer or two.  Beetroot is another one that will grow slowly in winter without bolting - plant them now. And because I still cannot let go of summer “greens”, I will continue planting a 6-pack (or 9-pack) of Cos lettuce in a sheltered place every now and then, to keep supply going. The same goes for Coriander. To be frank: this brilliant stir-fry green doesn’t really like our Canterbury heat at all (it bolts like the proverbial), but grows well in cooler temperatures. I always get a flurry of queries when mentioning asparagus. If you are really committed to growing asparagus then perhaps now is a good time to start working on a permanent asparagus bed – honestly: a few days’ work will get you at least 20 years of crop and the joy of cutting asparagus every spring. Select a suitable site: in sunny position on great soil. If you haven’t got great soil, raise the bed (at least 30 cm) and fill with weed-free topsoil, mixed with organic matter (compost). Begin the project now and get your plants (roots) when they show up in shops in July. Weed-free is the key and so is “well-drained”. Start work now and I’ll give you a picture that you can look forward to for decades.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

GORGEOUS GREEK SWEET CHEESE PIES  This recipe is inspired by the Greek tradition of using soft, fresh cheeses in sweet pastries – in fact it was the way I started every morning when I travelled in Crete, along with a puddle of very strong coffee. Bliss. These are perfect for brunch, dessert or for party nibbles.  Makes 6 small pastries  3 sheets filo pastry 100g feta 50g cream cheese 3 Tb caster sugar  1/2 egg, beaten lightly  30g butter, melted 2 TB Honey  Zest from one lemon or orange Heat oven to 180 C.  Mix together the feta, cream cheese, caster sugar and egg in a food processor. Pulse until just blended but still with little lumps of feta as these provide creamy, salty bursts of flavour in the end result.  Cut each sheet of filo down the middle, lengthwise, so that you have rectangles with the short edges at the top and bottom. Assemble the parcels one at a time by brushing the pastry with butter then dolloping two tablespoons of the cheese mixture onto the pastry, then rolling/folding the parcel, tucking in the edges, until you have a snug parcel. Place on a tray. Brush the top with butter. Work quickly if you can, as filo dries out when left exposed to the air for too long.  Bake the parcels for 15-20 minutes or until golden.  Serve drizzled in warmed honey. Eat warm. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Comedian Chris Parker spent 2020 getting famous in the most 2020 way possible: making vidoes about life in lockdown and posting them to instagram.   Specifically he learned to felt, made characters like Ashley Bloomfield, and pulled them together into a hat .. while tens of thousands of people watched along online.   The hat was later sold to the Auckland museum. But it wasn’t all felting and Covid. On his Instagram page he perfectly captured the weird and wonderful about last year, with viral sketches about modern life from pay wave to why everyone suddenly owns a cavoodle. He’s created a show around his felting "This is how I felt" and it’s part of this year’s Comedy Festival. Chris has been in studio with Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    

Kevin Milne's been watching coverage of Prince Philip's funeral, and he's unimpressed at the attempts to lip read Princes Harry and William's reunion. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Eddie Izzard's war thriller Six Minutes to Midnight and Netflix movie Stowaway.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Tara Ward's got some TV picks for your weekend. Mare of Easttown: Kate Winslet stars in this gritty drama about a detective from Pennsylvania who tries her best to prevent her life from falling apart while investigating a mysterious murder (Neon). Creamerie: A darkly funny dystopian New Zealand series set eight years after a plague has killed all men, and where three women who run a dairy farm accidentally run over the last surviving male human on the planet (TVNZ OnDemand). Starstruck: The brand new six-part romcom created, written by and starring Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian, writer and actor Rose Matafeo kicks off this week on TVNZ. Starstruck follows Jessie (Rose Matafeo), a millennial living in East London juggling two dead end jobs when she discovers the complications of accidentally sleeping with a famous film star (from Wednesday 28 April, TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Apple's launched a brand new product: AirTag If you lose things, or want some added peace of mind, then Apple's AirTag is for you. It's a small tracking device you can attach to your things so if they get lost you can locate them. You can use the FindMy app to make it play a sound, or you can use your phone to direct you to the Tag. The Tag sends out a beacon via bluetooth and an arrow appears on your phone directing you to the object. The magic feature though is when the item is far away from you, outside of bluetooth range. If someone else's iPhone detects the beacon, it'll use their connection to send you the location. So imagine you leave your backpack at a bar, then a patron's iPhone would anonymously connect to the Tag and you can see your bag's location on a map.  The battery should last about a year and is user replaceable.   Of course it wouldn't be an Apple product if you didn't need to buy an accessory! There is no way to attach it to something without an accessory - it doesn't have a loop.  Could someone use an AirTag to track you?  Yes, but there are safeguards built in. If your iPhone detects that an AirTag is moving with you it will send you an alert.. but that doesn't help Android users. From the mockup of the app, you'll be able to make that AirTag play a sound to help you locate it. If it's been away from its owner for three days, it'll start making a sound on its own. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

It was the 81st minute. A dewy-looking night in the ‘Tron and the Chiefs were behind by one point. They had posession at about halfway. The Hurricanes defended desperately. Penalty Chiefs. One last play. One last kick. 45 metres. A game of Super Rugby to be decided by Damien McKenzie’s boot. If you were watching last night or listening to Nige... you’ll know what happened next. McKenzie did his trade mark little set up. He leaned forward, gave that slow turned-up little grin. He stepped up, and he slotted it. You didn’t need to wait for touch judges to lift their flags... the crowd told you everything you needed to know. Damien McKenzie slotted it. The Chiefs, at home, were victorious.It’s hard to keep up, but by my count it was at least the fourth or fifth time in the last few weeks where a Super Rugby game was decided in the last seconds of the game. A fortnight ago we had two golden-point deciders in one weekend, including another Damien McKenzie clutch play. Last weekend, the Crusaders went down to the Chiefs in the narrowest fashion – it was anyone’s game until the final whistle. Maybe with one or two exceptions, you feel at this stage of the competition that almost any of the five teams could quite reasonably be expected to beat any of the other five teams.And I just want to pause and acknowledge how refreshing that is. I often start my show on Saturday mornings by having a big whinge or a bleat about something, and we in the media spend heaps of time beating up on aspects of professional sport. So here I am. Mr Positivity. I think Super Rugby Aotearoa is once again proving itself to be a really refreshing, engaging, and exciting competition. The contests are tight. It’s stylish, attractive rugby... and best of all... there are only two games every weekend!It makes an interesting little study in contrast to consider  Super Rugby Aotearoa competition and this week’s disastrous proposed Super League for European Football. Sometimes the best product, at least from a fan’s perspective, is not the format or competition that is going to make the most money.Who knows what we’ll go back to at the end of the pandemic. It’s great to think we might have a proper Pacific team, but there will be all sorts of financial incentives I’m sure to have teams jetting off everywhere. Beats me what the future of the game is in Australia.But as the Rugby Players Union and New Zealand Rugby continue to duke it out over the proposed Silver Lake private equity deal, I just think there are some basic lessons from Super Rugby Aotearoa that are worth keeping in mind in the future. For starters, less is more! I don’t want to be bombarded by games and teams with players I’ve never heard of. The Super Rugby Aotearoa format actually makes for a better competition than any other Super Rugby competition in years. You feel connected to the teams. It mightn’t be worth nearly as much money. But as a fan, come kickoff, I for one feel much more inclined to turn on the TV.Last night after Damien McKenzie slotted the winner, he was swamped by his teammates, and his captain Brad Webber was interviewed on the sideline about the last second win. “We’ve gotta stop doing that.” He said, smiling. “It’s not good for my heart!” he said. Maybe not. But it’s gotta be good for the game.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Crocodile Hunter by Gerald Seymour and Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been playing tourist in Auckland. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

Lawns and their problems  Autumn time is a great time to work on “lawns”. This is the best time to “sow” a new lawn, after totally spraying the old grasses and weeds, leaving nothing but a bare soil. Of course you can also get yourself a series of rolled-up turf mats (ready-lawn) or, as I noticed some school principals prefer, create an “all weather” playing field from artificial grass. Spare me!  My definition of a lawn is a place where you can walk from one end of the garden to the other – a pathway, low growing and easy to maintain. It can have flowers and lots of perennials; the kids can play there and birds graze the grubs from under the roots. It certainly should not be a monoculture of grass plants – trimmed to an inch of their life and meticulously cut along the edges...  You’ve got it: I really am not impressed with lawns: few ecosystem services and very low biodiversity. I prefer a prairie, where different plants come to flowering fruition – a meadow of wild flowers with lots of perennials, carrying pollen and nectar and fibre for nests plus seeds for any animal that desires those seeds. There will be toadstools and puffballs, mycorrhizal fungi and mosses.  Now, look at that list! Most people ask me how to destroy those elements in their lawn! Monocultures are usually not very resilient – you’d struggle to keep such a monoculture going in Nature! Nature prefers a Biodiverse make up – it thrives on diversity. Perennials are plants that survive year after year – that makes sense in terms of “investment”; grasses are perennials too.  Flowers feed a lot of organisms and they also create organic matter, made from carbon that came out of the air, that will enrich the soil. The thatch is therefore not a problem but a God-send.   Mosses grow as the pH lowers. They are miniature forests in which an enormous range of caterpillars, millipedes, beetles and flies as well as mites and predators, parasites and other beneficial critters do their brilliant jobs. Moss in lawns is not really a “problem”.   The toadstools, puffballs and fungi indicate there’s a job to do to convert dead organic matter into deposits of slow-release fertilisers in the soil. Those circles of mushrooms in your lawn tell you there are still a lot of dead old roots down below that need to be composted in situ!  Many lawn-owners ring me to ask how to exterminate those fungi! The amount of selective weed-killers sprayed on lawns appears to be quite alarming too. The good news is: Now is also the best time to sow a complete wildflower meadow at your place. When it is a few months old, you can literally mow a pathway through your prairie, allowing you to walk from one end to the other. And design it exactly like nature would, with the flowing tracks of animals (not in a straight line).   Try it – You’ll like it!  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE   

Getting rid of E-waste Oh, we love our phone and laptops, our toasters, blenders, vacuums, hairdryers, smoke detectors and everything that plugs in. We couldn’t live life without them! They unfortunately aren’t necessarily made to last a long time, and at the end of their lives they are all e-waste - you can’t put any of these in your recycling and shouldn’t put them in your normal rubbish. This is obvious with the larger items like TVs and washing machines , but smaller items need careful disposal as well.  We are looking at around 80,000 tonnes of e-waste generated each year and only about two percent is recycled. This is one of the highest per capita amounts in the world. Also New Zealand is one of the only countries in the OEDC without a national e-waste scheme.  The Ministry for the Environment has an initiative to create a product stewardship process for electronic waste, with results expected later this year. The insides of electronics are full of toxic materials. A Cathode Ray tube TV or monitor may contain up to 3kg of lead.  With the rise of technology, we are seeing more fires from Lithium-Ion batteries. When these get compacted in the rubbish or recycling truck, the casing breaks, and the battery mixes with whatever else is in the truck. The same thing can happen with car parts or gas canisters from barbeques. This puts everyone including the fire service in danger.  But electronics are also full of treasure, the rare metals that products and the new generation batteries need. Specialty recyclers are growing their capacity to take electronic waste in New Zealand. There are lots of places that are eager to get your computer or TV screen, refurbish it, and pass it on to a small business, school, or charity in need. They help keep these materials out of landfill, which also lessens the demand for new rare earth materials. Items that can no longer be re-used are dismantled by recycling technicians. The components are separated and graded as either general scrap metals or e-scrap. All e-scrap is exported under Environmental Protection Agency permits to facilities in Asia and Europe to be return into base elements to be used again.  The other way to look at this issue is through product guardianship. In a circular economy there is no waste. So products are designed so that the manufacturers will welcome them back for the valuable components inside. This philosophy would completely change how we design our products. Some European countries are looking at only ever renting out large appliances, then the companies know they will take them back and make sure they are useful when they return.  Auckland-based company Computer Recycling is hosting 30+ e-waste drop-off days around the city in 2021, providing opportunities for locals to divert their e-waste from ending up in local landfills including one today (Saturday 17 April). Computer Recyclingis working with neighbourhood group to facilitate over 30 of these collection days – dubbed “CR E-days”. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listen to The Offspring’s first album in over a decade: Let the Bad times Roll.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching biographical film The United States v Billie Holiday, and Thunder Force. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE   

Bob Campbell has a Sav recommendation for the weekend, the Stoneleigh 2020 Latitude Sauvignon Blanc $19.99.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Microsoft's Edge browser is rolling out a kids edition If you share your laptop or desktop with a younger family member, now you can force the browser into a kids mode so they can only visit approved sites. The Windows version locks the browser so it's the only thing the kid can access. It comes with an 'allowed' list of 70 popular kids sites which you can modify. If they try to visit a site not on the list, the adult can approve that site with their password. It also forces kids into a safer version of Bing search.  Netflix has made kids updates too  It's trying to make the experience more visual - coz not all kids can read! The interface adds additional images of characters around the show art to help kids better identify what they want to watch.  Spotify introduces the 'Car Thing'  It's called a thing because it's a new kind of device.. it's a car screen or a car interface designed for cars that don't have the latest and greatest in connectivity options. Basically you connect it to your phone through Bluetooth - that's how it connects to the internet - then connect your phone to your car using Bluetooth or an auxiliary cable. The idea is your can put your phone away and just use this Spotify Car Thing to control your music. It's got a giant knob on the right hand side, and four physical buttons on the top to preset your favorite playlists, albums or podcast. It's got a dedicated mute button too. It responds to your voice too, using "Hey Spotify".   What is the purpose? I guess it means you can keep your eyes on the road with voice functions dedicated to Spotify. It's not super elegant though as you need to plug the Car Thing into 12V of power. Otherwise, mounting your phone is kind of the same thing.. which might be why it's launching as a free device, because it really just makes Spotify more prominent in your car. It's US only at the moment. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

The Nevers: HBO’s new sci-fi fantasy series is an epic tale following a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world (Neon).  Earth Moods: a new documentary/travel/nature series from National Geographic that promises a visual and soundscape experience. Five unique episodes capture a vast array of colorful and calming corners of the world, from blue glaciers and arid deserts to lush rainforests and pulsating metropolises, paired with an inspiring soundtrack. Slow TV fans will love this. (Disney+).  Younger: The final season of the comedy-drama about Liza, a 40-year old suddenly single mother who tries to get back into the working world only to find it’s nearly impossible to start again at her age, and pretends to be in her 20s to kickstart a new career (Neon). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Covid has done nothing to slow comic Eddie Izzard down.   She - yes she does sometimes go by she - has just finished 31 remote marathons and performing 31 remote stand up gigs in 31 days for charity.   She's also co-written and produced a new war thriller, Six Minutes to Midnight, based on the true story of German schoolgirls living in Eddie’s hometown on the south-coast of England.   Eddie has been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Quince and space cakeQuince fruit are a wonderful autumn gift. Making quince paste or jelly is one use for them but poaching them to use in this cake is another and it’s simply gorgeous!   2-3  medium-sized quince ½ cup caster sugar 3 cups water  Cake batter 6 big tbsps golden syrup or maple syrup 125g butter ½ cup brown sugar 1 ½ cups + 1 tbsp self-raising flour 1 tsp cinnamon  ½ each ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground allspice 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 medium eggs 240ml poaching syrup from the quinces    1. Poach the quince: peel and halve fruit and put in saucepan with the sugar. Cover with water and bring to a boil briefly before reducing heat to a simmer and cooking for 40 minutes, or until flesh is softened. Remove the pan from the heat and let the quinces cool a little in their syrup then take them out. When cool enough to handle use a spoon to scoop out the core and cut each half into 3 pieces. Reserve cooking liquid. 2. Heat oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 22cm round cake tin. Arrange quince in the base of the cake tin. 3. In a saucepan melt together golden syrup, butter and brown sugar. When the mixture starts to bubble, remove from the heat.  4. Sieve flour, spices and bicarb into a big bowl. Make a well in dry ingredients and break in the eggs. Whisk lightly with a fork then pour in a scant one cup of the quince cooking syrup and beat gently to mix. Pour in butter and golden syrup mixture and stir to combine. It will be thinner than a regular cake batter.  5. Pour into prepared tin, over quinces and bake for 40-45 minutes until springy to the touch then remove from the oven and leave to cool before turning out and removing the paper. 6. Serve in thick slices with crème fraiche, whipped cream or plain yoghurt. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

Kevin Milne has been putting his hand into the dog poo bin in at the dog park.He's been on the phone to Jack Tame, to explain why. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

Kiwis should be angry about the lack of checks on border testingThis weekend marks a milestone of sorts. Australia, we’re coming at'cha! I’m excited to visit my family over there. My brother and I are really close and it’s been almost 18 months since I saw my grandma. She’s 94 as of last weekend. She’s vaccinated. From the way she’s been talking, she’s in a fearsome vein of gin-rummy form that I’m hoping to end before long. I know for others, this bubble is even an more critical and urgent development. But in a way, we’re lucky this thing is even happening. Not because logistically it’s too difficult – the Australian government has had a bubble up and running for months, now. But because once again, our border defences have been exposed as significantly more vulnerable than we’ve been led to believe. It’s outrageous that at this stage of the response, a border worker could contract the virus and come to work having apparently not been tested for Covid-19 for more than five months. It’s flabbergasting. It’s utterly unacceptable. To be honest, I’m surprised there isn’t more anger. Just imagine how different our Saturday morning might have been if the worker had passed on the virus to just a few more people and we had a wider outbreak. Forget the trans-Tasman bubble, it’s quite possible that we could have all been in lockdown this morning. If this were another country, I could understand why we didn’t have the checks and balances in place to give us certainty that every border worker was being regularly tested for the virus. Unlike other countries where Covid remains in the community, we don’t have to focus as keenly on the daily medical response. We’re not weighed down by debates over schools opening, or the logistics of getting ventilators and PPE to regions where they’re needed most.It’s precisely because we’ve done so well... it’s because we’ve stamped out Covid-19 in the community, that this negligence is so unacceptable.If you make sure the border is as close to perfect as possible, almost of that other Covid-19 stuff management stuff doesn’t matter. Our border protections should be our absolute focus and priority.From what we understand, the Ministry of Health has been relying on an honesty system to record border testing progress. An honesty system, where one little error can cost lives, jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars.In a way, we’re fortunate to have even learnt about the testing error. I don’t expect you to have tuned into the select committee this week where Ashley Bloomfield and top MBIE officials were asked about their response. Labour MPs spent the vast majority of the session deliberately soaking up time and asking rambling softball questions in order to protect their officials. Why? This isn’t a political issue, it’s a public health issue. It’s a public health emergency. If National’s Chris Bishop hadn’t been able to squeeze in the question about the worker’s last testing, who knows if it would ever have come to light. And don’t forget - This is the second time this border issue has come about. The second time it’s been revealed, that despite all the promises, border workers haven’t been tested regularly.  In August last year, we were assured workers everyone was getting swabbed, when almost two thirds had never even had a single test. I can’t believe that after that error, the Ministry of Health didn’t establish apply the highest level of scrutiny, possible. I can’t believe they are not micro-managing the shit out of our border.Maybe third time’s a charm. Chris Hipkins has just made the Border Worker Vaccine Register compulsory for frontline workers. Why it wasn’t mandatory beforehand, I don’t understand.Still.. it’ll be good to see those first flights take between here and Australia. Aussie... The Land Down Under. I’d call it The lucky country, but I’m wondering now if that’s us.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Our traveller Mike Yardley's pretty excited about the prospect of some international travel, with this week's announcement of a travel bubble with Australia. But in the meantime, he's been checking out some bites and brews in New Plymouth. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Resident Doctor Bryan Betty has been giving Jack Tame some tips on how to deal with High Blood Pressure. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE   

Guava Moth  It’s an Aussie moth which arrived in NZ 1997 – probably through wind-dispersal. In Australia its main host is a lillipilly – a member of the Myrtle Family, like Manuka, Pohutukawa/Rata as well as guava and feijoa. It’s not a big deal in Australia (kept in check by predators and parasites) but in NZ feijoa as well as citrus, nashi, macadamia, guavas (and plum, peach, loquats) are the main hosts – they are destructive! They are found Northland down to north Waikato/Coromandel at the moment, and they’re heading South.  Lifecycle takes about 8 weeks “from egg to egg”. These are laid on developing feijoa fruit; young larvae (tiny caterpillars) tunnel into the fruit (pinhole entrance) and eat the flesh. When full-grown the caterpillars come out and bungy-jump down to the soil to pupate. New moths emerge from these pupae, later in the season. They find each other through pheromone (males are very good at that!) they mate, and new eggs are laid.   Main options for control (None of them are very efficient – but it may help):  Cover your feijoas with FINE NETTING so that the female moth can’t lay eggs on the skin of the developing fruit. HYGIENE:  Remove all the fallen fruit ASAP; infected fruit ripen pre-maturely and drop early (danger!!) Don’t compost them unless you’ve frozen the fallen fruit for at least 24 hrs. Otherwise, plastic bag them and into the rubbish or get chickens or pigs to eat them ASAP.  Get a PHEROMONE TRAP (which catches the lusty males) BUT… DON’T RELY On them catching “all” the males – they won’t and you will not find any fewer infected feijoas. The pheromone trap is a TIME INDICATION of when the moths are flying (and hence mating) early in the season. You now know when to put a first spray on the tiny, developing fruit. My guess is to do that about 7-10 days after peak-flight!  SPRAYS: Cover the small fruits with either Success (Yates spray that kills mostly caterpillars, especially the small ones) or Neem Oil; I reckon you may need to do that every 10 to 14 days to be partially successful – further research might tell us how successful that would be.  Finally: there are (solar powered) light traps on the market that employ UV light to attract and catch moths when on the wing. (they drown in water or oil container underneath the trap) Not happy with that as the by-catch of native moths can be horrendous, especially in summer/autumn. Our native moths (and flies and beetles etc etc) are part of our garden eco-system and are valuable protein for many bird species. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album by Demi Lovato. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE     

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn and A Million Things by Emily Spurr.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE   

NEW SEASON BUTTERNUT & CHORIZO Though butternuts and other pumpkin is available year-round and we know it’s a good keeper, it’s fabulous to have it fresh out of the garden too.  Serves 2-4  1 butternut pumpkin 2 tbsps olive oil  1 tsp smoked paprika  2-3 chorizo sausages  2 spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths  Salt & pepper to season  Handful fresh coriander  Dressing:  ½ cup yoghurt or sour cream  1 tbsp pomegranate molasses  Squeeze of lemon juice Heat oven to 200 C. Line a shallow roasting dish with baking paper. Halve butternut, scoop seeds and cut each half into 3-4 slices. Lay in dish and drizzle over oil and paprika, toss to coat and arrange in a single layer. Pinch out sausage meat from casings into walnut-sized balls and add these to dish. Scatter over spring onions and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until butternut is soft and golden.  Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Serve with a handful of fresh coriander and drizzle in dressing.    Nici’s notes:  Butternut has quite thin skin and once roasted it’s fine to eat. Substitute the chorizo for chunks of bacon, adding it when pumpkin begins to soften. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip has died peacefully, just two months shy of his 100th birthday.  He lived a unique life, attending tens of thousands of events in his official capacity and in support of the Queen.  Covid-19 restrictions mean the Prince will be farewelled with a small funeral service.  Royal expert Robert Hartman is the author of Queen of the World and Daily Mail contributor and has been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some picks for your weekend. This is a Robbery: The World’s Greatest Art Heist: a true crime documentary series about the events of March 18, 1990, when 13 works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Guards admitted two men posing as police officers responding to a disturbance call, and the thieves tied the guards up and looted the museum (Netflix)  The Serpent: The twisting real-life story of Charles Sobhraj, a murderer, thief and seductive master of disguise, who was a hidden darkness in the mid-70's on Asia's hippie trail (Netflix).   Burden of Truth: a Canadian drama about city lawyer Joanna Hanley, who returns to her hometown to take the case of a group of girls suffering from a mysterious illness (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

The Father A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.  The College Admission Scandal   Reenactments drive this documentary investigating the mastermind behind a scam to sneak the kids of rich and famous families into top US universities. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

Kevin Milne has been talking to Jack Tame about his memories of Prince Philip, after the Duke of Edinburgh's death aged 99. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Siri's gender is about to change Ever since Siri was introduced, the default voice for US users has been female. That's about to change in an effort to promote diversity and inclusion. There are two new voices which sound far smoother and natural than the current voice. The big change here though isn't the actual voice, it's the selection of it. In the next version of iOS, when you're setting up a new iPhone you'll be asked to select which voice you want, with no default selected. That's important because a vast majority of people just leave the default settings. This is going to require an active choice. Interestingly, Siri's default voice in the UK has been male - maybe because of the butler culture?   Facebook launched its Clubhouse competitor: Hotline Clubhouse is an audio only live streaming service where people can host what are effectively call-in radio shows. People raise their hand, then the host turns on their mic. I don't understand the hype, but I'm clearly alone in that because it's been valued at $1 billion and it's just hitting one year old. Every company is now trying to replicate it and, I must admit I am surprised to say this, but from what I've read Facebook's clone - called Hotline - might actually be better than the original. The big difference - the host can stream their camera or show a presentation, making it feel more formal or conference/panel-like. It also allows people to submit written questions, which the audience can then up-vote to get the attention of the host. The host can then choose to read the question, or invite the person up to the 'stage' to get more involved. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    

Kiwi born Jason worked closely with Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace, and was even invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham. He didn't want to use his last name, but has been speaking to Jack Tame about his experiences. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

UK correspondent Gavin Grey has been speaking to Jack Tame about the death of Prince Philip, and how the royals are preparing to farewell him. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Our resident traveller Mike Yardley has been on a city break in Hamilton ... and asking himself whether it's now a cool city.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Other Peoples Houses by Kelli Hawkin and Win by Harlan Coben.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE 

Kevin Milne's been remembering Colin Simon, whose funeral was last week. Colin was the man who designed the iconic logo for the Chch Commonwealth Games - where the Union Jack was made kiwi.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE