Podcasts about South Island

In this episode of Eat Sleep Wine Repeat, Janina is joined by Natalie Christensen, Chief Winemaker at Yealands, to explore one of the world's most recognised wine regions: Marlborough in New Zealand. Together they dive into the differences between the Wairau Valley and Awatere Valley, uncovering how climate, soils and geography create remarkably different expressions of Sauvignon Blanc. From aroma compounds and winemaking decisions to sustainability, sub-regionality and the future of New Zealand wine, this episode is packed with insights for anyone looking to learn about wine, deepen their wine education, understand wine grapes and discover why Marlborough deserves to be considered alongside the great wine regions of the world. There is also plenty of inspiration for wine travel, with Natalie sharing what visitors can expect when exploring the stunning Yealands vineyards on New Zealand's South Island. Shownotes 03:12 – Discovering Marlborough — Natalie introduces New Zealand's most famous wine region and explains what makes the Awatere Valley so unique. 04:15 – Vineyard location matters — how close Yealands' vines sit to the dramatic coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. 07:17 – Awatere vs Wairau Valley — temperature differences, diurnal shifts and how climate shapes wine styles. 08:20 – Why Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is so intense — sunlight, climate and natural vineyard conditions behind its famous aromatic profile. 09:47 – Thiols and methoxypyrazines explained — the aroma compounds that define Sauvignon Blanc and how winemakers influence them. 11:40 – Can Sauvignon Blanc age? Exploring the surprising ageability of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and how its character evolves over time. 14:26 – Understanding the Yealands range — from the flagship Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to Reserve, Single Vineyard and the iconic L5 Block. 16:04 – Tasting Yealands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025 — Janina's tasting notes and what makes this classic New Zealand wine style so appealing. (Retails around £10: Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons, Ocado) 17:10 – What makes the Reserve different? Natalie explains the vineyard selection and winemaking decisions behind the Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2024 (Retails around £12.50: Sainsbury's, Tesco, Ocado, Morrisons, Waitrose) 20:44 – Expression of grape or expression of place? Why Sauvignon Blanc may be one of the best wine grapes for showcasing terroir. 22:07 - Tasting Yealands Estate Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2024 (Retailer: ND Johns - £15.50) 25:41 – Tasting Yealands Estate L5 Block 2024 — Yealands' most coastal vineyard site and a Sauvignon Blanc that truly captures a sense of place. (Retailer: ND Johns - £19.45) 33:09 – Yeast selection and fermentation — how different yeast strains influence flavour, texture and aromatic expression. 33:21 – X5 and Delta yeasts — the strains most commonly associated with enhancing Sauvignon Blanc's signature aromatic profile. 37:07 – Babydoll sheep and sustainability — the famous miniature sheep helping manage the vineyards naturally. 38:39 – Sustainability beyond the sheep — cover crops, biodiversity and vineyard practices that improve both wine quality and environmental outcomes. 39:49 – Carbon-positive ambitions — how Yealands is reducing its carbon footprint through renewable energy, lightweight bottles and innovative logistics. 41:55 – Sauvignon New Zealand 2027 — Natalie shares details of the upcoming international celebration of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. 42:56 – The future of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc — sub-regions, site-specific wines and the rise of boutique producers. 43:50 – Wine travel in New Zealand — what visitors should experience when exploring Yealands and the Awatere Valley. 44:53 – The White Road Tour — scenic viewpoints, wildlife, vineyards and one of New Zealand's most memorable winery experiences. 45:52 – Why visiting vineyards changes everything — how standing among the vines transforms your understanding of Sauvignon Blanc. 46 :37 – One final takeaway — why Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is far more diverse than many wine lovers realise.  

Winds of almost 250 kilometres an hour have once again pushed back the start of the ski season at one of the South Island's most popular sites. Mt Hutt's Ski area manager James McKenzie spoke to John Campbell.

Turning trash into treasure is a challenge a group of South Island students are embracing for a good cause. Art and Design students at Otago Polytech get just $20 to upcycle a pre-loved or gifted item, before their creations are sold at an auction with the money going to the Red Cross. Senior lecturer at Otago Polytech's school of design, Andrew Wallace spoke to Lisa Owen.

Bird enthusiasts in a small South Island town are crowing about a proposed by-law putting new responsibilities on cat owners. Methven and Foothills Birdsong Initiative spokesperson Mac McElwain.

Weather forecasters say an imminent El Niño weather pattern, which generally means wetter conditions in the south-west of the South Island, and drier, windier conditions in most other parts of the country - could be unprecedented. Chris Brandalino, Chief weather scientist at Earth Sciences New Zealand spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The lessons that shape us often come from the places we never planned to go and the challenges we never expected to face. In this conversation, I speak with Eric Fisher about the experiences that shaped his approach to mental wellness, resilience, grief, and personal growth. Eric shares how martial arts taught him balance, self-control, and perseverance, and how those lessons now help him guide people through addiction recovery, relationship challenges, and life's hardest moments. We explore the realities of grief, the power of trust, the difference between inpatient and outpatient counseling, and why healing often begins with self-acceptance. Eric also discusses his books, including The Martial Art of Recovery and Buried Alive, revealing how personal experiences and family stories continue to shape his work. If you've ever faced loss, adversity, addiction, or the challenge of rebuilding after setbacks, I believe you will find both practical insights and encouragement in Eric's story. Highlights: 08:10 - Eric shares lessons learned from his FBI internship experience. 18:43 - A friend's crisis leads Eric and his wife to move to New Zealand. 23:38 - Martial arts becomes a foundation for recovery and mental wellness. 37:05 - Eric reflects on grief, loss, and the importance of support. 43:12 - Self-acceptance plays a critical role in addiction recovery. 50:26 - Couples learn to face problems together instead of against each other. About the Guest: Eric Fisher, a Canadian transplant, is a counselling therapist who resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally from Tennessee, he has over 15 years of experience working outpatient and inpatient treatment settings in the US and Canada. He has two books published at this time: The Martial Art of Recovery: Self-Mastery Practices to Subdue Addiction and Achieve Mental Wellness, and Buried Alive: Four Ways to Free Yourself from the Dirt. Eric is a master practitioner of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and is also trained in EyeMovement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), both of which are evidence-based treatments for trauma. Eric's private practice, Recovery Arts Counselling, serves individuals, couples, and families both locally and remotely. In the past, Eric has supervised masters-level graduate students and counsellors early in their careers. He has won multiple awards for his screenwriting: The Departure - official finalist in biographical/historical genre - 2014 Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest. Only 16 Miles - Finalist - 2014 Horror Screenplay Contest. Universal Escapade (Finalist - Top 25) - WeScreenplay International Screenplay Competition. Hipster Z (co-written) - best feature screenplay - 2017 Action On Film International Film Festival. Hipster Z - Best horror/comedy Screenplay - 2017 International Horror Hotel Film Fest. Additionally, Eric has a black belt in two martial arts styles: American Kenpo and Wadō-ryū. One interesting thing about Eric is that he had the opportunity to be an intern with the FBI -- twice. Eric enjoys hiking and riding his bike outdoors, music concerts, tasting new food dishes to keep his taste buds guessing, travelling near and far, and meeting people. . Ways to connect with Eric: Website: https://www.recoveryartscounselling.com Linktree:  https://linktr.ee/ericfisherauthor  Instagram - @recoveryartscounselling - https://www.instagram.com/recoveryartscounselling/ @ericfisherwriter - https://www.instagram.com/ericfisherwriter Linkedin - Eric Fisher - www.linkedin.com/in/eric-m-fisher-5b83724a Facebook - Recovery Arts Counselling - https://www.facebook.com/RecoveryArtsCounselling About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:03 One of the biggest things holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe. Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Well, hello there, everyone. I am your host Michael Hinkson, and you have found the Unstoppable Mindset Podcast. Today, we get to chat with Eric Fisher, who is a rather interesting person. I believe he's a counseling therapist, he's a transplant, he now lives in Calgary, but he used to live in Tennessee, very similar. I'm sure we'll have to find out more about that, but I'm really glad that that you're here with us. Eric, welcome to Unstoppable Mindset. Eric Fisher  01:29 Yes, thank you for having me on, Michael. I appreciate it. Glad to be here. Michael Hingson  01:32 Well, I'm going to have to ask, how did you get from Tennessee to Calgary, besides by Claire? But you know, but Speaker 1  01:41 it's a bit to make a long story short. The wife, you know, yeah, she's from Calgary originally, so I surrendered up here. Michael Hingson  01:52 Yeah, well, is there a backstory that you want to tell? Speaker 1  01:57 You know, the quick version would be from Mississippi to New Zealand to Calgary, and that was over a span of, you know, two and a half years, and then finally to Calgary. After those other two places, was she Michael Hingson  02:10 with you during all of those? Mississippi, New Zealand, and then Calgary. Speaker 1  02:14 She was for the long haul. Yeah, yeah, she's experienced humidity and the dryness, all the extremes. Michael Hingson  02:24 When we moved to New Jersey in 1996 my wife didn't really want to go. She was a California native, but it was where the job had to take me, and it was either that or go find a new job, and I really didn't want to undertake a job search, because that's pretty traumatic. So, especially if you happen to be blind, because people think blind people really can't do stuff, and that's why the unemployment rate among employable blind people is in the 70% range. So the bottom line is that we moved to New Jersey, we were there for six years, and then of course the World Trade Center happened, which is kind of a dramatic way to allow us to get back to California, but it worked, so here we are. Speaker 1  03:05 Yeah, that is a lot of different places, and it's unfortunate with that percentage, right? Michael Hingson  03:10 Yeah, well, and she passed. She was in a wheelchair her whole life, and she passed in November of 2022 We were married 40 years, and I'm sure she's monitoring me from somewhere, so I work on continuing to be a good kid, because if I'm not, I'm going to hear about it somehow, Speaker 1  03:27 one way or another. There's, there's still some surveillance happening. There Michael Hingson  03:31 is, I am absolutely sure of it. Well, tell us kind of about the early era growing up, and all that. Speaker 1  03:37 Grew up in Arkansas, yeah, Newport, Arkansas, you know, grew up behind a Walmart in a small subdivision, and moved to Tennessee at an early age. I was around five years old, going over, going on six at the time, I believe, and so I understand what it means to kind of get uprooted from somewhere and place somewhere else, and my dad was in the medical profession, so that's the reason that we moved, and so that's a little bit about that. My mom's family is from Kansas City, so I really did enjoy going up to the city there and being with my mom's family during holiday seasons. That was really my only exposure to, like, a city, like an urban population, more than what I experienced anywhere else. So, and yeah, got one brother, played with him a lot, and a lot of it was being creative outside, getting outside and doing stuff, and having fun outside, you know, little bit different from a lot of kids today, perhaps. Michael Hingson  04:44 Yeah, well, it's also a lot scarier, I think, today, even though there's a lot of value in being outside. There are just so many crazy things going on. It's got to be scarier for kids, and certainly even more scary for parents, and they tend. To want to really monitor their, their children a lot more, and that's got us pluses, minuses, but it still has got to be really scary to let them just go outside. Speaker 1  05:09 Yeah, just, you know, looking at what's on the news and the possibilities of what could happen. Michael Hingson  05:16 Yeah, so where did you, or did you go to college? I assume you went to college. Speaker 1  05:22 I did. Yeah, I went to a small private Christian university in Tennessee called Freed Hardiman, and you know it was interesting because there's this whole thing about townies versus us being called freedies because of Freed Hardman. The course, the joke is, you know, free hardly because of the expense of going to the institution. Yeah. Michael Hingson  05:48 Well, with your experience and your observation in life, what do you think about going to a small college as opposed to a larger college? Speaker 1  05:55 I really enjoyed it, being from a rural area. I mean, it was a good transition for me, and just getting to know people I feel like might have been easier in a more rural setting, as opposed to urban. Michael Hingson  06:10 I went to University of California, Irvine, way back, starting in 1968 and when we started at UCI, there were like 25 2600 students, and I think when I graduated with my bachelor's, it was like a little over 3000 students, but I loved the fact that it was a smaller college. I think it was for me a lot better, and I, I really like the smaller college environment, and I understand why colleges have advantages when they're bigger, but by the same token, for students, if you want to really stand out, it's kind of harder to do with a big college. Well, and now University of California, Irvine, where I went to school, has 32,000 undergrads in it, Speaker 1  06:52 32,000 as opposed to the around, that's a huge jump from like 25 2600 yeah, Michael Hingson  07:00 yeah, and so it's, it's a huge place. I was there last a year and a half ago. I was invited to join. I couldn't do it as an as a student because the chapter was formed just as I was leaving, but Phi Beta Kappa, and they heard about me along the way, and I was invited to join as an alumni member back in 2024 So that's the last time I've been to UC Irvine. What a huge place! Speaker 1  07:29 Wow, yeah. Of course, UC Michael Hingson  07:30 Irvine, UCI really stands for Under Construction Indefinitely, so you know Speaker 1  07:38 they make that, they made that kind of humorous remark up here, with like winter and construction, that's the two seasons of Calgary. Yes, I totally get that. Michael Hingson  07:47 My brother-in-law lives in Sun Valley, Idaho, in Ketchum, and has been a skier for most of his life, and in the summer he's a master cabinet maker. Now he's a general contractor, but he's thinking about retiring, but in the winter everything goes by the wayside for skiing, Speaker 1  08:10 everyone's out on the slopes, you know. Well, and what he did Michael Hingson  08:12 to even make it more fun is he got his professional ski guide status in Europe and became a professional ski guide, taking people to do off-piece skiing in the French Alps, which is, Speaker 1  08:25 that's really nice, awesome. Michael Hingson  08:28 I love to, I love to say that I'm not gonna go skiing, because I know those trees are out to try to get me. Speaker 1  08:35 They start to grow their branches, you know? They just spring Michael Hingson  08:38 out at you when you're not looking. Speaker 1  08:40 Yes, I just.. Michael Hingson  08:42 I've never skied. I don't have anything against it. It's just not one of those things that I've done, but he enjoys it, and I'm sure it's a lot of fun to do. Speaker 1  08:51 Yeah, I can appreciate people that do. Michael Hingson  08:53 Yeah. Well, what did you do after college? Well, you got your undergrad, then you went on. Speaker 1  08:58 Yeah, so after my undergrad, I stayed at the university, and you know, I had a bachelor's in psych, and I was like, well, what do I do with this degree? And so I decided to move forward, since I didn't see too much availability, and did a master's in clinical mental health counseling, and during that time of my master's, I was able to intern with the FBI, which was a great opportunity. Michael Hingson  09:25 What caused you to do that? Speaker 1  09:28 I found, I mean, part of it was just a lot of curiosity, and of course, watching a lot of media and the work that they do. Yet I also found the possibility of implementing the psychology from a law enforcement angle on a federal level with this, so I did interning in my bachelor's FBI, that was really nice at a local office, and then later on in my master's at the FBI headquarters in DC, and just really interested in just the field and this the different. Psychological opportunities, Michael Hingson  10:02 you didn't stick with it, though. Or Speaker 1  10:05 I did the internships, I did the agent exam, and failed. Oh boy, just kind of had my time with it, and then moved on. It was a great experience. Michael Hingson  10:16 What you learned from it, the Speaker 1  10:19 importance of teamwork, the importance of community, the importance of intention to detail, and I can't say how I came to those, because then I have to bring up certain things that I can't talk about, but yeah, just the importance of being able to work with other people from other walks of life, and just seeing everyone's different perspectives is something that I learned, coming from, you know, small town, quite homogeneous, small university, and then being able to meet people from different parts of the country, even different territories, like Wall, it was, it was amazing to branch out and just have that life experience, Michael Hingson  11:06 get a lot of different experiences, and you saw how people in other parts of the world live, which obviously has to be an interesting perspective. Speaker 1  11:18 Yes, yes, it was really interesting, and just seeing how they think and their outlook on the world, and I had to take a polygraph examination for both internships, so the importance of honesty, and not that I didn't think honesty was important before, but definitely when you're under the microscope of being asked yes or no questions, it's an interesting experience. Michael Hingson  11:40 Yeah, well, I guess you must have passed the lie detector test. They didn't throw you away or put you in jail. Speaker 1  11:48 That's right. Neither of those happened. I did have one question asked of me that was a little bit ambiguous. It was coming up that I deceived. It's something that happened earlier in the day, and then they asked me about it, and then I said something that was not the truth, and then I explained the reasoning as to why. And then the agent was like, okay, thanks for letting me know, it's all good. It's like, okay, that's good. Michael Hingson  12:21 Yeah, they have to be pretty skilled interrogators to really be able to do that, and, and ask questions, and I, and I know no matter what's going on with the lie detector technology, they're observing you as well, so they're looking for things, and I suppose it's possible to fool the lie detector technology, but I know that it continues to get better too. Speaker 1  12:45 Yeah, and wondering if that's because, like, people are sociopaths, or they don't have any - they actually believe what they're saying. Yeah, yeah, Michael Hingson  12:54 I've never taken lie detector tests, but I know that for me, I'm not a good fibber, so I've got to tell the truth, and like I said, my wife's watching anyway, so I gotta always be a good kid. Speaker 1  13:06 If you were taking a lie detector test knuckle and you said something, you might get an invisible slap, like, oh, Michael Hingson  13:12 exactly, Speaker 2  13:13 okay, I get it, or Michael Hingson  13:16 a poke or something. Yeah, yeah, no. So, better, better to just be honest about it, but yeah, I understand what you're saying, but it is, it is fascinating. I'd love to experience taking a test sometime, but because I only understand all about it intellectually, having never seen it on television or anything like that, but by the same token, I'm glad that the technology exists, and I'm glad that the people do what they do, and I, I too very much believe in law enforcement. I believe in the value of the FBI and police, and so on. I took a couple of police-oriented courses when I was at UC Irvine. We had an engineering professor who was a reserve deputy sheriff, so we, we got to do ride-alongs, and even went down and visited the Orange County Jail once, and you know, because he, he said it all, so it's kind of fun to be able to do it, and I learned a lot and value that. Speaker 1  14:19 That's awesome. I'm glad you had that experience. Michael Hingson  14:21 Yeah, I think it's kind of cool to be able to have had that. So, you got a master's degree? Did you get a PhD? Speaker 1  14:29 No, you know, I was encouraged to do so, to pilot higher and deeper, as the PhD acronym goes. Yeah, and I just, I decided to not go that route. Michael Hingson  14:40 So, what did you do after you got your master's? Speaker 1  14:43 After the master's, I started to do well. I was doing my practicum during the master's, yet after the master's, I started to work primarily where I did my practicum in Mississippi and started actually doing counseling work. So I was doing what's called a mobile therapist. For this organization, where I would go to people's houses and speak with people, do counseling work, which was pretty cool. I got to be out in the community, meet a lot of folks, made confidentiality sometimes a little bit of a challenge, small town. And then two days a week I was in the office, doing whoever came in through the clinic, so I was in the, I was in the work, I was in the grind, just doing what I had been trained to do. Definitely learning on the job, though, for sure. Michael Hingson  15:27 Where in Mississippi, Speaker 1  15:29 Corinth, Mississippi, which is like right at the state line. Yeah, they actually have a road called State Line Road, where houses on one side, North or Tennessee houses on the other side have Mississippi license plates. Michael Hingson  15:45 That's pretty funny. In New Jersey, when we lived there, there were a number of streets in towns that had a very interesting environment, and that is that every town had its own tax base. There wasn't a statewide thing for property taxes and everything else, or for a lot of taxes, so every town had its own, and you could be on a street where someone may pay 1213, $14,000 a year in taxes, and if you lived on the other side of the street, you were in a different town, and your taxes were like 4800 $5,000 Speaker 1  16:24 Whoa, no, Michael Hingson  16:26 it's crazy. Speaker 1  16:27 That is a sheer difference. Michael Hingson  16:30 It is a huge difference, and the other thing that that we experienced is that a lot of the the work is done by lawyers when you're closing a house, for example. Back there, they didn't really have escrow, was all done through attorneys, and so on. And some of those people were involved in the tax stuff as well. It's kind of a very fascinating and interesting place to be, certainly different than what we experienced in California. Speaker 1  16:57 Yes, that sounds like a very, very different type of experience, for sure. Wow, wow. Okay, Michael Hingson  17:04 but you know things happen. Well, so you, you started doing counseling and therapy, and as you said, and I can appreciate how it must have been difficult sometimes from a confidentiality standpoint, because it is a small town and people overhear or talk about, and that's not always a good thing. Speaker 1  17:24 Yeah, you know, things like that come up. You know, you hear the whispers, and one time I was actually trying to find a place in a lower-income part of town, and I was doing circles in the neighborhood, and a police cruiser started to follow me, and so I stopped my car, got out with my credentials, towed the towed the police officer who I worked for, and then he was just kind of like, oh, okay, carry on. So, did Michael Hingson  17:46 you ask him for directions? Speaker 1  17:49 You know what, I did not know, like that would have made sense. I'm trying to look at find this house, never. Oh, over there, sir? Okay, but no, I did not. Michael Hingson  18:05 So, how long were you in Mississippi? Then Speaker 1  18:09 I was in Mississippi from around 2009 to 2013 I want to say, we left. We left for New Zealand for the whole year 2013 so no, 2012 sorry, the end of 2012 so about three and a half, three or so years. Okay, yeah. How did you Michael Hingson  18:33 meet your wife in all this Speaker 1  18:34 online? Yeah, back when it was clandestine, like you met somebody online, are they an ax murderer? Can you trust them? Do you need to get references, which she did. Yeah, yeah. And we checked you out, huh? She checked me out for sure. She even called people that I gave references for. And then we courted for two and a half years. And then after that, tied the knot in Tennessee, moved to Mississippi. Well, she moved to Mississippi, where I was already living, and yeah, we were there until we went to New Zealand about 10 months later. Michael Hingson  19:06 So she was living in Tennessee at the time, Speaker 1  19:09 she was up here in Calgary, or she was in Calgary. Michael Hingson  19:12 Okay, Speaker 1  19:12 we, we got married in Tennessee, Michael Hingson  19:14 okay. Well, that's that's cool though. What, what prompted the trip and moving to New Zealand for a year, I've been there, and I actually spent three weeks there, and very much enjoy it. Speaker 1  19:28 Whereabouts? Well, I wanted to ask, all over New Michael Hingson  19:30 Zealand, I mean, I was there with the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. They asked me to come and speak in 2003 talk about September 11, and so on, and they were trying to raise funds, so we helped them raise something like over $375,000 in a three week period, and literally I had 21 speaking events in 13 days all over both islands. Speaker 1  19:55 Wow, that's that's a, that's a lot of speaking events, and a certain amount of days. Days you've been, you probably been close more than I've been, more places than I've been. So, what, what prompted the move was a friend of mine I had made previously being there. He reached out to me through just electronic media. He was having a spiritual emergency, and he asked me, he asked me to come to come help him, and so I just said, "Sure, let's do it. My wife and I left the rental unit, the rental house where we were staying, and left furniture behind, two cars behind, appliances, and we just, just left him, or there for 13 months, didn't look, didn't look back. Michael Hingson  20:45 Did you spend any time in Dunedin while you were there? Speaker 1  20:49 We didn't spend any time in Dunedin. We weren't only there for like a week when we did some vacation time. Michael Hingson  20:57 Yeah, I, they gave me literally a half, three quarters of a day off from speaking. In fact, they said you can play in Dunedin, and so we were there, and it was one, I guess, was a one full day. They had some unique toys to play with in New Zealand. They had a thing called a bungee rocket. Have you ever heard of that? Speaker 1  21:22 A bungee rocket. No. So, Michael Hingson  21:24 you know what bungee cords are, and you stretch them out and all that. Well, the bungee rocket, you attach bungee cords to this platform, this cage, but the bungee cords are attached to a device way up high, and then they're also attached to this plat, this cage, then they pull the cage down, and they fasten it, so the bungee cords are very stretched, and then people get in, and they sit down, and they fasten seat belts, and then when everybody's all secure, they loose the platform, and the bungee cords pull this thing up like a rocket. Speaker 1  22:01 Whoa, yeah. I wasn't about to do that. I was with someone who Michael Hingson  22:05 did, and he came off apparently as white as a sheet. He said, "I'm never gonna do that. Speaker 1  22:10 It was a one and done experience for him. It was Michael Hingson  22:16 for me. It was, "I'm not gonna do that, brother. And I had my guide dog, and somebody would have held the dog, but I wouldn't do that. I have other memories, which are more fun, I think, and probably for me more pleasurable. Speaker 1  22:31 Yeah, one of the things we did down on the South Island was some knife making, and it was really.. it was something I surprised my family with. They didn't know we were doing that day, and this guy was hilarious. I mean, something straight out of a documentary about New Zealand, as far as, like, locals, you would see he had a witty sense of humor, and he would, he would like, finish off the knives for us after we did the preliminary steps, just to make them look nice. Yeah, that was one of my favorite memories down there. Michael Hingson  23:00 Wow, yeah, I've, I've got a lot of memories, even though it was back in 2003 so 22 years, 22 and a half years, but I love the memories, and love being down there was a wonderful place, Speaker 1  23:13 awesome, so that was pretty cool. Well, so you, you came back, and, and you eventually ended up in, in Calgary, which is, which is great. So, what do you do now? Got a few hands in a few honey jars. I have a private practice for the counseling. I work for a retreat center company out of a place called Brad Creek, called Vita Wellness. I work for a nonprofit up in a place called Erdrie as a consultant. I work for a clinic remotely that's in the city as an associate. Am I forgetting anything? I think that's the main ones right now. Also, work doing like couples therapy for a relationship-based app. Yeah, so that's a lot of people that are in the States, there. So, it's yeah, few things to keep me busy. Speaker 3  24:13 If you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes. Thank you for being part of the unstoppable mindset community, Michael Hingson  24:47 they do well. You also write Speaker 1  24:50 that as well. Yeah, Michael Hingson  24:52 you've written a couple of books, and I guess you've also done some screenwriting and all that, and love to hear more about all that. Tell. You bought your books. Speaker 1  25:01 Yeah, the first book that I published, self-published, and that was two years ago now. That was called, that is called The Martial Art of Recovery: Self Mastery Practices to Subdue Addiction and Achieve Mental Wellness. Say three times real fast. So, yeah, that book is all about the intersection of martial arts concepts with addiction and mental health treatment, so that has personal experiences, and my times in the martial arts, and also I just bring in like holistic health techniques, and also I get some interviews, some of them are a little bit shorter than others, but at least some some chunks from people that I know in different disciplines, different fields, like an old martial arts teacher, a medicine family medicine doctor here in the Calgary area, people like that. So that was that was about a 14 month writing experience before it was published. Michael Hingson  25:57 When was it published? Speaker 1  26:00 Back in March of 2023 Michael Hingson  26:05 Okay, not your first book. Speaker 1  26:07 Not that's my first book. Yes, Michael Hingson  26:09 yeah, Speaker 2  26:10 yeah. Michael Hingson  26:12 What do you, what do you think of being an author and the whole experience of writing? Speaker 1  26:19 There was not. there was a lack of faith, for sure. I had a really difficult time, even acknowledging, "Hey, this is something I could do. Had a lot of self-doubt, and so even the process I found pretty daunting, pretty, like pretty challenging, for sure. And I do enjoy the process. It's like a double helix, though. I, I enjoy it, yet it kind of puts the screws to me, as far as enjoyment, but also challenge, yet I do enjoy the experience and being able to get my voice out there, yet I listen to someone else talk about publishing, and the person said, you know what, when you publish it, now it's that person's turn to take it on and they can make it their own, Michael Hingson  27:04 yeah. Speaker 1  27:04 So I found that to be a really cool way to look at it. So yeah, and I enjoy it. It's been, it's been good, it's been fun. Michael Hingson  27:13 And then you wrote a second book, Speaker 1  27:15 I did. Yeah, that one's called Buried Alive: Four Ways to Free Yourself from the Dirt. It's a lot more personal, I think, because it is about a true story that happened to my dad, and something that was quite harrowing for him, which, yes, as the book title suggests, is what happened, and part of the book is about the interviews I did with the three men involved with this very scary incident back in February of 2000 so 25 years now, and talks about their different perspectives on what happened that day when they were digging for Native American artifacts, arrowheads, and I bring in some self-help concepts that apply to what happened that day, and also just for anyone that's looking to bring those into their own lives, Michael Hingson  28:03 what happened? Speaker 1  28:05 Yeah, so they were digging at what's called an overhang, which is like a cliff face that shuts out small little, I don't know if you would even call it a cave, but there was a place underneath the overhang that kind of came in anyway, when Native Americans would come to an area, they wouldn't ever bring dirt out, they would always bring dirt in, and so there was so much dirt that was piled up over the years that my dad and the people that were digging with him, I was there six months to the day before this incident happened, we would, we would have to dig, they would dig to get to their arrowheads that were quite far down underneath the dirt, Michael Hingson  28:46 yeah, Speaker 1  28:47 yeah, yeah, and so this unfortunate day, my dad was in a hole, probably I don't know, eight or nine feet, and a little dirt fell on him, and you know, he kind of joked with his friend Jason, who was further up this hall, and a few seconds later all that dirt just came in, just, just quickly, automatically. He was vanished without a trace, and then a big rock came down on that dirt. If it wasn't for that third person that decided to come that very morning, they did not come before. His name's Jerry. Then I'm sure that my dad would have died, Michael Hingson  29:25 because Speaker 1  29:25 there was no way that Jason, who also was stuck up to like his knee in dirt, could have got out in time to get the rock and then to unearth my dad. So, Michael Hingson  29:39 yeah, a fascinating book. Now, you, you self-published that one as well. Speaker 1  29:43 I did, didn't wait around, just went ahead, and yeah. Michael Hingson  29:49 Do you have other books in you? Speaker 1  29:51 I have one done. I needed to get it edited, and editorial reviews, and get my book cover designer over in Italy to do her magic. She did on the last two books, so yeah, I do have one in the, in the oven. Michael Hingson  30:05 Can you tell us a little about what it will be about, or what it's called, or anything? Speaker 1  30:08 Sure, the book right now is called I'm Listening, and it's all about my experiences, my pitfalls, my learnings as a therapist, and so it's a bit of a memoir of my professional work in the field, and some, some personal experiences. Michael Hingson  30:25 I think one of the most powerful things about books, especially when you're, when you're dealing with more nonfiction, because fiction books usually have stories with them, but a lot of nonfiction books don't really provide enough, I think, of a personal inroad to the individual who wrote the book. One of my big beliefs, one of my pet peeves, is I think textbooks are so boring, like physics. My master's degree is in physics, and I maintain that the big problem is that none of the physics professors who are writing all these books ever put anything in about their own personal experiences to really get people excited because of of their their stories and what they can teach through their stories. It's just all math and equations and and words, just about the physics, but never the other part. I think that textbooks would be better if they put some stories in them, Speaker 1  31:22 I think. So, too, I think people's eyes wouldn't come out of their sockets, and they wouldn't, you know, be comatose. You know, they can actually keep up, and they can be engaged and involved with the material. Yeah, Michael Hingson  31:35 I had a colleague when we were at UC Irvine. We were in the same physics class together, and he had this one book, and he noticed that there didn't seem to really be any typos or whatever in it, and he meticulously, through the whole quarter, went through that whole book, and I think he finally found one misspelled word, and he was so proud of both that there were there were no others other than the one, but that he found one misspelled word we do with our lives. Speaker 1  32:07 What people do sometimes for kicks. Well, I'm glad. I wonder where that word was. Like, did he go through the whole book, and it's like on the last page, or you know, where is that at? It was Michael Hingson  32:22 near the end, but it wasn't on the last page, but it was.. it was.. it took him a long time to find it. Speaker 1  32:29 I wanted to do that with my first book. I could have easily done a book about the intersection of martial arts themes with, you know, mental wellness, but I mean, why not? I mean, I had that experience for over four years in the martial arts. Why not do that? Michael Hingson  32:48 So, tell me about that. You've mentioned martial arts several times, so obviously you've had some involvement with martial arts. Speaker 1  32:54 I have. Yeah, so when I was a preteen, I got a black belt in what's called a Water Rule Karate, so it's like W A D O R Y U, and when I was a teenager, like 16 to 18, I was doing what's called American Campo, and that did have a little bit of Jiu Jitsu thrown into the mix, Michael Hingson  33:16 so what prompted the interest in doing that Speaker 1  33:20 first was my dad, you know, part of my family was interested, so the guy, why not? And I don't know at that time whether I was experiencing bullying. Unfortunately, I experienced bullying like going to church before church started, which was unfortunate, say. So I mean, I think it was just a really good experience for me, looking back for balance and discipline in that way, and getting to meet people in the community. I can't, I can't initially remember what prompted that. My dad was interested, my brother was too, so was I. And then when I was 16, I was like, let's pick it up, let's do something different, let's try something new, and so we were able to go to this really small outfit, which was called the Snake Pit at the time, very different from the more like larger dojo in the community from my early years. Michael Hingson  34:14 What has being involved with the martial arts done to help you or to you or for you in dealing with mental wellness and the whole issue of what you do today. How is martial arts affecting all of that? Speaker 1  34:35 Yeah, it's a really good question. Martial arts showed me the importance of balance when we're doing sparring, when we're doing more, so when we're doing training on techniques, I can't be too far away when I'm sparring someone, because then it's not natural, it's not organic, nor, but I can be so close that I might hit them, so there needs to be some type of balance and self control, and that's. Something else, as well as being out of some self control. Yeah, Michael Hingson  35:05 well, martial arts is, I understand, it seems to me, as much about your mental being as learning physical techniques, because there is a whole lot that really comes down to how you approach it mentally. Am I correct? Speaker 1  35:24 Yeah, there's a big piece when it comes to stamina. When I was doing sparring, I actually had to find a place between being so passive, but also not being super aggressive. Like, how do I get that mental, emotional stamina to do this powering, you know, in a way that was quite balanced. Yes, but there is a lot when it comes to being in touch with my body, being in touch with where my mind is, with focus, with being not beating myself up, not really being perfect, or trying to achieve perfection. Yet, there's a certain vulnerability that comes with that in the mind, and also when it comes to the body, Michael Hingson  36:06 how so Speaker 1  36:10 well, there's vulnerability just simply with doing different techniques, because if you don't, if you don't like being touched, then it's going to be really difficult, because there's often a lot of touch happening, and and when it comes to the mind, it's there's vulnerability with putting myself out there and being seen by others, because we're often watching one another with training, and so there is this piece around vulnerability around, hey, you know what, whatever they think, okay, they can think I'm still working on this technique, Michael Hingson  36:40 mm and it, and it does, as you grow mentally with, with martial arts, I'm sure that it also helps in terms of your resilience. Speaker 1  36:55 Resilience plays a key factor, indeed, because you know, when it comes to even with sparring, you know, getting hit, I can't just kind of, oh, I got hit and I want to go back and I want to go in the corner. Well, no, I've got to keep going. Yeah, gotta keep moving, gotta keep walking and deflecting, and you know, going with the punches. And I, there was one experience with a young man, at least two years younger than me, he was a silver glove boxer, like a champion silver glove, and there had to be some resilience for me there, because I was getting clobbered, I was getting, I was getting hit over and over, because he was using a boxing type of, you know, boxing moves I wasn't used to defending against, and he was quick, and there comes a certain level of humility when it comes to being in the martial arts as well, because there's going to be experiences like that. Michael Hingson  37:49 Well, did you eventually get to the point where you could defend yourself against him? Speaker 1  37:55 He wasn't there for too long. Yeah, the more yet, the more that I was able to work with him, the more I was able to, you know, understand a little bit more where he was coming from with the moves, Michael Hingson  38:05 right. Well, in your life and all the things that you've done, have you experienced grief in any way? And kind of, what was that? Speaker 1  38:14 Yeah, there was a moment, there wasn't an issue when it came to a disenfranchised loss. My wife had a silent miscarriage, and so that was pretty brutal. How that turned out for her, and vicariously for me, and seeing her go through that really difficult, emotionally painful situation was hard. And so I mean, I've sure I've lost all but one grandparent at this point, and I did lose some child, like one childhood friend, when I was 16 to a car accident that was pretty brutal. Yet this loss was, yeah, was really difficult, because it's something that a lot of people don't understand, they don't want to talk about, they don't know what to say, or it's really difficult just to listen, and that was hard. Michael Hingson  39:09 Yeah, but at the same time, as you well know, from all that you've experienced, God doesn't give us things that we can't handle, and we have to learn to move forward Speaker 1  39:22 with resilience, with God's help. Michael Hingson  39:24 Yeah, Speaker 1  39:24 yeah, with prayer, perseverance. Yeah, Michael Hingson  39:27 I lost my father, actually, on November 1 of 1984 and my mother in May of 1987 and then my brother actually developed breast cancer in 2011 and they, they dealt with it, and he went into remission, but it came back, and he didn't take care of himself very well, as I understand it, because he lived in Florida, and we were in California, but anyway, it came back, and it metastasized, and so we lost him in 2015 so at the same time. Yeah, there were relatives on my wife's side that we lost a couple very unexpectedly, and yeah, you do learn to deal with grief, but you learn that you got to go forward, and so when Karen passed in 2022 at least it wasn't totally all of a sudden, so I had some time to prepare, but you know, I still miss her, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Speaker 1  40:23 Yeah, for sure. I, and I mean, losing your parents around two and a half or so years apart, and with your brother, and then with your wife, that's a lot. That's a lot. Yet I hear that even though there was some preparation time for you, it can still be, it can still be difficult, it can still hit the nail, you know. I was doing some grief work, a grief course, and they showed us this poem called Whose Whose Grief Is Worse, basically. And there were these two experiences of someone that lost someone suddenly and someone that knew, and at the end of the poem. Basically, it's both are painful. There is no worse grief. Michael Hingson  41:05 There's no, there's no wrong or right answer to all of that. It's, it's different, but we all can learn to deal with it. I know when the events of September 11 happened, for me, ironically, the greatest blessing I had was that the media got my story and we started getting a lot of requests for interviews and my wife and I decided we would accept them and I got asked so many questions by so many different reporters, some dumb questions were absolutely stupid, idiotic questions, but some that were very insightful, and so I probably was able to move on from that day much more because of all of the questions and getting used to dealing with those questions than anything else that could have come along. It Speaker 1  41:58 was a choice, and you probably appreciated those reporters that took the time to ask those carefully planned questions. Michael Hingson  42:06 I've had some people, no matter how many times the story gets repeated, who still say, "What were you doing in the World Trade Center, anyway? And I'm sitting there going, "Have you read Thunderdog? Have you read any of the stories in the press? What do you mean, what was I doing in the World Trade Center? Speaker 1  42:23 It's not like, you know, it's out there, you know, it's been published, you can read it. Yeah, Michael Hingson  42:30 I wasn't a spy for the terrorists, I can tell you that. Speaker 1  42:36 I wouldn't, I wouldn't have thought that for a second, Michael Hingson  42:41 but but, but you know, things happen, and you never know where you're going to be, you never know what might come up, and it's just one of those things that we, we all really need to deal with in one way or another, and that's just what's so important. Speaker 1  42:56 Absolutely, you know, one of the quotes I heard from my training was, and I take it with me, and I, I definitely relate to it personally. Is joy shared is joy doubled, and grief shared is grief halved, and the stuff we're doing, even today, and even those listening that might have been through grief, is as long as we're able to talk about it, and just talk about something that does not make any sense whatsoever to us, that's part of the healing process. Michael Hingson  43:23 Yeah, it's important to talk about it. It's important to share, and I understand you want to be careful. You don't want to just talk necessarily about it with anyone, but you do need to find people that you can share with and that you can talk to about Speaker 1  43:39 it. Totally, yeah, the grocery store clerk, you know, that I'm getting my bread and butter from, maybe they're not ready for that, that particular topic, Michael Hingson  43:48 yeah, Speaker 1  43:48 yeah, Michael Hingson  43:50 and and the thing that we all need to do is to really, I think, do a lot more to listen to our inner voice, it'll tell us what we need to do if we listen, Speaker 1  43:58 yes, I believe that for sure, I've seen, I've seen that. Yeah, Michael Hingson  44:03 so you've dealt with all the, this, the psychological work that you do. You dealt with addiction, and so on. How does martial arts play into that? What have you learned from martial arts that helps you in dealing with recovery from addiction? Speaker 1  44:16 Oh, well, where to start. I think that one piece to really focus on is this concept of self love, and I don't mean self love like I'm better than other people out there, but just being okay with where I'm at for myself, but still pushing myself to learn new things, so some acceptance about where I'm at when it comes to martial arts, that has to be there. I might not be doing the technique perfectly, and I, there was times where I could really easily beat myself up mentally, like, "Oh, why can't I get this? Yet it's just trying to take a step back and see that I'm worthy enough to make the. Approach to make these changes when it comes to addiction. I'm worthy enough to seek out help. These feelings I have that they're okay to feel, and I don't have to beat myself up for this. Michael Hingson  45:11 Yeah, because addiction is is a disease, and I think anyone who condemns somebody just because, for example, they use drugs, and, well, they shouldn't do that. They're dumb for doing it. They really miss assess what's going on. Speaker 1  45:28 People that have that mindset that it's more of a mere choice, they don't understand that if you put, you know, a shot of alcohol in front of someone and you tell them not to drink it, and you put a gun on them, they're going to be wondering, maybe he'll slip his hand off the trigger, you know, that kind of thinking, that's that's the disease aspect. And I recommend anybody that wants to know more about addiction being a disease, check out Kevin McCauley's documentary, Pleasure Unwoven. It's a really good documentary that shows the different aspects of the disease. Yeah, Michael Hingson  46:08 I have never taken drugs in that way, and don't want to, but again, that's my choice, and I've learned enough from other people that I know that if, if I'm having a problem, taking drugs isn't going to help me solve the problem, and it isn't going to even really help me hide from it, but I guess that's just my makeup that I know that I have to face whatever comes along head on. Speaker 1  46:33 Yes, the resilience piece, Michael Hingson  46:36 the resilience piece, and I've wanted to do that. Speaker 1  46:39 Awesome, I can see with everything you've been through, Michael, you've definitely lent in, you've leaned in, you've pushed forward. Michael Hingson  46:47 Well, I think that part of the issue is as a, as a blind person who's faced a lot of challenges and seen things, what I choose to do whenever anything happens to me is I want to learn from it, so I don't want to ignore it, even if it's something that's totally not related to me in any way. I want to learn from it, if I'm involved, because I think that's the only way I'm going to be able to make sure that I deal with anything like that, any kind of surprise. The next time I talk about a lot when I am talking to people about blindness, about surprises, and I talk about the fact that I could be crossing a street, I could get to the corner and listen to the traffic, and when I hear the traffic going the way I want to go, then I'll cross the street. So I start crossing a street, and all of a sudden I hear a car from behind me, and it's not going the way I want to go, suddenly it's, it's turning, or there's somebody that is is across the street from me, not the way I'm going, and I start to cross the street when it's supposed to be my turn, and they decide they're going to go, and so I am, I've learned to constantly be alert, but at the same time, what I have to do is figure out very quickly, do I want to go forward or do I want to go backwards to have the best chance of getting away from this, Speaker 1  48:11 which way do I move in my direction with my spatial awareness with your spatial awareness, and that, and that brings me to another, I think, actually, another piece with martial arts and how it intersects is treating the addiction like an opponent that may be sauntering around that corner at any moment in time, and being able to see that I need to be on the alert, I need to know more than one direction, as you mentioned a moment ago, more than one direction that I could go, rather than just the free, the ability to have choice. Yeah, Michael Hingson  48:51 can addiction truly be cured? Not the reason I asked the question is I know so often I hear when I hear people talking about alcoholism, you can't really cure alcoholism, and maybe that's true. I don't know, Speaker 1  49:10 you know, it depends on how you ask, from a medical standpoint, from a disease standpoint, since we see it as a chronic progressive primary condition, which means nothing necessarily causes it every time. The answer would be no, because of its progression. However, can it can addiction, whether it's alcoholism, whatever, be stunted as far as its progression? Absolutely. Can be, can people live fulfilling lives? Absolutely. Can there be reversal of certain symptoms and signs. Yes, however, just I think that to say, you know, one day someone's gonna wake up and they no longer have cravings or the warning signs or the the neurobiology. Logical strings, it's tough to say that's a no. Michael Hingson  50:04 Yeah, thanks. That's the makeup of the individual that brings that about. I, I have.. I take an occasional drink. In fact, Karen and I used to have a drink on Friday night, one drink, and I kind of honor her by having a bourbon and seven every Friday night when I make, when I cook dinner, but one, because I've never been a great fan of the taste of alcohol, but I understand there are a lot of people who really like the taste of it, and that has led them into pretty dark places, which is unfortunate. Speaker 1  50:36 Yeah, still Michael Hingson  50:37 happens. Speaker 1  50:38 It does still happen, for sure. And I appreciate you liking bourbon. We make a bourbon walnut ice cream, and I don't ever drink the bourbon by itself. It's been in the cupboard for months now. And anyway, Michael Hingson  50:55 well, my bourbon and seven is a whole lot more seven up than bourbon. Speaker 1  50:59 Totally right, and good for you for having that ritual, you know, for you and for Michael Hingson  51:06 her. That's kind of neat to be able to do that, but I've just never felt that I need to, and I'm, and I'm glad. So it's continuing to share that. Well, you do a lot of couples therapy. How does all that go, and what kind of challenges does that make for you and for them? Speaker 1  51:29 Well, I'll give you this short story. We were eating at Denny's with this man, and just a friend of a friend, and he said to us, he asked me about my work, and I told him, yeah, I'm working with, you know, a lot of addiction, and with couples, he's like, I heard from another counselor, Eric, that if you really want to make it hard on yourself, you work in addiction, and you work with couples that always make it have a challenge, and, like, yeah, true. And so, when it comes to working with couples, it is challenging. There's something about having two people to work with, there's so many dynamics at play, different than perhaps being with just one person, you know, coming from two different histories, biographically different life upbringings, family upbringing, personalities. It can be really challenging. I do appreciate challenge. I've learned so much. I learned from each couple that I work with, and it's a whole different beast. Michael Hingson  52:29 Yeah, and, and it is. I like what you said, though. You learn from it, and that's probably the most important thing that any of us can do with anything in any endeavor that we undertake is that we learn from it. Speaker 1  52:44 If I can't learn from something, what am I, what am I doing there? And if I'm not learning from something, how can that benefit other people that I'm trying to help support? So, yeah, I tried to get the couple to start to be, you know, them versus the concern, rather than you versus me. That's a big goal of couples therapy. Michael Hingson  53:08 That's an interesting way to put it. That makes a lot of sense. I've never thought of it that way, but it's them. It does have to be them, but them versus the concern. That, that's interesting. Speaker 1  53:18 Yeah, yeah. Then they start, they start looking at how can we collaborate rather than trying to annihilate each other. Michael Hingson  53:26 Yeah, Speaker 1  53:27 metaphorically speaking, Michael Hingson  53:31 so you've talked about the work that you did when you were in Mississippi, when you worked in small towns, and so on, and you worked in probably some fairly substantive places as well. What do you find that's different about outpatient versus inpatient work, and in terms of what you do and how you approach it? Speaker 1  53:52 Well, I'll just say that doing inpatient work is kind of like raising kids, so not.. I mean, I don't have any experience, because I don't, I don't have kids, I got nieces and nephews yet. I know that feeling well. Yeah, there's just something about being around someone more than just like that hour, hour and a half, seeing them like eight or nine hours a day, you get to know them pretty well, as opposed to, you know, once an hour every one or two, three weeks, that in that comes some benefits with the inpatient work. Yet also it can be really difficult when it comes to boundaries. They feel like you can do things that maybe you're not able to do professionally with them, maybe like as far as like self-disclosure wise or things like that, and there's just there's just a thing around boundaries, and even with the inpatient work, you know, I'll have one client come and say, 'Hey, this other counselor said I could do this, and I would be like, 'Okay, and then I found out later the counselor didn't say that at all, so there's that type. The drama got to deal with, with it, with the inpatient work, Michael Hingson  55:04 but you don't find that as much without patient, because you tend to be able to get closer to the individual, and that probably also develops a higher trust level. Speaker 1  55:14 There is a higher trust level if you mean, like, doing outpatient work, or outpatient, but we have the outpatient, for sure, because I am solely with them, and they know that time is of the essence, whether it's weekly or bi-weekly, whatever, and I'm being able to focus on them, for sure, yeah, Michael Hingson  55:35 and it's a lot harder to do that when it's an impatient kind of situation Speaker 1  55:40 in my two experiences, both up in Calgary and also Mississippi, with inpatient, there's so many other things in the inner workings of doing inpatient going on that sure I can still add that time with somebody, yet I'm also thinking about, you know, the next class and next group offering other logistical duties, it's a little bit easier to do that one on one. Yeah, indeed, indeed. Michael Hingson  56:10 Do you think that you can develop? I assume the answer is yes, but I'll ask, do you think that it's possible to develop the same level of trust in doing inpatient work, or it may be harder, but can you do it? Speaker 1  56:28 That can happen on a case by case basis, depending on my relationship with someone. Yes, I can get there, and you know, just.. and sometimes, paradoxically, it can happen even quicker than outpatient, depending on the situation, because I am with them. There is a positive with that. Yes, Michael Hingson  56:48 it's.. it's a matter of working to build it, you know. And, unfortunately, human beings, especially nowadays, are so mistrustful of so many things, we've learned not to trust, and so in my latest book, Live Like a Guide Dog, I talk about that a lot, because while I think dogs love unconditionally, they don't trust unconditionally, but they're open to trust, they want to develop trusting relationships, and we just assume everyone has their own hidden agendas, and it's so hard to develop trusting relationships, Speaker 1  57:24 very hard, very difficult. It takes time and effort and patience, tolerance for myself, the other person, and that makes sense with dogs, because I mean, enough's, you know, when a dog's been abused, they don't want to trust right away, no, for sure. Michael Hingson  57:38 Well, but even even dogs that aren't abused, like I believe it takes for me, and I think if you really analyze it, for most people with a guide dog, I think it takes a good year to develop such a working relationship that you develop such a trust that essentially you each know what the other is thinking and you really know how to work it. It's not that they're not mistrustful, but they're open. They're open to trust, but you've got to, you've got to gain their trust, and that's my job as the team leader. And I'm supposed to be the team leader, but it also means that I have to agree, well, earn or gain their trust. The neat thing, and what makes it possible to do that, assuming that you approach it the right way and don't assume a dog is just a dumb animal, which they're not, is that in fact working with a dog, you know that they're more likely to be open to trust, and that makes it a little bit easier than our prejudice that says everybody's got a hidden agenda that we got to focus on, Speaker 1  58:47 yeah. And appreciate you sharing that, and it shows just the amount of work that comes into play with trust. Michael Hingson  58:54 Yeah, it's it's a challenge, but it is doable. Well, so what's next for you? Speaker 1  59:01 Yeah, just doing some work after this with the work that I do, and yeah, it's starting to get that book into the place of having editorial reviews and starting to get that edited professionally. Michael Hingson  59:14 Have either of your books been converted to audio? Speaker 1  59:17 The second one has. Yes. Michael Hingson  59:22 Is it? Where is it available? Audible, or how is it available? Speaker 1  59:25 It's my own special design. It's actually got a, it's got a Texan man, a doing it. He's got a nice voice, pretty soothing. Yet it's through what's called the Hero app, H I R O. And I can send you the link if you're interested. For that, Michael Hingson  59:40 love to, yeah, Speaker 1  59:42 yeah. Michael Hingson  59:44 Well, this has been enjoyable, certainly by any standard. If people want to reach out to you, maybe use your services or talk with you. How do they do that? Speaker 1  59:53 They can find me, Michael, through Recovery Arts counseling.com and that's Counseling with 2l's since I'm up here in Canada. You can find me through Instagram at Eric Fisher Writer or Recovery Arts Counseling. You can find me Facebook the same way on LinkedIn, just type in my name. You can look for, like, Calgary, like counselor recovery counseling. What do else? That's right, everybody learned something new today, if they did not, if they didn't already. So, those are a few Michael Hingson  1:00:25 ways. Well, that's great. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to be here, and I value greatly your insights. I've learned things, and I always enjoy doing that. And I hope all of you out there listening have as well. Love to get your thoughts, so I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to email me at Michael M I C H A E L H I at Accessi B A C C E S S I B e.com Wherever you're listening or watching, or both, this podcast, please give us a five star review. But even more important than a review, a rating, five star rating, give us a review. We really value reviews and people who might be interested in listening to our podcasts, are going to read those reviews. I can tell you for sure that people love to know what others think. So, we value your reviews a great deal. And if any of you, including you, Eric, know of anyone else who ought to be a guest on Unstoppable Mindset, we'd love an introduction, because we're always looking for people who want to come on and tell their stories, so I hope that that we'll find ways to do that, and definitely value you being here, Eric, and doing all this, and I want to thank you again for being here. This has been a lot of fun. Speaker 1  1:01:37 Thank you, Michael. Happy to be on you. thank Michael Hingson  1:01:43 you for being here with me on Unstoppable Mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about. If you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others. I have a free gift for you. Head over to Michael hingson.com and download my free ebook, Blinded by Fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them, so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning, and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable min

CEO of One New Zealand and self-confessed Rugby League tragic Jason Paris joined Canterbury Mornings ahead of a massive weekend of Warriors action in Christchurch. Paris discussed One NZ's longstanding sponsorship of the Warriors, as well as the telco's partnership with Te Kaha, whether his loyalty to the “Wahs” would be tested if the South Island were to secure its own NRL team. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One NZ Warriors CEO Cameron George is in town ahead of the Warriors first game under the roof at One NZ Stadium. He joined Canterbury Mornings ahead of a packed week of events in town ahead of the match against The Cowboys, and was asked what he thinks about the prospect of a South Island ever having its own NRL side. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Using AI to track symptoms, weigh medication options, and advocate. Not a cure, a toolkit. An honest, careful path without handing over the wheel. Summary Health Hats reviewed Melissa Reynolds' book on pregnancy in 2019, and they bonded over the fact that a man had blurbed it. Now she's on to something new: she’s been figuring out how to use AI to manage a body that’s been hard to live in for two decades. The turning point came in a diagnostic unit, alone in the dark with no idea what would happen next. She opened Claude and asked what the odds were. The answer was enough to let her breathe. What follows is one of the more grounded conversations you’ll hear about patients and AI. She tracks her symptoms in a spreadsheet and asks AI to surface what she’s missing, which is how she learned that her fatigue flares two days before her gut does. She brings research to her GP, who welcomes it and smiles. She nods at the gastroenterologist, who warns her off “that ChatGPT thing.” She’s careful about the politics, careful about the safeguards, and clear that this is for driving your own care, not replacing your clinicians. Her advice for anyone curious is refreshingly un-hyped: know what state you’re in, get a buddy if you’re vulnerable, and tell the tool what you actually need. She calls it a powerful toy, used well. Click here to view the printable newsletter. More readable than a transcript. Contents Podcast episode on YouTube Episode Proem Melissa Reynolds and I bonded when she invited me to review her book on pregnancy, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome in 2019. That still makes us both laugh: a man had written one of the blurbs on the back cover. I thought it was a riot. Melissa thought it made perfect sense because the people who most need to understand what a pregnant body is going through are often the ones standing next to it, trying to help but not quite getting there. Although we follow each other and frequently comment on each other’s posts, our last real conversation was in 2020 about a yoga program she was starting. A few small things from that conversation are still part of my every-other-day stretching and balance routine. I’m drawn to Melissa because she accepts what is, including that hard-to-live-with body, and creates and shares tools for those of us with the same or different diagnoses but similar lived experiences. All for best health. Our friendship has grown virtually, so we can pick up where we left off. This time, I reached out to Melissa after seeing her posts about her exploration of AI. Alone in the dark with a question Health Hats: What lessons are you learning as you use AI? Melissa: It’s funny to say you use AI because it’s hard not to use it now. But I’ve started exploring how AI can support me on my health journey. For a while, I was using it for bits and pieces. Then this gut issue came up. I don’t know if you’ve seen much of the journey, but I suddenly developed severe gut issues. They sent me for stool tests, which I’d never done before, and the results came back abnormally, astronomically high, so they sent me to the hospital. Melissa: They ran all sorts of tests. They rushed me through a colonoscopy, and then I was sitting there on my own in the dark in this hospital room. It’s an ADU unit, so it’s for diagnostic purposes. It’s not a ward. There was no TV, hardly anyone around, and I was quite alone, with no idea what could happen next. Melissa: So, I went into Claude and explained what had happened, and I said I needed to know, statistically, what was likely going on. It talked me through what it could be. That was enough for me to relax and go, okay, that’s cool. Health Hats: Where does it stand now? Melissa: Until a week ago, it looked very likely it was going to be one of those irritable bowel diseases. But right now, we’re completely unclear. I’ve got more specialists to see. But I realized the applications, so I started researching. Deciding to use every tool Melissa: Look, I’ve been sick for 20 years. I’ve been mistreated more than I’ve been well treated, and I’ve lost half my life. A lot of the doctors I saw were, meh. In the last 10 years, I’ve improved my life dramatically, but what upsets me is that I’m still nowhere near normal. That means I was very sick, and most of the doctors I saw were like, meh, even though there were concrete things to treat. They were misdiagnosing me. They were not treating me. Melissa: So I thought I was going to use every tool I had available. I actually told Claude, “Okay, you know my history. We’ve been chatting for a while. Tell me how I can use what you can do better.” The fatigue was signaling two days early Melissa: I do a lot of data analysis in my part-time job, so I thought, let’s get serious about my data analysis. I moved my symptom tracking from a physical book to a spreadsheet. Then I created a prompt where I upload it once a month and say, “Here’s my data. Tell me what you’re noticing that I’m not.” It notices things I don’t. Health Hats: Like what? Melissa: It was the post-exertion malaise flares that I wasn’t quite understanding. Health Hats: Post-exertion malaise. That’s the blowback from overdoing it, the hallmark of ME/CFS and other energy-limiting conditions? Melissa: Yes. It also picked up that when I was having my gut flares, my fatigue would signal a couple of days beforehand. Every time I had a gut flare, my fatigue would worsen beforehand. So, it’s now pretty clear that whatever’s going on with my gut is systemic. It’s part of a larger situation, not just related to my gut. Melissa: The data analysis and the research have been so helpful. I say, do some deep research, and I want you to talk to me about this topic, and it does. But you have to be very clear about what you want it to do. There’s a lot to learn about prompting. It’s very nuanced. Smiling, nodding, and using it anyway Health Hats: How do the clinicians you’re partnering with respond? Are they curious or suspicious? There must be a range of responses. Melissa: It depends. My gastroenterologist keeps saying, “Oh, I hope you’re not using that,” and they always say ChatGPT when they mean AI. So I’m smiling and nodding, but obviously I was. My GP, though, is fantastic. She loves it when I bring her research. She’s engaged. If you’re comfortable with people googling, then AI is just the next step. It’s more efficient than googling. Melissa: And I never go to her and say, “I’ve self-diagnosed myself with this.” It’s more like, “I’ve done some research.” Here’s a practical example. The gastroenterologist suggested a medication, and I don’t feel comfortable taking it. Even though they downplay the interaction with another medication I’m on, I don’t feel comfortable with the overall risk, especially when you’re playing with heart rate and blood pressure. I have low blood pressure and heart rate issues. Melissa: The wonderful thing about AI, compared to what I can do on a hard day, is that it can pull things together. We were talking about this medicine, and it found an alternative, a lower-risk medicine that also supports this other thing. The one thing I don’t want is to end up on loads of medicines and not be sure what’s working. A doctor is surely happy to have me as an informed participant in my care, especially when chronic conditions require patient buy-in. Where the records actually live Health Hats: You’re in New Zealand. I always wonder how the culture and politics around medicine and these tools differ from those here, where it’s a bit of a free-for-all and the guardrails are thin. Melissa: We’re in a very different situation. For a start, we’re a public system, but it’s crumbling. You have the people reliant on it, the people failed by it, and the few who can afford private insurance, which mostly just means you see the same people without being gatekept. We’re very segregated. Each specialty focuses on a single organ. As far as I know, we have one multidisciplinary clinic for long COVID, and it’s in the South Island, so I have no access to it, even though my ME/CFS came on after a viral illness and I’d benefit from exactly that. Melissa: What we do have is one public record that’s stayed with me, and a recent change that allows patients to request any information an organization holds about them. That’s actually how a lot of things changed for me. I got access to my patient portal at 32, and that’s how I found out I’d been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. No one had told me. They’d just written it in there. Health Hats: As opposed to all the times you were misdiagnosed, with both false positives and false negatives. And pulling it all together is the trick. I have a four-pound box of paper from one office, 500 pages, and 291 pages of PDF from another for three months of visits, all out of order and wildly redundant. So much of it is wrong. You start to realize that, at best, it’s grade-D information, and what I put in my journals and spreadsheets is probably the most accurate, which a doctor would never agree to. Melissa: It’s the same here. The onus is still on the patient to gather it all and then use it. That’s a whole other thing, and it’s something I’ve always struggled with. A very powerful toy Health Hats: What words of wisdom do you have for people who are using these tools? Do you want to encourage them or caution them? Melissa: First, think about what state you’re in. If you’re a bit vulnerable, don’t feel confident with technology, or are unsure about any of it, then seek guidance. Have a buddy or a mentor to do it with. Melissa: If you’re like me, data-oriented and logical, deep research is great. But if you’re someone who needs minimal information and more would fry your nervous system, then either don’t do it, ask someone to do it for you, or tell the AI, “I don’t need lots of detail; give me the three key points I can take away.” You can always guide it. Many people use it like they’re talking to someone, which can be useful when you’re working through things. But if you can prompt it well, you’ll get what you need. Melissa: That’s why I’m writing a series of articles. I want to guide people so they can focus on one thing, like how to use their data to get good analysis, because it’s a lot. First, you’ve got to learn how to prompt, then what to put in, then how it works. My articles are trying to make it more accessible. It’s always us, the people who are chronically ill, who are least able to jump on opportunities and make the most of them, and we’re the ones who need it most. But if you’re worried about it or opposed to it, leave it. Health Hats: I’m not a black-and-white person; I’m more nuanced. It helps with some things but not others. One thing I’m struggling with is that it gives me too much to share, and I want to share all that depth. Maybe it’s useful for me, but not for other people. So, I’m learning to set limits. My audience has three minutes or 500 words. Then I can ask more questions. It’s amazing. It’s a toy, in a way. A very powerful toy. Melissa: Thank you so much. I can’t believe it’s been so long. Health Hats: I know. Do we need to make an appointment for another four years? Melissa: No, let’s do six months. Health Hats: Sounds good. See you around the block. Reflection Neither of us is going to be cured, whatever that word even means. But I am living a good life. I am playing music, traveling, and in love. My grandson just turned eighteen and is graduating from high school. Life is good. That is the whole point, really. The point was never the technology. I know my enthusiasm for using Claude turns some people off. A number of you seriously distrust anything with AI in it, and I don’t dismiss that. I’m uneasy too, less about the tool in my hands than about the AI-industrial complex behind it, the money, power, and momentum, something like splitting the atom: enormous force, no guarantee of where it gets pointed. And yet here I am, using Claude and Claude Cowork to cut the forty to sixty hours I spend on each episode down to about twenty. I’ll share how in future episodes. I hold the worry and use the tools anyway. The point is deciding to drive our own train and being glad to have one more tool in the cab. A tool, a toy used best by someone who knows their own mind and keeps both hands on the wheel. Referenced in episode Melissa’s Substack Melissa’s book on pregnancy, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome Melissa’s yoga program Melissa’s book: Fibromyalgia Won’t Win: Learning, Loving and Living with Chronic Pain and Fatigue (Melissa vs Fibromyalgia The Collection), New Zealand’s Right to Records. Please comment and ask questions: at the comment section at the bottom of the show notes on LinkedIn  via email YouTube channel  DM on Instagram, TikTok to @healthhats Substack Patreon Production Team Kayla Nelson: Web and Social Media Coach, Dissemination, Help Desk  Leon van Leeuwen: editing and site management Oscar van Leeuwen: video editing Julia Higgins: Digit marketing therapy Steve Heatherington: Help Desk and podcast production counseling Joey van Leeuwen, Drummer, Composer, and Arranger, provided the music for the intro, outro, proem, and reflection Claude, Perplexity, Auphonic, Descript, Grammarly, DaVinci Inspired by and Grateful to:  Photo Credits  Related episodes from Health Hats https://health-hats.com/fibromyalgia-managing-pain-doing-the-work/ https://health-hats.com/fibro-mama-book-review/ https://health-hats.com/accessible-yoga-honor-your-body/ Artificial Intelligence in Podcast Production Health Hats, the Podcast, utilizes AI tools for production tasks such as editing, transcription, and content suggestions. While AI assists with various aspects, including image creation, most AI suggestions are modified. All creative decisions remain my own, with AI sources referenced as usual. Questions are welcome. Creative Commons Licensing CC BY-NC-SA This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. CC BY-NC-SA includes the following elements:    BY: credit must be given to the creator.   NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.    SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms. Please let me know. dannyhealthhats@gmail.com  Material on this site created by others is theirs, and use follows their guidelines. Disclaimer The views and opinions presented in this podcast and publication are solely my responsibility and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute®  (PCORI®), its Board of Governors, or Methodology Committee. Danny van Leeuwen (Health Hats)

On today's REX Daily Podcast, Dom talks with Craig Wiggins and Slade McFarland at Fieldays about how the joint venture between the Lean on a Gate, Talk to a Mate charity and Mates in Construction is progressing, breaking the stigma around mental health and some of then cases they've encountered recently... He talks with LIC CEO David Chin about new season data showing a strong reproductive performance for the 2025/2026 season, a lift in key metrics compared to last season and the strong performance of the South Island in lifting the national average... And he talks with Greg Millar, the National Manager of Fundraising for IHC NZ, about the iconic IHC Calf & Rural Scheme, the history of the scheme and why it's endured for over 40 years. Tune in daily for the latest and greatest REX rural content on your favourite streaming platform, visit rexonline.co.nz and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.

Dom talks with LIC CEO David Chin about new season data showing a strong reproductive performance for the 2025/2026 season, a lift in key metrics compared to last season and the strong performance of the South Island in lifting the national average. Tune in daily for the latest and greatest REX rural content on your favourite streaming platform, visit rexonline.co.nz and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.

The Wine: Sheild Albariño 2025, Nelson $26.99 from Winemaker Trudy Sheild Albariño originates in Spain in and around the Galicia area, the variety loves proximity to the sea. Often described as having a sea spray or saline quality. The Sheild wine shows this attribute easily. This wine is precise, varietal, leesy and fresh. Aromas of white peach and lemon, a leesy lite lager seam adding shape and form. Delicious, bright and fruity, varietal and new with an energy to the core flavours of white stone fruits and citrus, there's a lovely freshness and mealy salivating and saline mouthfeel delivery length and appeal. The food: A wine that suits local seafood, anything from pan-seared snapper to a burger made with cod, all the trimmings and salty fries. Kumara chips as well work nicely with the burger. For a home meal then a seafood marinara with either a rice or pastas base works wonderfully with this wine. It's all about the crispness and fresh fruits flavours in contrast to the salty seafood flavours. The season and region: It's regularly New Zealand's sunniest region and with good diurnal variation which helps emphasise varietal character. Nelson's high sunlight hours and a long growing season give wonderful fruit purity and fresh appeal. Other notes: Nelson's sheltered topography gives protection from strong winds; combined with its proximity to the sea this gives milder temperatures than other South Island regions, mitigating frost risk. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trailer for a new survival thriller starring Brad Pitt has just dropped, and it looks good. Possibly because it was filmed entirely in the South Island. That got us thinking about what goes into bringing a large international film production here, and what the Kiwi economy and tourism industries get out of it. Joining Jesse is New Zealand Film Commission's Head of International Attraction and Inbound Production Philippa Mossman.

Connectivity is top of mind for many South Island voters. South Island businesses are banding together to push their priorities onto the election agenda, using a major new conference to pressure political leaders on growth, infrastructure and workforce issues. And for the average person, mobile coverage and connectivity is a big issue – with dropouts and lacking 4G/5G coverage causing problems. NZ Telecommunications Forum CEO Paul Brislen told Kerre Woodham that telco companies are reliant on the government to co-fund towers, as there's no commercial reason to put towers in places only a handful of people will use them every once in a while. He says it's very much a joint venture, and he doesn't recall anything in the Budget about more funding – but it's an election year so that may change. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sarah & Adam here! Missed the show? Here's some of our fave bits: We're coming to you live from Fieldays! Sarah's experiment - do cows from the North Island have different accents to cows in the South Island? We put it to the test. Did we give away $2,000 with our farming and agricultural themed Pop Quiz thanks to Contact Mobile? If you have a great yarn for the radio or just want to get in touch, you can message us anytime on our socials:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morefmdriveFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/morefmdrive

Sarah & Adam here! Missed the show? Here's some of our fave bits: We celebrate the launch of Adam's new kids book Daisy & Gus (check it out here: https://daisyandgus.com/) Sarah finally has her answer on if cows in the North Island have a different accent to cows in the South Island! Adam and Director Dave's hotel room antics - say less. If you have a great yarn for the radio or just want to get in touch, you can message us anytime on our socials:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morefmdriveFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/morefmdrive

A lack of snow has forced some big South Island ski-fields to push back their opening days. Cardrona Alpine Resort general manager Laura Hedley spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Two new Woolworths stores have opened in the South Island, but you can't get the weekly shop done there. The educational facilities in Dunedin and Invercargill are giving young people with disabilities training for jobs in a supermarket environment, creating 'launchpads' for future employment. Front-Line Training chief operations officer Nadia Steedman says this will allow people to work in a space that suits their individual needs. "With that, we have a direct connection with the local Woolworths stores, where work experience will eventually be available - as well as putting them in the limelight, with the potential for them to become employed." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two new Woolworths stores have opened in the South Island, but you can't get the weekly shop done there. The educational facilities in Dunedin and Invercargill are giving young people with disabilities training for jobs in a supermarket environment, creating 'launchpads' for future employment. Front-Line Training chief operations officer Nadia Steedman says this will allow people to work in a space that suits their individual needs. "With that, we have a direct connection with the local Woolworths stores, where work experience will eventually be available - as well as putting them in the limelight, with the potential for them to become employed." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington Travel Guide: Why I Spent a Year Living in New Zealand's CapitalWellington is one of my favourite cities in the world, and in this episode I'm sharing exactly why.I first visited New Zealand's capital in 2013 on the Kiwi Experience and instantly connected with the city. In 2017, when Emma and I arrived in New Zealand on a working holiday visa, we spent weeks road-tripping around both islands before deciding where to settle. I already had my sights set on Wellington, and thankfully Emma fell in love with it too. We ended up spending nearly a year living there, giving us the chance to experience the city far beyond the typical tourist highlights.In this Wellington travel guide, I share the places, experiences and local tips that made the city so special to us. From riding the iconic Wellington Cable Car and exploring Te Papa Museum to walking the waterfront, climbing Mount Victoria and discovering all parts of the city, I cover the attractions that I think every visitor should experience.Of course, no episode about Wellington would be complete without talking about coffee and brunch. This is the city where my love of coffee began, and over the course of 11 months I worked my way through more cafés than I can count. I share my favourite spots for brunch, great coffee, waterfront views and local atmosphere, including some long-time Wellington institutions that I still think about today.I also dive into the practical side of visiting and living in Wellington, including where to stay, the best neighbourhoods to base yourself, transport options, day trips, travelling between the North and South Islands, and what it was like finding work while on a New Zealand working holiday visa. If you're considering moving to Wellington or spending time there as a backpacker, digital nomad or working holiday traveller, there's plenty here for you.Along the way, I share some personal stories from our time living in the city, including working in government ministries, surviving a late-night earthquake, becoming known as the office "serial monster", buying a $1,000 road-trip car and somehow making a profit when it was written off.Whether you're planning your first visit to Wellington, preparing for a New Zealand working holiday, or simply looking for inspiration for your next trip, this episode will give you an honest look at one of the most creative, quirky and liveable cities I've ever experienced.In this episode:• Why Wellington became our home for nearly a year• The best things to do in Wellington• My favourite cafés, brunch spots and coffee roasters• Where to stay and the best neighbourhoods to explore• Working holiday and job-hunting advice• Transport tips and South Island connections• Road-trip recommendations and day trips• Stories from everyday life in New Zealand's capitalSupport Winging It Travel PodcastIf you enjoyed this episode:⭐ Leave a 5-star rating or review on your podcast app☕ Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/wingingit

Dunedin drivers are being warned to watch out for sea lions on the road as more of them keep venturing inland. The New Zealand Sea Lion Trust said it was now receiving daily reports of the endangered species on roads around the lower South Island, and indicated this could become more common. University of Otago zoology expert Hanna Ravin says although their population is in decline, their numbers in Dunedin are growing. "We have mums and pups that are trying to get away from the big, boisterous males that are on the beaches and they do that by going inland - so that's what we're seeing." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think we'd be biting off our nose to spite our face if we turned our back on this overseas company wanting to take over the running of the port of Lyttelton. Because this could be exactly the type of in-road to foreign investment that the government has been banging-on about but hasn't yet managed to pull off. Tell that to the unions, though. Which are all antse about executives from global port operator DP World being in Christchurch and wanting to do a deal to manage the port here for as long as 30 years. The port company and the port's owner - Christchurch City Holdings Limited - aren't saying much. Other than acknowledging speculation over what they describe as “a potential proposal” involving DP World and the port company. But the maritime union isn't holding back - making all the usual noises. Which you would expect it to make. Saying it would be a terrible move. Not just for Canterbury. But a bad move for the South Island and the whole country. It says profits would head overseas and it must not happen. But before you fall for all the noise, I want you to think about Fremantle, in Australia. Because it is just noise. Saying something should stay locally-run for the sake of it staying locally-run is noise. There's nothing the unions are saying about this that convinces me that the port company and the council which owns it shouldn't, at the very least, think about it. You might remember Fremantle from the 1987 Americas Cup. It's also a major port. A major port which has been operated by the same company that wants to run Lyttelton port for the past 20 years. And we need to be looking at Fremantle before swallowing all the rhetoric regarding this potential deal at Lyttelton. Because, in December last year, the company started work on an $18 million rail connection at the port. To move more freight by rail - from 22 percent to a third of the freight it handles. The company itself paid for this. What's more, it plans to have spent $1 billion upgrading port infrastructure in Australia by 2028. Which is exactly what it could end up doing here. And, if the port company and Christchurch City Holdings are in fact having these negotiations, then that's exactly the sort of stuff they should be talking about. They should be saying to DP World, if we agree to let you run Lyttelton port for the next 30 years, we want to see the same infrastructure investment you're making in Australia. Remembering too that Lyttelton needs to spend as much as $900 million on its expansion work. And, if they did manage to get that kind of commitment as part of any deal, then we'd be on to a winner. Not that I'm drinking all the Kool aid. Because there have been issues in Fremantle since DP World took over 20 years ago. The unions over there have accused it of putting profits ahead of jobs. But those kinds of accusations are made about the Lytelton port company already. The unions in Fremantle aren't happy about DP World wanting to use more automation. Of course they wouldn't be happy about it. Thing is, though, unions here are going to be concerned about all those things irrespective of who is running the show. So why not have an outfit with the money behind it running the port and investing in the port in a way we can only dream about? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh off our massive win for Best Radio Breakfast Show at the NZ Radio Awards, the team is heading back to the top of the South Island for another hilarious installment of Community Paper Rage! Lana digs into the local Nelson noticeboards to pull out an absolute classic. A local resident is completely losing their mind over the "shocking" noise of planes coming and going from... the local airport. Simon and Bondy can't cope as the team dissects the petty drama, the outraged comments, and the sheer reality of moving next to a runway. Have you ever spotted a local complaint that made you completely double-take? Love the show? Rate us 5-stars on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and follow Si, Lana & The Breakfast Club on rova so you never miss an episode of our award-winning show!

New data shows how unstable the construction sector is right now, with building activity dropping to a 10-year low. Infometrics says building activity fell 3.5% in the March quarter. The value of non-residential work in the South Island rose more than 8% as Wellington and Auckland recorded significant drops. Combined Building Supplies Co-Op CEO Carl Taylor told Heather du Plessis-Allan consents can tell them what may happen in the future – but only if people spend money. He says it's tough out there, particularly in Auckland, but Canterbury seems insulated from issues. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Properties have been evacuated and roads closed across the top of the South Island after heavy rain caused flooding overnight. Nelson Tasman Civil Defence says the worst affected areas are Riwaka, Brightwater and Wakefield. RNZ reporter Samantha Gee spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

This week's budget announcement had a focus on sorting out the books, and no straight sugar hits for individuals.Infrastructure, healthcare and education seemed to be the clear priority of our fiscal plan, but three relief for the cost-of-living pressure many face. Along with that, council rates have gone up for Auckland and the South Island's West Coast, and the Reserve Bank's signalled that there will be an increase to the OCR shortly - so the period we've seen of low interest rates on a mortgage is coming to an end. So how can we prepare ourselves for a toughening economy? Was it good that we didn't have any government handouts? Managing Director for the Private Office - Nick Crawford - joins Tim Beveridge for Smart Money... LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week I got rather excited with my bird feeding exercise in the garden – silvereyes everywhere, bellbirds becoming part of the ornithological gig, starlings in good flocks, hedge-sparrows in hedges. As the winter is getting near, the birds will come and visit your generous fodder in good numbers: sugar water, bits of meat and dripping, but also remnants of very ripe bananas, fruit bits, and anything that is edible. One of the biggest attractants is sugar water and the old bits of meat – dozens and dozens of birds will make their way to the smorgasbord. An important point we need to consider about feeding birds in your garden is that you'll need to keep going till spring. Your generosity is something the birds rely on and when you stop, there will be consequences for the artificially high populations created by extra feeding. I often catch large numbers of silvereyes when they dash in the direction of the food resources; they often have no idea that my very fine bird-catching net is not always visible. All I do is get the birds and give them a light-weight metal and numerical band around their leg, so I can always tell who is who in our garden. Hundreds of them each autumn/winter, individually coded. In some parts of the South Island, we also get Bellbirds and Tui. You might think you will have “lost” them from the garden when spring is moving in – they are getting very secretive around nesting time, but they will remember your place as a heaven full of food. Yes, they know where you live – I reckon they'll also know what kind of plants you have in the garden. And the most important aspect of it all is that in spring and summer they'll come and do the pest control business for you by scouting the scale insects and aphids, psyllids, whitefly, and mealybugs from your plants to feed their kids. LOTS OF FOOD! Over the past decades I have been doing some local research in my gardens (West Auckland, East Auckland, and some spots in Canterbury) where I observed the silvereyes, tūi, and bellbirds literally hoovering the small insects from our plants. Seeing as I hate spraying systemic insecticides, I like these birds with their knowledge of entomology and the location of the food – I have great respect for their job in our garden. Oh, and by the way: tūi and bellbirds will probably do a significant job of pollination in your garden as well. What's not to like? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sound of bittersweet strings will be ringing out in the lower South Island this long weekend. Queenstown is playing host to a special competition celebrating a quarter century milestone. But it's missing a special guest this year. Checkpoint producer Johnny Sutherland spoke to Lisa Owen.

Metservice has issued orange heavy rain warnings for the top of the South Island and the West Coast with up to 600 millimetres of rain expected in some areas. There's a chance those orange warnings could be upgraded to red. Metservice meteorologist John Law spoke to Lisa Owen.

Michelle Watt talks to Andrew Johns, Fonterra General Manager of Operations for the lower South Island, about how the new UHT plant is tracking in Edendale, and New Zealand Dairy being in high demand around the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The boss of Auckland's port is still upbeat, despite another drop in cruise visits. Data released to Newstalk ZB shows a 3% national reduction this season. Auckland's dropping by 12%, but Port of Auckland CEO Roger Gray told Mike Hosking he predicts this is rock bottom, and things will pick back up next season. He says they've already got 66 bookings secured. Cruise visits to the South Island are meanwhile increasing by nearly two dozen. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the ZenRUN Podcast, I chat with Chris Atkinson - teacher, lifelong runner, trail lover, proud New Zealander, Cairns local… and the 2026 Delirious West 200 miler winner. Chris and I met at Delirious West this year, and I loved having the chance to sit down properly and hear more about his running journey, his life, and what led him to take on his very first 200-mile race. We start right back at the beginning, with Chris growing up in a tiny town at the bottom of New Zealand's South Island, where running, rugby, fishing and community were all part of life. From primary school runs along dirt roads, to athletics clubs, cross country, rugby injuries, teaching, travel, trail running in New Zealand, Tasmania, Europe, Hong Kong and now Queensland - running has followed Chris through every chapter. And then, of course, we dive into Delirious. Chris went into Delirious West thinking he might finish somewhere around 80 hours. Instead, he moved steadily through the field, managed knee pain, hallucinations, getting lost, no sleep, long stretches alone, and still crossed the finish line first in 67 hours and 30 minutes. As you do. What I loved most about this conversation was how calm and thoughtful Chris is about the whole thing. He didn't go into Delirious with a huge ego or a dramatic race plan. He went in curious. Could he do 200 miles? Could his body and mind work through the problems? Could he keep moving, stay calm, and solve one thing at a time? Turns out… yes. Very much yes. Chris shares so many brilliant insights from the race, including how he planned conservatively, how his wife Dee crewed him through the event, how they refined the plan as they went, what worked nutrition-wise, why he didn't sleep, what it was like running alone at the front, and how important it was to eventually team up with Dom in the later stages when fatigue and hallucinations were really kicking in. We also talk about the deeper stuff running gives us - freedom, identity, resilience, connection, and that feeling of being completely alive out on the trails. Chris shares one of his favourite lessons from running: run your own race. Not just in events, but in life. And then there's Fred. Fred is Chris's 78-year-old running friend from New Zealand who still runs, travels, tries new things, tells stories, and lives with the kind of young, adventurous mindset we could all learn from. Honestly, I think we may have accidentally started a new movement in this episode: Be Like Fred. This is a beautiful, funny, thoughtful conversation about trail running, ultra running, teaching, family, adventure, crewing, nutrition, sleep deprivation, community, and why sometimes the best thing you can do is put your shoes on and head out the door. In this episode we chat about: Chris growing up in a small New Zealand town How running became part of his life from a young age Moving from track, cross country and rugby into trail and ultra running Why trail running felt more soulful and less injury-prone than road or club racing Chris's first 200 miler at Delirious West Winning the 2026 Delirious West 200 miler in 67 hours and 30 minutes Starting at the back and naturally moving through the field Managing knee pain early in the race Running without sleep for the whole event Hallucinations, spiderwebs, kangaroos and late-night trail weirdness The role of Dee, Chris's wife and crew Nutrition strategies, including instant mash, soup, maltodextrin and slow-cooked lamb Getting lost near Cozy Corner and being guided out by Scott Bunny Why Delirious felt both physically and mentally complex The importance of staying calm and solving one problem at a time Running your own race - in running and in life Why big ultra races are never really solo events Chris's love of trails, quiet, nature and freedom Why we should all aim to “Be Like Fred” Tips from Chris Run your own race. Chris says this is the advice he gives his son, and it applies to life as much as running. Listen to others, learn what you can, but in the end it's your body, your legs, your pace, and your decisions. Have a plan, but don't cling to it. Chris had a spreadsheet, pacing estimates, food ideas and crew notes - but the race still changed almost immediately. The plan gave him something to work from, but he stayed flexible. Practise your nutrition before race day. Chris worked with Erin from Ultra Appetites after struggling with GI issues in previous races. Getting his nutrition right made a huge difference at Delirious. Keep things simple when you're tired. By later in the race, Chris and Dee had a rhythm: instant mash, soup, protein shakes, electrolytes, maltodextrin, charging gear, strapping the knee, then back out again. Simple wins when your brain is fried. Let people help you. Chris makes a beautiful point that Delirious might look like an individual event, but it really isn't. You need crew, aid stations, race directors, volunteers, other runners, nutrition advice, and people who believe you can keep going. Get outside. Chris's motivation tip is beautifully simple: put your shoes on, head outside, and spend time in nature. Run, walk, explore, notice the birds, breathe the fresh air. Something is better than nothing. Be Like Fred. Stay curious. Keep moving. Try new things. Tell stories. Stay young in your mindset. And keep loving the trails for as long as you possibly can.

David discusses Akaroa's struggles with sewer overflows, the uncertain future of Pegasus Town north of Christchurch, Lyttelton Port avoids prosecution over worker accident and the Cantabrian inducted into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame.

My husband has been a big game hunter in British Columbia and Hawaii for decades.  We eat what he kills.  For as long as I've known Mike, he has always wanted to hunt for New Zealand red stag with his bow.  We have checked that box.  Today's episode is all about the location where this incredible hunt took place.  Gary Herbert's New Zealand Mountain Hunt, at South Island, New Zealand, was a once in a lifetime event.  His lodge staff, guides, and his incredible property are all part of the memory big game hunters like Mike drool over.  For me, it wasn't about the location or the animals or the food – all of which were amazing – it was about supporting Mike in achieving a bucket list item.  Join me as I walk you around the hunting lodge and talk to you about this incredible experience. 

My husband has been a big game hunter in British Columbia and Hawaii for decades.  We eat what he kills.  For as long as I've known Mike, he has always wanted to hunt for New Zealand red stag with his bow.  We have checked that box.  Today's episode is all about the location where this incredible hunt took place.  Gary Herbert's New Zealand Mountain Hunt, at South Island, New Zealand, was a once in a lifetime event.  His lodge staff, guides, and his incredible property are all part of the memory big game hunters like Mike drool over.  For me, it wasn't about the location or the animals or the food – all of which were amazing – it was about supporting Mike in achieving a bucket list item.  Join me as I walk you around the hunting lodge and talk to you about this incredible experience. 

NCAA Flag Football girl's inclusivity plan for a national championship, emu found wandering the streets of Louisiana, Colossal Biosciences developing technology to bring back the South Island giant moa, interval training, popular songs from when The Infomaniacs were 16 years old, alien species types, the pyramids in Egypt, interesting facts — plus the latest news and sports. 

New Zealand saw a 6% spending increase in retail last quarter with the South Island overtaking the North, likely due to farming and tourism. Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young told Heather du Plessis-Allan that a jump in pharmaceutical spending can be attributed to the increasing popularity of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy. "There's certainly high volume of those drugs now being sold, and they're really expensive on a monthly basis. So that just keeps going up and up and up," she said. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new week means new questions! Hope you have fun with these!Which actress is set to take on the role of Jessica Fletcher in a new Murder She Wrote film, which unfortunately probably won't premier on Halloween?In quantum mechanics, all subatomic particles are classified into two categories, both pulling name from physicists, name either of them.What was the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture Academy Award?Located on New Zealand's South Island and currently 12km (7.5 miles) long, what is Franz Josef?In 2010, Roy Holladay became the second pitcher to throw a postseason no-hitter, pitching for which team?How many amendments are there to the Constitution?Which Welsh Singer tossed garters at his fans when he got his Hollywood walk of fame star?Rogan Josh (India), Souvlaki (Greece), Döner Kebab (Turkey), and Lancashire Hotpot (England), traditionally all contain what meat?What is the outer layer of a human cell called?The killer whale is part of what family?Which literary character is the ship's cook that led a mutiny on the Hispaniola?Leslie Scott invented jenga after learning about a game in what African country?Duke Weaselton in Zootopia, Gary in the new Superman, Heihei in Moana, and Valentino in Wish are all voiced by which actor?Who was the King of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War?What is the largest Roman archaelogical feature in Britain?MusicHot Swing, Fast Talkin, Bass Walker, Dances and Dames, Ambush by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Don't forget to follow us on social media:Patreon – patreon.com/quizbang – Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Check out our fun extras for patrons and help us keep this podcast going. We appreciate any level of support!Website – quizbangpod.com Check out our website, it will have all the links for social media that you need and while you're there, why not go to the contact us page and submit a question!Facebook – @quizbangpodcast – we post episode links and silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Instagram – Quiz Quiz Bang Bang (quizquizbangbang), we post silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Twitter – @quizbangpod We want to start a fun community for our fellow trivia lovers. If you hear/think of a fun or challenging trivia question, post it to our twitter feed and we will repost it so everyone can take a stab it. Come for the trivia – stay for the trivia.Ko-Fi – ko-fi.com/quizbangpod – Keep that sweet caffeine running through our body with a Ko-Fi, power us through a late night of fact checking and editing!Quiz, trivia, games, pub+trivia, pub+quiz, competition, education, comedy

New Christchurch flights are being hailed as a key step for global connectivity. From October, Air New Zealand will fly direct between Christchurch and Singapore, Tokyo and Perth. Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson says Christchurch is in a really good place, and more people will want to experience the city. "People want to come and visit, they want to go to events, they want to see the place, they want to access the South Island - and so I'd say that's the primary draw card." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"'Slow down and soak up the truly remarkable surroundings'. That simple tourist maxim has taken on new meaning in Queenstown, as the wellness wave washes over our premier resort town with unprecedented relish." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Synlait chief executive Richard Wyeth is leaving - after one year in the job. The South Island dairy processor's released an NZX market update, saying Leon Fung will be acting CEO, effective immediately. Wyeth will remain supporting the transition, until the end of June. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

→ Need help sorting out the big picture of your upcoming New Zealand trip? Get my 1-on-1 support with my VACATION BLUEPRINT DESIGN service ← Throughout this New Zealand, Your Way series, the consistent advice has been to keep your itinerary simple and focus on one island. But if visiting both the North and South Island is truly what you want from your trip — this episode is your permission slip. It's your trip, and it's absolutely possible. On this episode, we're breaking down exactly how to get between the two islands, what each option actually looks and feels like on the ground, and what it's going to cost you — so you can weigh the decision clearly and make the right call for your trip. Because if both islands are on your itinerary, figuring out this crossing is one of the most important logistical anchors you'll need to sort out before anything else. Connect w/ Angela on Instagram   LISTEN BACK: Episode 201: My #1 Hack for Taking a Stress-Free Vacation Episode 230: The Perfect Pace for a Multi-Leg Trip Episode 286: Independent Travel Tips to Feel Confident Traveling Abroad

Megan Young is a UK-based ultra cyclist and bike packer from Dorset. She's raced the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco as a pairs entry with her husband Angus, taken fastest female honours on the Dorset Divide, spent six months cycling through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile on sabbatical, and then finished that stretch with the Tour Te Waipounamu, a 1330km ultra race down the South Island of New Zealand. And right now she is  lining up for Lostdot 101, a women-only road race across Spain and Portugal where riders plan their own routes.In this episode we discuss:How Megan got into ultra racing and what it was like competing as a pairs team at the Atlas Mountain RaceThree months in the Andes: kit, food, altitude, wild camping, and choosing when to get a busMax, the stray dog in the mountains who became their guardian for a day and then vanished on the descentThe Tour Te Waipounamu: 30km of hike-a-bike, river crossings she'd never trained for, and a DNF 100km from the finish lineHer mindset heading into Lostdot 101, planning her own route, and racing with six friends from Girls That Ride BikesWild camping confidence, the earplugs trick, and what she learned from getting her food strategy badly wrong on her first ultraWomen in ultra racing, what's changed, and why communities like Girls That Ride Bikes are helping to get more women to the start lineYou can follow Megan via her instagram - @MeganOnTwoWheels Check out the Manzanita Cradle from Old Man Mountain Support the showBuy me a coffee!I'm an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:

→ Need help sorting out the big picture of your upcoming New Zealand trip? Get my 1-on-1 support with my VACATION BLUEPRINT DESIGN service ← New Zealand may not be the first destination that comes to mind for wine—but it's an incredible wine destination. And while wine might feel like a small part of a vacation unless you're a wine connoisseur, it's something you can quite literally bring home with you—and with just one taste, you're instantly transported back to New Zealand, long after your trip has come to an end. In this episode of the New Zealand, Your Way series, we're taking a practical, travel-focused look at what to know about New Zealand wine so you can experience it in a way that actually enhances your trip. We'll walk through the key wine regions across both the North and South Island, what makes each one distinct, and how to think about where wine fits into your overall itinerary—whether it's a dedicated experience or something you layer in along the way. Connect w/ Angela on Instagram LISTEN BACK: Episode 124: The 8 Travel Style Avatars // Which Are You? Episode 222: 5 Types of Luxury Travelers Episode 269: Your Travel Style, Solved + Trip Ideas for Every Season

A rambling, meandering episode full of happenstance reminiscences that barely ties in to the Antarctic history thread of this series through an encounter with Antarctic novel author Evelyn and an interview with Cam Hawley about the restoration of the Beech Staggerwing carried south by the United States Antarctic Service Expedition.   Cam spoke to me in a hangar at Wanaka airport during the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow and the ambient sounds of Harvards and Strikemasters going about their skybound business outside offers a neat backdrop to our dialogue.  Photographs of the Antarctica connected airframes I encountered during my whirlwind South Island visit at the Wordpress site.  And some of the model Whirlwind Brian built and the model Hughes 500 I built during our evenings at his place. I don't often travel other than for work or family duties, so I loved every second of my time in Brian's company. No-one relying on me for data, consumables, or maritime services. No-one dying of cancer. A week well spent on every front.       

Rookies Review at Ruapuna Tony Whitlock looks at how Zac Bates and Rylan Gray found Ruapuna as these members of the 2026 rookie class handled the challenges of the South Island. From the race track to your device with Tony Whitlock on Inside Supercars Inside Supercars Podcast: Subscribe Apple Podcasts I Spotify I Google Podcasts Supported by: P1 Australia Link:P1 Australia MusicCreative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com MusicComa-Media from Pixabay #RepcoSC #TCRAust #Supercars #Motorsport #ADL500

NSP:314 The Nordic Endeavour, NZ Tahr Hunts & Near-Blackout Lessons | Josh Halley Josh Halley of Souls Untapped is back on the Noob Spearo Podcast. He's a spearo, adventure filmmaker, and self-described chaos merchant from the Shetland Islands, Scotland — and this time he's got big news: he's rowing the entire coastline of Norway with an ex-Olympic rower, a freediving coach, and a fellow adventurer, spearfishing and cleaning up the ocean along the way. That's before we even get to the near-blackout in Bali, the 50kg dogtooth he deliberately left at depth in Papua New Guinea, and the mouthfill EQ technique that changed everything. Mix in a helicopter tahr hunt in the deep south of New Zealand, honest talk about ADHD and self-discovery, and some straight-up safety wisdom on float lines and reel guns with big fish — and this is one of those episodes you finish and immediately want to send to someone. KEY TOPICS COVERED: The Nordic Endeavour: rowing the full coast of Norway with Glen Sadler, Martin Helseth (ex-Norwegian Olympic rower and freediving coach), and Anders — July 12 departure ADHD and neurodivergence: Josh's experience of self-discovery through expeditions and why the ocean has been his best classroom New Zealand hunting: helicopter drop into the South Island for Himalayan tahr, camping in the rain, and a bull shot with a bow Near-blackout in Bali: what happened, why it happened, and how Josh had to completely relearn how to breathe The 100% framework: how tides, solo diving, thick wetsuits, cameras, and a floating boat all chip away at your safe dive capacity Mouthfill equalisation: the technique that finally unlocked diving below 20m Float line vs reel gun safety: real stories of lost gear and close calls with big kingfish and dogtooth tuna Papua New Guinea: tent living, ear infections, and the 50kg dogtooth Josh spotted — and chose not to chase CONNECT WITH JOSH: soulsuntapped.co.uk Instagram and YouTube: @soulsuntapped Nordic Endeavour Instagram: @nordic_endeavour_2026 BOOK MENTIONED: Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate UPCOMING TRIPS WITH NOOB SPEARO: 1770 Agnes Water Beginner Retreat (July SOLD OUT - Sep 7 Spots LEFT): spearfishingcourses.com.au/1770 Sail and Spear Whitsundays (August, 2 trips): spearfishingcourses.com.au/sailxspear PNG Intermediate+ with Tim McDonald (September 12-20): spearfishingcourses.com.au/png NOOB SPEARO: Spearfishing Courses and Retreats: spearfishingcourses.com.au Instagram: @noobspearo Website: noobspearo.com Newsletter: noob-spearo.kit.com/floater PARTNER DEALS: Adreno Spearfishing: spearfishing.com.au - use code NOOBSPEARO to save $20 on orders over $200 Neptonics: neptonics.com - use code NOOB10 to save 10% storewide Old Man Blue: oldmanblue.com.au - use code NOOBSPEARO for a free vinyl filleting apron on orders over $300 Aqualyte Hydration: aqualyte.com.au - use code NOOBSPEARO to save 10% Dog and Gun Coffee: dogandguncoffee.com - use code NOOB10 to save 10% HohnkeOutdoors: hohnkeoutdoors.com - use code NOOBSPEARO to save 20% Audio Engineering by Nick Santalucia

The food you see on the supermarket shelves doesn't end up there by accident. It's often been rigorously tested for likeability. This week on Our Changing World, Liz Garton finds out about the science behind those decisions, given that individual taste can be very varied. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Export markets are a key consumer group. Look at who's eating our food with this story from RNZ's Farah Hancock.Our Changing World looked at how science can help pair foods with the School of Chemical Science at the University of AucklandFinding a Psa-V-tolerant golden kiwifruit was one of the success stories from the Consumer and Health sciences team. Claire Concannon looked at the ongoing efforts to prevent the disease from getting to the South Island. Guests:Christina Roigard, Science Team Leader – Sensory & Consumer Health, New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedDavid Jin, Scientist, Health and Consumer Science Team - New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedDr Roger Harker, Principal scientist - Health and Consumer Science Team - New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Max talks with Russell Ladbrook about a chance meeting in New Zealand that turned into one of the most delightful episodes of Aviation News Talk. Max was taking a glowworm cave tour when Russell noticed his Cirrus jacket, struck up a conversation, and soon realized he was talking to the host of a podcast he had followed for years. By the end of the day, the two were sitting down at the Fjordland Aero Club near Manapouri Airport for a conversation about flying in one of the most scenic and demanding parts of the world. How aero clubs keep flying affordable Russell explains that aero clubs fill a role in rural New Zealand that would often be handled by a flight school or FBO in the United States. In smaller towns, there may not be enough demand to support a traditional aviation business, so clubs become the way local flying survives. The Fjordland Aero Club has about 85 members, a hangar, and club-owned aircraft, along with privately owned airplanes brought in by members. What makes the model especially interesting is the economics. Russell says the club rents its aircraft wet for about 150 New Zealand dollars per hour, plus GST, and that includes fuel. The airplanes are microlights rather than larger certified aircraft, which helps reduce costs. Even more striking, much of the labor is donated. Club members help with maintenance, instruction, and field work. Russell himself mows the runway, and the club also earns revenue by mowing airport property and baling hay from the surrounding grass. It's a practical, community-based approach that makes flying accessible in a part of the world where a normal commercial model might fail. Flying near Milford Sound The conversation then shifts to the geography of New Zealand's South Island and the challenges of flying there. Russell describes the area around Te Anau and Manapouri as farmland on one side and steep mountains on the other, right on the edge of a huge national park. The terrain is beautiful, but it also makes aviation more demanding. ADS-B coverage can be spotty because mountains block signals, some aircraft operate without transponders, and local knowledge matters enormously. Russell gives an example of a nearby valley where 4,500 feet might provide a smooth ride while 3,500 or 5,500 feet can be rough. That local knowledge becomes even more important around Milford Sound, where tourism flying is a major part of the aviation scene. Russell says many of the flights into Milford use Cessna Caravans from Queenstown, and that it is not unusual to see dozens of aircraft lined up there. Helicopters are also everywhere, supporting sightseeing and practical work in remote terrain. Russell talks about helicopter flights into the mountains, helicopter barbecues in remote valleys, and the many ways rotary-wing aircraft are woven into daily life in the region. Weather, waterfalls, and helicopter work One of the strongest parts of the episode is Russell's description of the weather around Milford Sound. He confirms that many planned flights never happen because low clouds, wind, avalanche danger, and poor visibility can shut things down completely. He describes Milford as one of the wettest places in New Zealand and says it can receive astonishing amounts of rain, with conditions that may be dramatically different only a short distance away on the other side of the mountains. On wet days, entire mountainsides fill with temporary waterfalls, while only a few permanent waterfalls remain visible when the rain stops. Russell also explains that helicopters in New Zealand do far more than scenic flights. They recover deer, resupply backcountry huts, and haul waste out of remote wilderness areas where it would be impractical to carry supplies in and out by hand. That operational detail gives the episode a more grounded feel. This is not just a postcard version of New Zealand. It's a working aviation environment where flying is both practical and essential. Glowworm caves and an unexpected connection The final section of the episode brings the story back to where it started: the glowworm caves. Russell says his first full-time job in the mid-1980s involved both flying Cessna 172s and working as a cave guide, and that decades later he is once again guiding visitors through the same cave system. He explains that glowworms are tiny insects that live in dark, damp spaces and use light to lure prey into sticky threads. The cave tour includes a boat ride, narrow walkways, an underground waterfall, and a final passage through deep darkness where the glowworms shine overhead. Russell's description of guiding the boat through the cave is especially memorable. He compares it to a kind of cave IFR, navigating in darkness by feel and by markers on chains overhead. It's a funny comparison, but also a revealing one. The whole episode is built on that same blend of aviation mindset, local knowledge, and sense of wonder. Russell also shares his own story of returning to flying after doubting himself for years, and the joy he now gets from taking others aloft, especially children seeing aviation up close for the first time. That gives the episode a strong emotional finish and makes it about more than scenery. It becomes a story about community, confidence, and how aviation creates connections in the most unexpected places. If you're getting value from this show, please support the show via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or Patreon. Support the Show by buying a Lightspeed ANR Headsets Max has been using only Lightspeed headsets for nearly 25 years! I love their tradeup program that let's you trade in an older Lightspeed headset for a newer model. Start with one of the links below, and Lightspeed will pay a referral fee to support Aviation News Talk. 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Daren Grover was on vacation near the top of New Zealand's South Island when he got a call: some whales needed help. Hundreds of them had stranded on a spot so notorious for whale strandings, it's cause for celebration when a year goes by without a stranding: the Farewell Spit.  Check out Project Jonah: https://www.projectjonah.org.nz/ Giant searchable database of sustainable seafood (and seafood to avoid) from Monterey Bay Aquarium: https://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendations Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.