Kiwi Yarns

Today's guest is quite simply, a national treasure. Tammy Wells is someone we all feel like we have a connection with, she is pretty much part of our furniture...and of course the Briscoes furniture too. Tammy is the woman who, with a big warm smile, delights us with that welcome news that Briscoes is indeed having a sale. She's been the Briscoes Lady for a remarkable 32 years - and still loves ev...

Today’s guest Guy Williams - has been part of the New Zealand comedy furniture for a fair whack - even though he's only 33.  The Billy T Award winning comedian has achieved a lot in this career (although he says achieving a lot could also be defined as failing a lot haha), across the stage, on the tele and on the radio. It's a full noise episode, where he takes the piss out of my questions and at...

Today’s guest is such a phenomenal woman who I had the pleasure of meeting in 2018 when I ran my first ever marathon, raising money for the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust. Catriona Williams is the founder and driving force behind the charity - which supports researchers in the bid for a cure for spinal cord injuries. Catriona was one of the country’s leading international equestrian riders - but...

Kendra Cocksedge is one of the best rugby players in the world, and has been at the top of the sport at an international level for 14 years. She is an absolute weapon with the rugby ball, and good luck to anyone who tries (see what I did there) to get in her way on the footy field.  At the moment, she is taking some time out from playing rugby after battling mental fatigue - so we talk about how s...

Kara Rickard is a smart, funny and very talented broadcaster. A proud wahine Māori with three beautiful children, Kara is a music and martial arts enthusiast and cancer survivor. She's a respected name in radio but after a decade at George FM, decided to put the mic away at the end of last year. A really lovely, insightful yarn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest makes something in a jar that brings so much joy to so many Kiwis, including my own mother who I have seen scoop it out of the jar with a spoon on MANY occasions! Pic Picot is the man behind Pic's Peanut Butter, which has become a bit of a national treasure. The funny thing is, Pic only started making peanut butter when he'd retired, in order to make a couple of hundred bucks a week....

It would be fair to say today’s guest is one of New Zealand’s most-loved Dads. His name is Jordan Watson aka How To DAD. He lives in Tauranga with his wife (How to MUM) and three daughters AND girl dog. He's a dad who makes videos about Dad stuff. A dad who’s first dad video started off as a bit of a laugh six years ago and now he’s got books, he's done a Ted Talk, and his videos have hundreds of...

Guled Mire is coming to us from New York, after winning a Fulbright Award to study at the Ivy League-listed Cornell University. Not a bad achievement for a young man who dropped out of school at the age of 16 after being told university wasn't really for people like him. The former refugee drew on the strength from his mother - who as a solo parent, fled Somalia in the midst of civil war with her...

Today’s guest is the wonderful Toni Street - and I’m pretty sure it would be fair to say there’s really not much this woman can’t do. She is an incredibly talented TV presenter and radio host, sports commentator, she’s a dab hand in the kitchen, she’s played both cricket and netball at a representative level, and she’s a superstar Mum to her three beautiful children. We have a lovely chat about he...

A warning: this episode will be discussing suicide and mental health issues. Today's episode is with three very special young women in one of the most powerful, brave and important interview's I've ever done. The Cool Change NZ "sisters", Grace Curtis, Tori Wheelans and Georgie Harris say they’ve been brought together by tragedy, but say they hope they can make the most out of their sad situations...

Jacqui Maguire is a registered clinical psychologist, a mental health and wellbeing thought leader, and someone who has the amazing ability to explain all the stuff that’s going on in our heads - from the complicated to the not so complicated - she just gets it.  Jacqui has just released a wonderful new book to help parents and children together. It's called When the Wind Blew: A Book for Little P...

Now I’ve been a big fan of Jodie Rimmer since the early 2000s when she was on "The Strip" - man I LOVED that show! The award-winning actress Jodie is someone who lights up the screen in such a huge variety of roles, resulting in her being a much loved woman here in New Zealand. More recently, she’s been the hilarious narrator on The Bachelor and Bachelorette. Jodie is an absolute delight to chat t...

I am extremely grateful that over the years I’ve worked with some wonderful New Zealanders - and today’s guest is no exception. He’s a kind, caring and hilarious soul who graces our television screens every morning on TVNZ's Breakfast. Matty McLean delivers us our weather with a smile on his face and a warmth you simply can't fake. And my word he tells a GREAT yarn (numerous included in this episo...

Aesha Scott keeps me entertained with her bright, bubbly and refreshingly honest daily life updates on her Instagram stories. But Aesha will also be known by many as the hard-case Kiwi who took centre stage on the highly addictive reality show, Below Deck. She’s recently back from an epic travel journey across the United States in a converted ambulance. Aesha has an extremely positive and amazing...

When I saw today’s guest cross the finish line a few weekends back at the Tarawera Ultramarathon I knew immediately I wanted to talk to her. Ruth Croft smashed the 102 kilometre race (yes, that says 102 kilometres) - with a course record of 9 hours, 21 minutes and 3 seconds. Ruth's running journey is a fascinating one in which she admits over the course of her career she has fallen in and out of l...

Today's guest is beaming in from sunny Nelson. Jessie Cross is someone who has fit quite a lot into her 28 years. She has a background in law and science, working in the legal industry and in social enterprise. But, like many, when Covid hit last year she lost her job. Jessie then set up “The Not so Redundant Club” to support other people who have lost their jobs. She has since completed a yoga te...

Today's guest is Brad Smeele - a legendary world champion wakeboarder, and an extremely talented Kiwi who spent the better part of a decade killing it on the world stage. In 2014, Brad won a global award for “Trick of the Year” for nailing a double tantrum to blind (we will find out about what that is but know it's a big trick) - the first person in the world to do so. But, that very trick would a...

Today's guest is someone who’s played a very significant part in shaping not only my career, but I dare say thousands of journalists around New Zealand. Jim Tully was a graduate in the inaugural year of Canterbury University’s Journalism programme - a programme he would go on to run for 25 years - teaching bright-eyed, excited students who were ready to take on the world. This year, he was honoure...

Chris Parker is a very charismatic, talented and award-winning comedian and actor, and it would be fair to say he was a shining light for many people during New Zealand’s 2020 lockdown 1.0 and 2.0. When we were all stuck in our homes, Chris took to Instagram and basically could nail every type of lockdown character there was - from iso-baking, to at-home travel blogs, even mastering Dr Ashley Bloo...

Today’s guest is a bright, bubbly 24-year old woman I now have the pleasure to call a friend. Georgie Ferris brings a whole new meaning to “living everyday as if it’s your last”, because she is very realistic about the fact that she won’t get as many days as most of us. Everyday, Georgie's body is failing her. She has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and a number of really awful complications brought on by...

Welcome back everyone! I’m so excited to speak to more great New Zealanders this year, and my first guest for 2021 is the wonderful Kristina Cavit, Founder & Director of The Kindness Institute. Kristina is one of those people, who seems to spend most of the hours in her day helping other people. In 2018 she was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to youth and community, o...

Today’s guest is the wonderful Wendy Petrie - who for the past 14 years has greeted us on our television screens bang on 6pm, on New Zealand's biggest news show, One News. This year, Wendy was very publicly made redundant - and dealt with it in the utmost professional and dignified manner. The superstar journalist, presenter, mother, marathon runner, is always so positive and discusses life withou...

Today’s guest is an athlete I look up to - you know one of those people you watch when they’re racing and you’re just not quite sure how on earth they are moving so ridiculously fast. Hannah Wells is a professional Ironwoman who in 2019 - just her second season as a pro - absolutely annihilated the racing calendar - winning all nine races she started, including the Sunshine Coast, Western Sydney a...

The other day, I saw Laura Douglas on the legendary Kiwi television show Country Calendar and knew straight away that I needed to yarn to her. Laura is a Southern gal, born and raised on a sheep farm in Mossburn. We discuss how she went from living in Auckland for nearly a decade in the corporate world, to packing up her life to move back to the farm. The road to where Laura is now - with her own...

Esekia Perelini has been my Personal Trainer for many years and often doubles as my therapist (haha). He takes his job really seriously and has some really interesting thoughts about what it actually means to be healthy. By his own admission it has certainly evolved over the years as things have happened in his own life. A year ago, a fit and healthy Ese suffered a stroke. We talk about how he rec...