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The Spinoff
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
‘Fluffed my way through': Mike Puru's worst weather faux pas
The broadcasting legend takes us through his life in television. Mike Puru has loved television ever since he was a little kid growing up in Gore. 'I lived in a very isolated part of the country, and back in the day we just had two channels,' he tells The Spinoff. 'Apart from doing some farm work, television was your window to the rest of the world.' He couldn't have imagined back then that he had a decades-long broadcasting career ahead of him, starting with Flipside and spanning everything from hosting The Bachelor NZ, to hawking wares on the Shopping Channel, to hosting the weather for Newshub. 'When I first started on Flipside, I can remember driving from Christchurch to Gore, and seeing that every single house that I saw had a bloody TV aerial or a satellite on it,' he recalls. 'That's when I realised what a powerful medium it was – it didn't matter what sort of house you had, whether it was big or small, whether it was fancy or falling to bits, every single common denominator was a television.' Puru was part of the Newshub closure last year – 'a complete shock' – and has since returned to radio, his other beloved medium. He currently hosts the breakfast show for Southern Cross Country Radio, and the afternoon drive show for The Breeze. 'I love the immediacy of radio and being there in the moment,' he says. 'But I still miss the lights, the camera, the action, and the way my heart would always beat so fast when I was ready to go live with the weather.' Although he may not be on television (for now – here's looking at you, Celebrity Treasure Island 2026), Puru still watches a tonne of local programming every week. 'I love New Zealand television – I watch Rural Delivery, Country Calendar, Moving Houses, Grand Designs, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Tangata Pasifika, Q & A… anything that's New Zealand made that involves real life,' he says. 'It all helps me understand a bit more about New Zealand, and I like that sense of connection that it gives me.' Positively fizzing about all things TV, Puru happily took us through his own life in television, from his fortuitous first big break, to a Flipside faux pas, to his gripe with Seven Sharp. My earliest television memory is… I remember watching that show Prisoner with my mum, it was an Australian drama set in a women's jail. Mum loved it, so I used to watch that. Dad always watched MASH, which I never really got into. The Flying Doctors, I think, was one where I fell in love with Rebecca Gibney and wanted her to be my mother. The show I would rush home from school to watch was… I was besotted by the Mickey Mouse Club back in the early days, there was just something about it that I loved. Of course, Olly Ohlson was always on, and there was the Under the Mountain series which was just so exciting. I remember watching it and wishing that I had the lives of those two kids. My earliest TV crush was.. Probably Kirk Cameron from Growing Pains. He was the all-American pretty boy who lived in a dysfunctional family, but was trying really hard to do the best that he could. He had lovely, curly hair. My first time on TV was… I went to Hamilton as part of The Edge to MC this event called X Air, which eventually turned into Jim Beam Homegrown. There was this guy there who was making this late night skating show called XS TV, and he got me to test his cameras by standing on a spot and doing an intro to the show. He filmed it, just to see how his shots worked, but after a couple of takes, he came up to me and went 'shit, mate, you are really good – do you mind if you do a bit more of this during the weekend?' They ended up using me to basically host that show from Hamilton on the telly. I think it was five minutes in total, but I used that five minutes of tape that I had from XS TV as part of my audition for Flipside. A TV moment that haunts me is… The first time I was on Flipside, I wore this really stylish patterned jersey from a local designer that I loved, and everybody gave me a really hard time about it. I think people likened it to a David Bain jersey. It was the very first episode and people could text in, but most of the comments we got were about the David Bain jumper. There was also the time I forgot to upload the new weather graphics and so I was standing there, live on TV3, realising that I was playing yesterday's weather. I had written the scripts for the day's actual weather, it's just that the graphics that appeared were all from the day before. I quickly just changed a lot of what I was saying, fluffed my way through, and hoped that nobody noticed. And luckily, only one person did. My favourite NZ TV ad is… I really loved back when TV1 would start for the day – I used to get up early, if I wasn't at school, to try and capture it. Back in the day, the TV wasn't going 24 hours a day. So when TV1 would start for the day it had this beautiful opening track that was the national anthem of New Zealand. It had people skiing, people in small town New Zealand, farmers waving on tractors to the camera, just people living life. I was besotted by that. My TV guilty pleasure is… I think Britain's Got Talent is probably a guilty pleasure. I just like watching people's dreams come true, you know? No matter what sort of act they are, they just love it so much and they'll put their heart and soul into it, and they put it all to the test on that big stage. When it all works, and they have their moment, it's just amazing. My favourite TV project I've ever been involved in is… Probably the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King documentary that Evie Ashton and I made for Flipside. We were given media access to go to the Return of the King world premiere in Wellington, and we went really hard to try and get as much footage as we could. By the time we'd finished filming everything and doing all the interviews with all the big stars, we had so much that TVNZ turned it into a two part documentary, because we had so much good footage. It's just so good to have it as that little snapshot of both Flipside, and this really big moment in New Zealand. My most controversial TV opinion is… I hate the way Seven Sharp goes: 'we'll be back in a moment with the place to be', then they play five minutes of ads, then they come back and they go, 'well, the place to be tomorrow is Timaru. That's us for the day. Have a good one.' You're wasting my time – just say goodbye and move on. The last thing I watched on TV was… Clarkson's Farm, season four. I love it. I never really cared about Jeremy Clarkson before, but I like the way he speaks for farmers, and I like seeing the hard graft. It's a bit of a Country Calendar vibe.
Otago Daily Times
22-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Class goes global with viral idea
Clyde Primary School teacher Sydney Robertson and the year 6 and 7 Korimako class show off with the postcards they received from around the world as a part of their viral postcard project. PHOTO: ELLA JENKINS A Clyde primary school teacher has gone viral on social media asking for strangers from around the world to send postcards to her class as a part of their inquiry learning. Sydney Robertson said she got the idea one morning while scrolling through social media. She came across a high school teacher from overseas collecting postcards from around the world. "I thought we could do that, so I pitched it to my class." The response had been incredible, with more than 40,000 views and postcards arriving from all over the world. The year 6 and 7 pupils were instantly hooked on the idea and began to discuss how and who they could get postcards from, she said. Miss Robertson had the idea to tie the postcard project in with the class' inquiry project, about Kōpūwai and the Clever Girl, a traditional Māori story set on the banks of the Clutha River. "So we compared some different versions of the narratives and then discussed how it relates to Central Otago now and how there are lots of different people in Central from all over the world." The class started on May 15 by connecting with family and friends while Miss Robertson shared videos on her social media pages, which she set up three years ago to share her teaching journey. The videos asked people to send postcards and include information about where they were from, as well as how to say "welcome to Central Otago" in their language. "Postcards started arriving from all over and we decided to take things a step further by creating a wish list. "It's now filled with hopes of hearing from famous Kiwis, sports teams, local legends, even the Country Calendar crew, a pub owner from Ireland and, of course, [American basketball player] LeBron [James]." The class was buzzing after going viral. The pupils said they were grateful for the postcards they had received. "It's been an amazing way to connect the classroom to the wider world and celebrate the diversity of Aotearoa and beyond," Miss Robertson said. She and her class hoped to learn how to say "welcome to Central Otago" in as many languages as possible in order to create a video welcoming seasonal workers to the region.
Otago Daily Times
18-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
From covering ground to covering crackers
Top Gore runner Millie McFadzien, 17, has turned her athletic advancement to food design, creating and marketing a smoked eel pate made from Southern-caught tuna. The St Peter's College student has had a successful week, pitching her pate to business experts in Invercargill and placing in the top 10 at a national cross-country competition days later. Millie finished ninth out of 120 runners in the senior girls 4000m race at the secondary schools cross-country championships in Whangarei on Saturday, with a time of 15min 29sec. Days earlier, Southland Business Chamber members were "blown away" by her pitch for the eel pate, she said. It was initially her father's idea, after seeing something similar on an episode of Country Calendar . She then engaged supplier Waituna Eel with an idea to resell its Lake Ellesmere eels on the international market, but was redirected to the idea of a pate by company chief executive Calvin Claridge. Millie then connected with Invercargill chef Ethan Flack and together they devised a recipe. "It's good on crackers and all that," she said. Her marketing company is called The Lost Larder and the agency Naked Creative has donated its time, creating the label and olive-green brand design. Millie was also fortunate to have the support of Southland signwriter Creation Signs who made her two pull-up banners, T-shirts and labelling for the pitch. Bluff fisheries company Ocean Beach also gave her some start-up funds for the project. The project is part of her school business class, as well as the national Young Enterprise scheme competition, which is a charity-funded programme that fosters and provides mentoring for business ideas of senior high school students for a year. Millie has ideas for other rare edible products under The Lost Larder, such as rabbit heart pate. She is looking to engage a food scientist to list the nutritional information on the packaged product, and potentially an industrial kitchen to seriously carry on with this venture. She has that to look forward to along with her running, as her top-10 finish meant she qualified for the NZ Secondary Schools Team that will compete on the Gold Coast, Queensland in September. Of her race on Saturday, she said it was "quite tough" as the course was steep, hilly and muddy. The following day, her Southland mixed team won the relay race, as well. Pre-orders for the eel pate can be sent to thelostlarder@
Otago Daily Times
17-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
North Otago organic vege grower in liquidation
A North Otago organic vegetable growing business, recently approached to appear on Country Calendar , has gone into voluntary liquidation owing more than $1million, while a subsidiary company owes more than $300,000. Organic Solutions, which traded as Oamaru Organics, is 53.45% owned by James Porteous — who is also the sole director — and Australian-based Lanson International Holdings Pty Ltd (46.55%). Touted as the largest organic market garden in the South Island, it sold vegetables both at a roadside stall at Totara and through the Otago Farmers Market. In a statement, Mr Porteous said the farm had "long struggled with chronic overstaffing", which significantly increased its financial burden and led to an accumulation of debt with the IRD. He said he stepped in to directly manage farm operations in August, reducing staff numbers from nine to one and introducing mechanisation. He said the farm became compliant with all ongoing tax obligations and began rapidly repaying historic tax arrears. Per-hectare revenue increased 39% and he proposed a "realistic" repayment plan, which was declined by the IRD. The company would continue to operate and supply customers to the best of its ability throughout the farm sale process, he said. Incorporated in 2014, it originally owned Thai restaurants around the South Island and bought the 23ha farm — one of its main suppliers — for $1.7m in 2019 to maintain supply. The deal was later found to have breached the Overseas Investment Act because Lanson International Holdings — whose majority shareholder was Mr Porteous' friend Marc Lanson — owned more than 46%. The rules stated Australians could not have more than a 25% share of any purchase of New Zealand land bigger than 5ha without gaining consent first. Organic Solutions was fined $20,000 and retrospective consent had to be sought. In his first report, liquidator Brenton Hunt, of Insolvency Matters, said the majority of the restaurants were closed due to the outcome of the Covid-19 restrictions. According to Mr Porteous, the business had struggled to be economic for some time. Inland Revenue payments had fallen behind and the IRD had begun recovery action. The last annual accounts completed for the company were in March 2022. Plant and equipment and motor vehicles were to be collected and sold and there was finance owing on vehicles, Mr Hunt said. The land and buildings were also to be listed and sold (first mortgage owing). Under preferential creditors, staff holiday pay was estimated at $10,000 and GST and PAYE were estimated at $900,000. Unsecured creditors were estimated to be owed $1m and the total estimated shortfall to all creditors was estimated at $1,279,500.
Otago Daily Times
10-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Training programme no longer free
For the first time since its inception, Growing Future Farmers students will need to pay to take part in the farm skills programme. More than 50 people attended the programme's open day at Invermay last week. The two-year scholarship programme allows students, aged 16 to 20, to learn skills on sheep, beef and deer farms. The fees-free programme was launched in 2020 but chief executive Wendy Paul said the students would need to pay to attend the course from next year. "Unfortunately, we can not continue with this course being fees free." The reasons include the cost of running the programme and inflationary pressure. A fee helped students show commitment to the programme, they had "skin in the game" and respected the farm trainer's work to offer it. "Unfortunately we have had students that have not respected the investment and time our farm trainers have put in," Ms Paul said. The fee was not yet confirmed but it was expected to be about $2500 a year. "We will be working to make sure it is reasonable," she said. More than 120 students were placed on more than 100 farms throughout New Zealand this year. Last year, more students applied for the programme than the number of farms available to place them. A goal was to place 95 students on farms next year. About a third of the farms were in the South Island. On average, about 40% of the students were female and 60% were male. About 40% had an urban background. The programme could transform the lives of students. However, the programme was not suitable for everyone, as it had "ups and downs" and students needed the right attitude and integrity to navigate those challenges. "It is not all Country Calendar ," she said. A goal was to get all students employed within six months after graduation. The target had been hit every year except last year as two students wanted to remain as casual staff and another moved to Australia to chase a dream playing in the National Rugby League competition. Former Growing Future Farmers student Lily Cole, 19, graduated from the programme in November last year and shared her experiences at the open day. She supported the introduction of a student fee. "A lot of people do the course because they think it will be an escape from school and be easy and fun and they will get to do all the highlights — that it will be like Country Calendar , which it is on a good day but when you spend every day for three months in wet weather gear in spring, it can get a bit disheartening. A course fee will weed out people who aren't going to stick it out," she said. "It is all what you make of it ... you can't prepare for it — leaving home is hard and you have to learn how to cook for yourself and budget," she said. She was a "city slicker" living in Christchurch and determined to leave secondary school. "I couldn't wait to leave and I was out of there as soon as I could." She found the paperwork she was required to complete to be more relevant, easier and more enjoyable than her study requirements at school. She spent her first year on a sheep and beef farm in Kurow and, in her second year, she was one of five female students placed on sheep and beef property Russell Farms in Dipton. "Make the most of who you are with because if you get a connection with them, it is going to make your life a lot easier," she said. A major highlight was being given a pup to train as a working dog and she now had a team of five dogs and continued to work on Russell Farms. The programme allowed students to learn from their mistakes and she encouraged students to ask lots of questions. "You can have mess-ups and start again — take your time and figure it out, that's what I did. "You start out not knowing much and then you learn a little bit and that leads to more." First year student Jack Robinson, 18, of Dunback, shared his experiences of being placed on Glenaray Station in Northern Southland. "It is pretty cool. I have been enjoying working on such a big place." Life on the 70,000ha sheep, beef and deer property included having meals served in a cookshop and living in shepherds' quarters with 10 other staff. The programme gave students "opportunities, opportunities, opportunities", such as working on Glenaray. He was raised on a farm and had some skills before starting the programme and it allowed him to "polish" those skills by completing courses including first aid, fencing, chainsaw use, shearing and crutching sheep and driving farm vehicles. Each course had been helpful. "It opens your eyes on different ways to do things," he said. Another eye-opener was a course with a rural banker on financial literacy. Each week of the programme, he was given an $165 allowance. "I discovered I was overindulging on social occasions." He hated "book work" at school but during the programme he had learned to like it, he said.
