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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast

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Speaker 1: from News Talks at be.

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Speaker 2: Mike Yardley's our travel correspondent.

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Speaker 3: Good morning sir, Good morning Jack, And now I hope

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Speaker 3: you will be contributing immensely to the Capital's economy while

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Speaker 3: you were there, you know me.

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Speaker 2: Well, yes, no, I mean to be fair, I have

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Speaker 2: actually been here a couple of times this week. Such

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Speaker 2: as the nature of my job. I know, I know,

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Speaker 2: with jet fuel prices as they are right now, it's

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Speaker 2: a shocking thing. But no, I'm always I never need

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Speaker 2: to be pushed too hard to enjoy in the various

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Speaker 2: calunary options in the Capitol.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So now I'll be enjoying myself this weekend. But it

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Speaker 2: must be said, I've got to save a bit of

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Speaker 2: room for my mother in law's horash because it's the

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Speaker 2: Iranian New Years. It's like a Persian casse roles basically

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Speaker 2: Iranian castles. Yeah, is the name of the kind of

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Speaker 2: all encompassing name. So I'm sure we'll be having some

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Speaker 2: this afternoon or something like that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, very nice. So is that something they would typically

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Speaker 3: eat to celebrate New Year? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I think well, they generally eat it for everything in

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Speaker 2: my experience, I'm no expert here, but anytime, anytime my

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Speaker 2: mother in law is cooking, she's making a different card ash.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, and so it's the I think that's the

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Speaker 2: that's the Parsi word for the kind of casse roles

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Speaker 2: that And there are so many, you know, different sorts

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Speaker 2: that you know. So I quite like one called Fast

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Speaker 2: and June, which is made with they grind or my

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Speaker 2: mother in law grinds up into a into a fine

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Speaker 2: powder all of these walnuts. So heats walnuts, a ground

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Speaker 2: into a fine powder, into a fine powder and then

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Speaker 2: mixed with pomegranate molasses and then yeah, and then the

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Speaker 2: meat is marinated in that and then and then cooked

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Speaker 2: really slowly. And so it's super rich and delicious. And yeah,

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Speaker 2: that's it's gonna be a tough afternoon for me. You

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Speaker 2: can tell you sold.

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Speaker 3: Me Jack that very impressive.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it should be. It should be a real treat. Hey,

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Speaker 2: But we are focusing this morning on top Or. You've

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Speaker 2: got your top trails and treats in Topor. And if

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Speaker 2: you are hitting the water in Toport, what would you

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Speaker 2: recommend is a really good cruise option.

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Speaker 3: There are a lot of options on the waterfront, as

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Speaker 3: I'm sure people have noticed, but I reckon to baskin

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Speaker 3: the brilliance of our inland sea on a sunny autumn

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Speaker 3: morning aboard the Earnest Kemp is the way to do it.

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Speaker 3: This is that glorious replica steamboat and it's been cruising

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Speaker 3: the Great Lake for over forty years. It's kind of

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Speaker 3: like Topau's answer to Queenstown's ERNs Law. And I was

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Speaker 3: actually invited to take the wheel of the Earnest Kemp

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Speaker 3: a couple of weeks ago, jack with most unflattering results.

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Speaker 3: The passengers were not particularly impressed with my navigational skills,

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Speaker 3: so I don't think there's not much risk of me

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Speaker 3: getting my skipper's license any times. But there are so

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Speaker 3: many cool little heritage touches to this vessel, like the

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Speaker 3: steering wheel actually began life as a horse drawn hose

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Speaker 3: reel used by fire brigades many decades ago. So there's

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Speaker 3: all sorts of amazing stories on this vessel.

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Speaker 2: And if you are hitting the pedals, what mountain bike

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Speaker 2: trail hits the spot?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, just north of town Craters Mountain Bike Park

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Speaker 3: of course is a big go to because they've got

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Speaker 3: about fifty kilometers of trailers in the park alone, spanning

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Speaker 3: all abilities. But before rocking to craters, I would strongly

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Speaker 3: urge people to check out the Hooker trails because they

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Speaker 3: thread you higher and higher above the Hooker Falls and

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Speaker 3: you get that balcony view on nature's big Gusha. I mean,

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Speaker 3: the falls from any perspective are amazing, but looking down

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Speaker 3: at those two hundred and twenty thousand liters of water

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Speaker 3: per second thunder down the drop, it really is electric.

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Speaker 3: So the Hooker Trails would be first cab of the

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Speaker 3: rank for me.

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Speaker 2: Jack, did you check out Boom Boom?

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Speaker 3: I felt duly obliged because yes, it caused quite a

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Speaker 3: steel last year. So this is the mirror polished stainless

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Speaker 3: steel sauropod dinosaur which is atop a large rock. The

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Speaker 3: rock apparently was a nod by the artist to volcanic

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Speaker 3: activity and all the giant boulders that have been ejected

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Speaker 3: by volcanic eruptions over the millennium. Was Boom Boom with

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Speaker 3: the one hundred thousand dollars? I asked myself Jack, and hmm,

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Speaker 3: it's a bit of fun, but yeah, it's a split decision.

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Speaker 3: But The other thing though about Topau's art is that

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Speaker 3: it has really blossomed around town in recent years. The

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Speaker 3: street art, the public sculptures, and something I loved at

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Speaker 3: surveying the huge murals that festern the sides of buildings

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Speaker 3: and down the back alleys in the town center. And

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Speaker 3: they are all artworks from the annual Grafiato Festival, which

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Speaker 3: is staged every label weekend and it's a really big bash.

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Speaker 2: Ah nice graffiato. Okay, so how many murals are in

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Speaker 2: the portfolios?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, currently they've got about eighty that you can

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Speaker 3: leisurely admire in the town center and a lot of

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Speaker 3: them are enormous. Interestingly, they don't just attract New Zealand's

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Speaker 3: best artists, but internationals to Toupor for Graffiato and if

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Speaker 3: you want to check out a really cool one. And

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Speaker 3: this is such a cove for McDonald's. Actually, the owners

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Speaker 3: of the McDonald's and Toupaul by the entrance to their

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Speaker 3: drive through, they had this enormous wall that needed a

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Speaker 3: bit of love, so they handed that over to Graffiato

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Speaker 3: last year and it's been emblazoned by Decipher and swift

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Speaker 3: mentis who club together and they've created this masterly chaotic

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Speaker 3: kitchen theme and it's got all of these sort of

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Speaker 3: cartoonish characters playing the leading roles. The funny thing, Jack,

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Speaker 3: is that the local kids in town, they apparently plead

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Speaker 3: with their parents to take them through the drive through,

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Speaker 3: not for the McDonald's, but so they can see the

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Speaker 3: mural again and again.

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Speaker 2: So good, Okay, so you've done that, You've done a

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Speaker 2: few cultural hotspots, you've done a bit of exercise. Talk

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Speaker 2: to us about hospitality highlights. Where's good?

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Speaker 3: Well, if you're a fan of craft beer, you probably

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Speaker 3: know Lakeman Brewing is a toe poor success story. They

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Speaker 3: actually produced their beer from a shed on a working

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Speaker 3: sheep and beef farm. So this is home to James

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Speaker 3: and Alissa Cooper. And in town they've got Jimmy coops Lakehouse,

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Speaker 3: which is Lakeman's burger and beer bar. The coolest thing

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Speaker 3: Jack is alongside the very good bruise smash down one

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Speaker 3: of beer burgers. The beef is homegrown too, sourced from

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Speaker 3: the same farm as the beer. Is that for hyper

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Speaker 3: local and if gin is your thing? Five mile Oh

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Speaker 3: my goodness, these guys have just won so many awards

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Speaker 3: for their gins and it all came about as a

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Speaker 3: COVID project with a lot of help apparently from Topaul

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Speaker 3: housewives who fine tune the favor profile of the arrange

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Speaker 3: of gems. But really really good.

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Speaker 2: Gin oh nice. Speaking of miles, what about the Two

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Speaker 2: Mile Bay Sail the sailing club?

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Speaker 3: They love their miles in Topaul. Yes, two Mile Bay

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Speaker 3: Sailing Club. I'm infatuated with this place. It's the setting

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Speaker 3: that is so blissed out. The pizzas are top notch

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Speaker 3: and the venue seating configurations very flexible. They also offer

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Speaker 3: toads in the water dining and whining if that's how

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Speaker 3: you roll, Jack. It is just one of those sort

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Speaker 3: of really special effvescent venues that is very embracing. So

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Speaker 3: they have like dog and grog events so you can

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Speaker 3: bring your pooch along on the weekend to join in

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Speaker 3: the fun too. A local favorite not to be missed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, ah, very good. And why is the Bistro such

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Speaker 2: a culinary crowd pleaser?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, these guys are a real institution. It's owned

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Speaker 3: by Jude Messenger, who would be one of the most

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Speaker 3: charismatic hands on restauranteurs I think I'd ever met. Jack.

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Speaker 3: He waits the tables. He ensures every diner is royally treated,

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Speaker 3: and Judah is feeling very happy with life because the

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Speaker 3: bistro was deservedly awarded to hats in the latest Cuisine

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Speaker 3: Good Food Guide, So it's elevated dining, but it's got

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Speaker 3: this really endearing, homely quality to the whole experience. It's

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Speaker 3: not stuffy. I would try the crispy duck as a starter.

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Speaker 3: It's slow cooked for eighteen hours, and for my mind,

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Speaker 3: isn't that a hell of a long time for a

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Speaker 3: don Yeah, but it has just melt in your mouth

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Speaker 3: and for my maine, the hard hooker, Oh my goodness.

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Speaker 3: This sat on a bed of smoked breaker broth and

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Speaker 3: handmade Papa delea, which are those pasta ribbons. I don't

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Speaker 3: think I've had those two together before, but it really works.

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Speaker 3: Fish and pasta together, berg hunkey fish on a better pasta.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely divine.

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Speaker 2: Ah, tough gig, A tough gig, Mike, thank you very much.

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Speaker 2: Sounds amazing. Yeah, all right, We're going to make sure

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Speaker 2: all of Mike's tips for tripping to topor this autumn

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Speaker 2: up on the news talks He'd be website so you

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Speaker 2: can follow along there too.

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Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live

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Speaker 1: to news talks he'd be from nine am Saturday, or

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