Nine To Noon for Wednesday 20 April 2022

 

09:05 Venturing overseas? Check your Covid insurance cover

As borders reopen and quarantine restrictions ease many people are looking to rebook their abandoned holidays or venture back into the world. But things may not be as straightforward as they once were - particularly when it comes to travel insurance. While most insurers are offering cover for Covid-19 medical expenses that might be incurred on a trip, not all policies will come to the party if you need to change flights or stay longer because you catch Covid. And there's a warning to those with asthma or other respiratory diseases - it might not be treated as leniently by insurers as it was prior to the pandemic. Lynn talks to Mark Gustafson, General Manager of Certus Insurance Brokers.

09:30 New laws to protect apartment owners 

New rules soon to pass into law will give more protection to people who own apartments or are looking to buy one. A Members Bill will amend the Unit Titles Act, which governs how unit titles like apartments are bought and sold. It will strengthen the regulation of body corporate committees, increase the amount of information that must be disclosed to prospective buyers, and require more rigorous planning for long-term maintenance. The bill, brought by National's Nicola Willis, has cross-party support and is expected to pass its final reading in Parliament. Lynn speaks to Joanna Pidgeon, the chair of the Unit Title Working Group set up in 2016 and director of the law firm Pidgeon Judd.

09:40 Up close to the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano

Volcanologist Shane Cronin has just returned from a Navy boat survey of all Tonga's northern islands, trying to piece together what led to the largest volcanic explosion ever recorded. He is the first overseas scientist allowed into Tonga to investigate January's powerful undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami which caused massive disruption and damage and claimed three lives. So far, he's been able to inspect the ash and cruise about the area seeing first hand the damage to coral

09:45 Australia: Polls tight, Covid rules relaxed, cruise ships back

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Lynn to look at the election campaign, as opinion polls tighten and Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese battle it out. Covid isolation rules are to be relaxed further, with household contacts no longer needing to isolate. Cruise ships have been welcomed back into the country, and could Ash Barty be set to take on the golfing world?

10:05 The Hebridean Baker, Coinneach MacLeod

His recipes are hardy, traditional and heavy on the booze and they've made the self-styled Hebridean Baker Coinneach MacLeod, an international culinary sensation. Propelling the proud Isle of Lewis cook's rise to fame are his popular TikTok videos that combine recipes, the Gaelic language and traditional Hebridean music and stories.  In his debut cookbook The Hebridean Baker Recipes and Wee Stories from the Scottish Islands he shares his love of the windswept Outer Hebrides and its culture, stories about his wee West Highland Terrior, and the family recipes including Granny Annag's Christmas Cake and Aunt Bellag's Duff.

10:35 Book review: The Boy from Gorge River by Chris Long

Shaun Barnett reviews The Boy from Gorge River by Chris Long, published by HarperCollins NZ

10:45 The Reading

Episode six of 'Let me Sing you Gentle Songs' by Linda Olsson.

11:05 Music with Jess Fu

Music reviewer Jess Fu joins Lynn to share a new track with a sci-fi theme from Automatic, one from electronic-soft-rock artist Jack J and a song from relative newbie Hanbee,  a Korean-New Zealander indie-pop artist based in Tamaki.

11:20 Anzac Day Parade: Timely lessons from children's book

 

When author Glenda Kane saw a small boy run up to talk to a veteran who'd been standing alone and staring out to sea after an Anzac Day event, it made her curious. She wondered what they talked about - and that wondering became a storybook called Anzac Day Parade. In the book, the boy wants to know how exciting it was to fight in a war. "It's no thrill", the old man tells him. Because the book's illustrator Lisa Allen needed a someone to paint from, she and Glenda were introduced via the RSA to Crete veteran Noel Dromgool. He shared his experience of the war with them and his stories made their way into the book. Glenda and Lisa join Lynn to talk about why the book seems particularly timely right now.

 

11:45 Science: How to harness the sun's energy more efficiently

Science commentator Dr Allan Blackman joins Lynn to look at new research into how the sun's energy can be converted into electricity more efficiently. At the moment silicon solar cells can only manage a maximum of 33 % conversion, so the hunt is on for more efficient materials. And April 20 marks a big day for science: in 1862 Louis Pasteur demonstrates the process we've come to know as pasteurisation and in 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts.

Allan Blackman is a Professor of Chemistry, School of Science, Auckland University of Technolog