Holiday Breakfast

Into the central North Island this morning as we continue our road trip calling on District Mayors. 
As you know, domestic tourism is all the more important this summer, with the borders closed. 
On the upside ... some of the hotspots like Mount Ruapehu and Tongariro Crossing are more appealing, because of the lack of overseas travellers.  
And both have high hopes. 
Ruapehu District Mayor Don Cameron joined Tim Dower. 
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The UK has recorded a new record high daily Covid-19 case number – of more than 129-thousand.  
Meanwhile, in the United States, self-isolation requirements have been halved for asymptomatic cases.  
US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Tim Dower it comes as case numbers are on the rise – at nearly 250-thousand daily cases. 
“The CDC, the Centre of Disease Control, have just changed the rules for those who test positive for Covid, they used to say isolate for 10 days, now they say 5 days, so long as you’re asymptomatic.” 
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Trampolinist Dylan Schmidt was one of our successful Olympians this year, earning himself a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.  
Since then, he's made it to the finals of the World Champs in Azerbaijan in November.  
Dylan joined Tim Dower. 
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Summer is putting the heat on Whangamata's rental market.  
Demand for holiday homes is creating a shortage of rentals, and pushing up prices. 
Whangamata Real Estate principal Murray Cleland says a lot of people are also selling, rather than having to upgrade old baches to meet rental regulations. 
He says that's impacting locals. 
“Some of the retailers are having to rent houses to house their staff to get them through this period.” 
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Cromwell 's forecast to have relatively fine weather this afternoon, but some may still get wet.  
Straight shooters will be lining up to hoik their way to the national trophy this afternoon, for cherry pit spitting.  
Competitors will be pursing their lips from 3pm at Cromwell's Heritage Precinct.  
Strict Covid-19 precautions will be in play.  
Cromwell Promotions Group Chair Carolyn Murray told Tim Dower it's a straightforward competition. 
“You are responsible for your own stone as a contestant, so you clean the stone of all the fruit pulp, and you’re given three shots, and we measure the longest shot.” 
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One of the Government's most popular private sector partners isn't shying away from the title.  
According to numbers compiled by Newstalk ZB, Robert Walters has made more than 40 million dollars from the Government through consulting and contracting.  
Chief Political Reporter Jason Walls has more. 
“In the last financial year, the public sector spent close to 1 billion dollars on contractors and consultants, with much of that going towards recruitment.” 
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Auckland's mayor thinks 501 deportees are clearly playing part of an increase in gun violence.  
In the past week, two people have died in separate firearms incidents in the city.  
Phil Goff is concerned, and has raised the issue with the Police Minister.  
He told Tim Dower he's not happy Australia's sending 501s here, especially those who haven't lived here most of their lives. 
“How can it be our problem when that was a kid that grew up in Australia, developed all his criminal tendencies over there?” 
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United Kingdom residents are wary of heading to the shops, with Omicron still spreading rapidly.  
Britain recorded 98,515 new Covid-19 cases today, and 143 deaths.  
The Government's ruled out any new Covid restrictions before the New Year.  
UK correspondent Rod Liddle told Tim Dower Boxing Day sales were quiet for retailers. 
“The suggestion therefore is that, you don’t really need these restrictions because people are self-restricting, they’re doing it themselves, and the pubs aren’t terribly full.” 
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A bitter sweet moment for the Wairoa District.  
The district originally entered the Covid traffic light system at 'red', but shifted to 'orange' on December 13. 
Regardless, the Rhythm and Vines New Year's festival in nearby Gisborne has been postponed until Easter next year.  
Wairoa District Mayor Craig Little told Tim Dower they're still expecting huge numbers of people to pass through to holiday at the Mahia peninsula. 
“Mahia is a great choice but, of course, you know, you can’t fit a lot of people out there, and so it’s going to be a little bit hard to handle so, yeah, we’ll just have to see how that one goes.” 
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The French may be waiting with bated breath ahead of potentially more Covid-19 restrictions.  
France recorded more than 104-thousand cases on Saturday, topping 100-thousand for the first time since the pandemic began. 
Its government is moving to make vaccine passes only valid with a booster jab, and President Emmanuel Macron is weighing up other measures.   
Correspondent Catherine Field told Tim Dower it's hard to know what other restrictions could be used. 
“We’re all wondering what on earth could actually come about, because they’ve already stopped any festivities over the New Year, a lot of restaurants are going to have to close.” 
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