A Temuka man has managed to kick his 40-year tobacco addiction by replacing it with a new obsession.
Milton Jones has spent 188 hours tattooing his body, funded by the money he's saved by quitting smoking.
"I got [a tattoo] as a reward in the beginning and I thought, well hey, that's better than smoking. And if I smoke I couldn't afford the tattoos and I prefer the tattoos," he told Three's The Project.
His objective is to cover 90 percent of his body and he's getting close - he's been nicotine free for nearly three years.
His ink celebrates both Kiwi culture and his family.
The "bony parts" hurt the most to get inked up, he says - "the elbows, sternum… under the arms isn't too flash either."
Mr Jones says he has no tattoo that he regrets.
"I love every single inch, centimetre."
Mr Jones says when he runs out of space to tattoo he won't go back to smoking, but instead "will sit back and enjoy" his work of art.
Newshub.
