Newshub's political reporters have shared some of the funniest, awkwardest, most bizarre moments on the campaign trail so far in this week's episode of new Newshub podcast Kitchen Cabinet.
Tova O'Brien, Jenna Lynch and Anna Bracewell-Worrall are calling in from all corners of the country each Friday morning to keep you up to date with everything you need to know in the lead-up to election day.
In this week's episode, the trio and guest host Patrick Gower discuss their favourite moments while covering the campaign - including David Seymour jumping out of a plane, a cow with a liking for Damien O'Connor, and a few curious comments from Winston Peters.
Grant Robertson shoots down heckler
While Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern were sparring for TVNZ's leaders' debate on Monday night, the finance spokespeople from each major party were having a debate of their own in Queenstown.
It was this event that delivered "the moment of the night", O'Brien says.
"[It was] an epic retort from Grant Robertson… when a guy in a MAGA cap - not a 'Make America Great Again' but a 'Make Ardern Go Away' cap, who said he wore it to trigger people - stood up and started asking a bit of a daft question."
The man suggested the lockdown may lead to more lives being lost to suicide than being saved from COVID-19 - a remark that drew silence, and then a sharp riposte from Robertson about the hat.
"She has more courage and intellect than you will ever have, sir," he said of leader Jacinda Ardern, earning him rapturous applause from the audience.
"The guys played to the room," O'Brien said. "All five of the finance spokespeople played to the room because they had one for the first time.
"It was just glorious - we've missed it with the social distancing and no big town hall events."
Prime Minister's collection of weird gifts
It's no secret Jacinda Ardern is incredibly popular. Even after a dip in the polls, she's most Kiwis' preferred Prime Minister and is on track to win the election easily.
And her popularity has brought out the generous side of a lot of New Zealanders, with many handing her gifts when she's out campaigning.
But it seems many Kiwis have a strange idea of what makes a good present.
"She turned up to the airport in Timaru and she had these sort of matchbox containers, but a little bit bigger," Lynch said.
"I said 'what's in those?' and she's just like, 'rocks'. I was like 'oh cool'. A little kid had given them to her. One of them was full of these pretty polished rocks, which a lot of effort had gone into. The other one was just full of rocks."
O'Brien confirmed that this was a strangley regular occurrence.
"I saw her this morning and you'll be pleased to know she got a few presents - a couple of books, some earrings, a few hand-written letters and, lo and behold, a rock. She got another rock."
'Who has seen Winnie?' Peters' bizarre interactions
Lynch says the New Zealand First leader has been running a chaotic campaign with "no structure", telling a story of how she was told to head to three different locations in the Far North before being able to track him down.
She says from speaking to journalists who have been following him consistently, it's clear this is a common occurrence.
"This is happening every single day," she said. "There's no structure, and it's hard to get coverage if no one knows where you're going."
Bracewell-Worrall says Peters has a magnetism and strong entertainment value when interacting with members of the public - but he's prone to making some strange calls from time to time.
"He went to visit this group of white-water rafting students, and he goes to them, 'Have you seen the movie Deliverance?' None of them had seen it, and I hadn't seen it either but I gather it's a movie that doesn't end well if you're on the water in a craft."
If you're not familiar either, Deliverance is a disturbing 1972 film about people who go rafting down a river and get attacked by in-bred rednecks. Gower says it's "probably the most unusual link to white-water rafting there is".
It wasn't the only awkward moment Peters has been part of in recent times, either.
"He had this other amazing moment with this guy who said to Winston that he wants a Gold Card, and had a bit of an accent. Winston's like, 'How long have you been in the country?' and he says '30 years'," Bracewell-Worrall said.
"And Winston's like, 'Well why don't you have a Gold Card?' This guy didn't answer so Winston kept asking why he didn't have a Gold Card, and then this guy's like 'I'm not 65'.
'Proper' Ardern exposes absence of 'dorky' Key
O'Brien says she loves awkwardness on the campaign trail - but there's been less of it since Sir John Key stepped down as Prime Minister in 2016.
"I kind of miss John Key on the campaign trail, because there was a slightly dorky thing going on, whereas Ardern is very proper - she doesn't want to misstep," she said.
The contrast was notable during a meeting with Taupo locals a couple of weeks ago.
"There was a street artist who had spray-painted big angel wings up on an alleyway. They were trying to convince her to stand in front of it for a photo, and she wouldn't do it at all - she sent Tamati Coffey in instead.
"I said to her on the way out, 'John Key would have done it, Prime Minister', and she just responded 'Exactly'."
'Enthralling', 'captivating' Seymour jumps out of a plane
O'Brien contrasts the "appalling" approach of Green co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson - who have been refusing interviews - to ACT leader David Seymour, who she says is going to great lengths to get media coverage.
His latest stunt saw him jumping out of an aeroplane on Friday. It's the latest in a string of adrenaline-fuelled activities that saw him race a car he built through Newmarket and take the ACT Party bus for a spin on a race track down south.
His strategy appears to be working well, with ACT sitting on a rosy 7 percent in the latest TVNZ-Colmar Brunton poll.
Gower says it shows he's "capable of anything".
"I can't stop watching Seymour," he gushed.
"He is just incredible, and I actually have to stop myself asking more questions about Seymour because I think I'm enthralled by this potential political phenomenon," he sa
Ardern exposes 'townie' reporter
Bracewell-Worrall says she was exposed as a townie by Labour leader Jacinda Ardern while on a visit to a calving shed at a dairy farm earlier this week.
The moment came after "Damien O'Connor really got in there deep with a calf's mouth," she recounted.
"He just had this calf really sucking on his fingers. He takes his fingers out of this cute little brand-new calf's mouth, and there's this string of slobber between his fingers and the calf's mouth.
Having witnessed the "visceral" scene, Bracewell-Worrall couldn't help but make a disgusted face off-camera - an expression that was picked up by the Prime Minister.
"Jacinda Ardern turned to me and was like 'Haven't you been in a calving shed before?'"
You can listen to the first episode of Newshub's Kitchen Cabinet podcast now by clicking here.
As well as the most bizarre moments from the campaign trail, Newshub's political reporters also cover how each party is performing, what can be drawn from this week's debates and where the battleground electorates are ahead of the election.
