Tuesday, 23 March, 2021
Spiders, snakes and surfing cows in NSW floods; a goalie scores the match winner in Spain; and panda love in Paris.
LINKS
Cow rescues: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-56480142
Spiders escape to higher ground: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2021/mar/22/look-at-them-all-spiders-escape-to-higher-ground-during-nsw-floods-video
NSW Schools Safety Alert website: https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/school-safety
NSW Schools Update App: https://education.nsw.gov.au/parents-and-carers/nsw-school-updates-app
Giant pandas: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giant-panda#:~:text=Although%20females%20may%20give%20birth,young%20only%20every%20other%20year.
Mr Heilbronn’s classic catch: https://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/is-that-you-warnie-and-tubby-cricket-catch-in-queensland-goes-viral/news-story/555e40b3c1fd5d7a83bff9249fae0387
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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Just when you thought things couldn’t get wetter in NSW and Queensland – three weather systems are crashing into each other bringing more rain, wind and rising floodwaters in an emergency that’s been described by some experts as the worst they have ever seen.
A low pressure system off the east coast of Australia was last night expected to bump into a band of clouds steaming down from the north-west of the country, dumping more water into already swollen river systems.
Yesterday, an estimated 18,000 people up and down the east coast of NSW were evacuated, as rivers from Coffs Harbour down to Sydney struggled to contain the water pouring into them.
Some parts of the state have received a month’s worth of rain in a matter of days.
More than 300 schools across NSW will be closed again today – mostly in the mid-north coast region of the state.
And while rescuers were kept busy yesterday and overnight making sure humans were all safe and accounted for, there have been stories of animals getting caught up in the flooding.
One cow was rescued from the surf at Old Bar beach near Taree at the weekend – having been swept down river and out to sea. And there were rescues being mounted in paddocks across the state for cows trapped in rising waters.
Also escaping the floods were spiders and snakes – with reports our eight-legged friends were appearing in swarms in some towns in NSW – climbing up fences and walls – and in some cases even people’s legs.
Eugh.
The weather bureau predicts the rains will ease tomorrow as the moisture moves south – moving to the South Coast of NSW, and into Victoria and Tassie. There are links in today’s episode notes to the NSW Schools app, with updated info on which schools are closed, as well as links to videos of cow rescues and spider swarms.
Stay safe out there people. Especially with the whole spider thing ..
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops – and today we’ve landed across the ditch in New Zealand … where plans are underway to open up borders for Aussies to visit our Kiwi cousins.
The New Zealand PM, Jacinda Ardern said she hoped to be able announce in a couple of weeks exactly when Aussies can travel to NZ without having to spend two weeks in quarantine.
The announcement is expected to see a flurry of travel bookings, as Aussies rush to jump on a plane. Watch for the stampede at the airport …
Once established, the so-called ‘travel bubble’ will be reciprocal between our two countries. Which is a fancy way of saying we can go there and they can come here under the same conditions. Start practicing your cuzzy bru accents.
SPORTS TIME
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The goalie in soccer has one of the hardest jobs on the field. So it’s good to see a goalie in the Spanish soccer league score a match-saving goal at the weekend, running out of his box, sprinting the length of the field and slotting the ball into the back of the net.
With his team down 1-0 and with only seconds to go until full-time, Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou left his goal and ran up the field to join his team-mates in attack – arriving just in time to receive the ball from a corner kick and calmly punt it past the goalie from the other team.
The game ended with a 1-1 draw – and a very confused Yassine in too much shock to even know how to properly celebrate.
After the match he told reporters that he doesn’t get to score too many goals, but would work on his post-goal celebrations in case there’s a next time.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Pandas … they’re just about the cutest animals on the planet. And with a bit of luck – thanks to a panda love match that stretches all the way from China to France – there might be one or two new ones on the way.
A female panda called Huan Huan was flown from her home in China to a zoo in Paris earlier this month to meet up with Yuan Zi – a male panda, in the hope they might get along well and decide to become mum and dad to some baby pandas.
And by all accounts, they got on super well – with zookeepers hopeful some baby pandas might be on the way. Well, they don’t call Paris the city of love for nothing …
Pandas are one of the most endangered species in the world – with only about 1700 living in the wild, and about 600 in zoos around the world. Which is why efforts like this one, to fly pandas across the globe to meet up, are really important conservation work – aimed at ensuring panda bears are still around when you lot grow up.
There’s a link in today’s episode notes to the Smithsonian Zoo website panda info page – with some really cute video of pandas. But be warned … you will melt.
JOKE Q+A CALL OUT
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Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it didn’t want to miss out on sending its favourite joke in to Treehouse author extraordinaire, Andy Griffiths to judge the best joke in Australia.
Andy’s got a new book coming out, the Treehouse Joke Book – and he’s going to field your funniest jokes and give away a prize to the best one, in an upcoming special Squiz Kids Q+A.
You’ve only got until the end of this week to get your best jokes in. Send them quicksticks to [email protected].
THE S’QUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What eight-legged animals are swarming houses and fence posts in NSW, trying to escape rising floodwaters?
- Which country looks set to establish a travel bubble with Australia?
- What sort of animal is Huan Huan – who travelled from China to France to meet her new boyfriend?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 23 … World Meteorological Day .. where we’re encouraged to stop and think about how important weather forecasts are to our lives. And let’s face it, given what’s going on in NSW today, it couldn’t have fallen on a better day.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today… Bryson from Broken Hill, Joshua from Neutral Bay, Annabel from Morundah, Dheeksha and William Sydney, Beatrice from Harden, Flynn from Granville, Amelia from Belrose, Lachlan from Ashtonfield, Louis from Lilyfield, Will from Forest Lake and Franca – who’s listening all the way over there in Singapore.
And a belated birthday shoutout to … Amelie from Coburg, Bronte from Five Dock and Marisol and Malacky from Mornington.
Happy birthday one and all.
Today’s classroom shoutouts… class 5/6JE from Wauchope Public School – hope you’re staying dry! — classes 4/5T and 6G from Glen Innes Public School, Miss Catto’s year 5 class at Werrington County Public School, and Mr Alston’s 6A class at Lysterfield Primary School.
And finally – a special shoutout to Mr Heilbronn, a Year 5/6 teacher at Cannon Hill State School in Brisbane, whose amazing catch at cricket last weekend went viral … and yes, of course, there’s a link to video of the catch in today’s episode notes .. Howzat!
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Spiders
- New Zealand
- Panda