ABC Listen. Hello there my friends.
It's Ruby here and you're listening to Newstime.
Hello Ruby. Hi Ruby.
Answer me this, what do you get if you cross a sheepdog and a stolen church bell?
Today's episode of Newstime of course, you're going to hear all about delightful dogs, nature's nurturers and a mysterious missing bell.
What do you think? Should we get started?
I'm ready. Story number five.
At lots of farms across Australia, there's a familiar furry sight, hardworking sheepdogs.
I know a lot about sheepdogs.
A dog that herds sheep into barns where they escape.
That's why they're called sheepdogs, because they herd sheep and their dog, so sheep -dog mixed together.
And there's even a story about it which I like.
Yep. A sheep -dog is a working dog that helps round up livestock on a farm.
Sheep -dog trialling is when sheep -dogs and their owners leave the farm and head to a competition.
When they're there, they compete against other sheep -dogs from all over to see who's the quickest, the most agile and the cleverest. They can be quite interesting when they go through the hurdles.
Annie and her five -year -old border collie Minnie recently travelled to the Barmara Sheepdog Trials in South Australia.
Annie was one of 12 women entrants.
That's five more women in the comp this year than there were last year.
It seems that sheepdog trialling is getting more popular with women and with younger people too.
To be better at farming.
Training a sheepdog for a competition is a bit different to training them to help out on a farm.
Trainers like Annie need to develop really close relationships with their dogs so that they can help them through all of the challenges.
Taking care of the dog in the right way.
Challenge it so it can get smarter and then it will love you for your whole life.
I guess dogs really can be a person's best friend.
Story number four. There are lots of different kinds of races out there, but few are more challenging than an Ironman.
An Ironman race is when people wear iron and then they run in a race and then if you bump heads, they knock themselves out.
Last one standing wins.
I like the way you think, but that's not quite it.
In an Ironman race, the competitors swim 3 .9 kilometres, then they ride a bike for 180 kilometres and then they run 42 kilometres to the finish line, all in one go.
It's not just physically challenging, it's a mental challenge too.
People might feel tired or a bit sore, but they challenge themselves to push through and finish the race.
that's like a real marathon!
That's a triathlon!
You're right it is a triathlon a mega triathlon Trimob is a triathlon club for First Nations athletes and it encourages First Nations people to improve their health and well -being by giving sports like running or riding a bike or swimming a go.
And if people are up for the challenge it helps them get ready to attempt a big triathlon like an Ironman.
This year, seven athletes from TriMob's program finished a triathlon in Cairns in far north Queensland.
One of the athletes, Thomas, said he almost started crying near the finish line.
He was so proud of himself.
Because they're going to have to use a lot and a lot and a lot of energy to go that far.
After that triathlon in Cairns, 29 First Nations people have finished an Ironman race.
Noongar and Mata Jara man Nat Heath, the founder of Trimob, hopes that in another couple of years, with enough training and some encouragement, that number could double.
If they see it's really good for your muscle and body, they will do it again and again and again.
Nat's hoping that First Nations people are inspired by the results of athletes like Thomas and that more people start to see triathlons as a sport where they belong.
At an old church in a place called Paterson near Newcastle in New South Wales, a big mighty bell has sat atop the building for nearly 200 years.
Recently, however, this bell was cut down and stolen and people have no idea what happened to it.
That must have been scary that a bell got stolen.
These locals love their old bell.
It's part of their history, so people began searching high and low for this rusty relic.
Where did they find the bell?
Well, an antique collector named Chris was poking around in a scrapyard when he spotted something big and rusty.
You might have guessed what it was.
It was the missing bell.
If Chris hadn't spotted it, it would have been melted down and turned into something new.
There's a squishy there that squishes things that don't work made out of metal. Mm -hm, it's a good thing Chris saw it when he did and it's lucky he knew what he was looking at.
You see, this bell from the old church in Paterson has a big crack in the side and that's been there for a long time, long before it was cut down and carted away.
The ding keeps dinging it and that could make the things that stick together snap apart.
That's about right, actually.
You see, this bell's been in the town for so long that more than 100 years ago, when the First World War ended, the bell was rung in celebration.
People were so happy about the end of the war that they swung the bell a little bit too hard and it cracked.
That little piece of damage, it's a nice part of the town's history.
It's a reminder about all the things the community has experienced together.
Happy and peaceful!
The old church isn't used as a church any more.
It might soon be turned into a place for visitors to stay.
Whatever happens to the building, the people of Paterson are very pleased their bell is back in business.
Story number two, that's number two!
Alright, here's your warning.
We've got a long word coming up now.
Per - and polyfluoroacal substances, known as PFAS, are a group of about 4 ,000 chemicals that are used in a whole range of everyday items. Things like milk bottles and frying pans.
They're sometimes called forever chemicals because they stay in place for a really long time.
Basically, for what feels like forever.
A group of high school students in Boweral in New South Wales learned that there were high levels of PFAS detected in their local river.
Many scientists reckon that high levels of PFAS can be bad for our health, so these students were a little bit worried.
And it's bad for the environment and then nature would get killed.
These motivated teenagers decided to take matters into their own hands.
They developed an app that scans products at the supermarket and tells you whether there are PFAS in that product.
The students are hoping that people will be able to use the app to help them decide whether to buy something or not and to help them buy things that don't have PFAS in them.
Year 11 student Chloe says that if people stop buying products with PFAS, maybe companies will stop making them.
Why would someone make an app?
I think I know why because then it would help nature I think they made an app then people can actually stop hurting nature.
This app is still in its early stages and it doesn't have information on many products yet, that's partly because lots of companies don't like to admit whether their products have PFAS in them at all.
The students at Boweral are asking the government to change the rules so that if a product has PFAS in it, companies have to put it on the label.
It's a big job they've taken on, but the passionate pupils are determined to succeed.
Keep doing it and great job.
And now, my friends, it's time for...
Wow of the Week. This story made me go round because it's that old.
The Galapagos tortoise is a very large species of tortoise and it can live for a very long time.
11. Longer. 6 ,000. OK, maybe not that long.
150? That's more like it.
At a zoo in Florida in the United States of America, a 234 -kilogram Galapagos tortoise named Goliath has just celebrated a big birthday.
How old is he? Goliath is officially 135 years old.
That makes him older than any human alive anywhere in the world.
Whoa! It looks like an old grandpa.
Goliath hatched on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos around the year 1885.
When he was about 40 years old, he was taken to live in a zoo and he's been prowling around zoos ever since.
Cool! But a birthday isn't the only occasion Goliath celebrated recently.
It was also his first -ever Father's Day.
Back in January, eight eggs were laid, but only one little turtle hatched.
This hatchling is Goliath's first -ever baby turtle, which means Goliath might be the oldest ever first -time dad.
Galapagos tortoises are an endangered species, so every new baby turtle is something to celebrate.
But I'm not even sure that that is even possible because he's that old.
His eye is about the size of his kid.
The little hatchling's mum is a tortoise named Sweet Pea who's about 90 years old.
Goliath and Sweet Pea are living happily in their enclosures at the zoo and the hatchling is healthy and growing in a separate enclosure.
See, in the wild, hatchlings are alone from the moment they emerge.
They've got no further connection with their parents.
Zookeepers hope it won't be too long until the tiny turtle grows big and strong.
And there you have it.
Five wonderful stories counted down and accounted for.
Thank you. Thanks, Wilbeth.
You're so welcome. Bye.
Bye, Ruby. See you later.
Or as they say in Malay, selamat tinggal.
