June 8, 2025 • 21 mins
This week Geraldine and Jo will be talking food, food, food - so bring your appetite, and perhaps a snack to munch on as you listen!
Find out how Anzac biscuits got their name, how the lamington was invented, and how a product that was tipped down the drain became a salty, delicious (to some) treat we now know as Vegemite! You'll also hear some fun tunes, and a reading of a wonderful story by Mem Fox called Possum Magic.
If you'd like the recipe for the no-bake vanilla slice mentioned in the episode, please get in touch with us: radio@visionaustralia.org. Keep wearing those happy pants!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:21):
Good day. And welcome to Happy Pants, a show especially
for kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine
and my name is Joe. And together, we're your happy
pants team for today. Are you wearing your happy pants?
We are today. Mine are red. And this kind of
(00:41):
red reminds me of the taste of chili. Hot hot hot.
Mine are red, too. A warm, soft red. That makes
me think of the feel of water in my shower.
If I turn the hot tap on just a little
bit more, happy pants have lots of pockets. Let's see
what's hiding in them this morning. Well, so far I've
(01:04):
found Anzac biscuits or yummy. What a tray of lamingtons
and a packet of Tim Tams all melted. A chocolatey
mess in my pocket into the fridge with them, and
I'll need a handful of tissues to clean up this mess.
S3 (01:25):
That will be because of your red hot chili pepper pants. Geraldine.
Now I have. Oh! Oh. It's a bit of a squeeze. Ooh!
Three apples, a green one, a stripy pink one and
a dark red one. Now. Oh, there's a jar of Vegemite. Oh.
(01:47):
And two mini pavlovas, complete with cream and passion fruit.
What a feast.
S2 (01:53):
Well, they'll all be clues. We need to get our
brains into gear and work out how all those things
fit together. Hmm.
S3 (02:02):
Music required. My brain works better when my body is exercised.
S2 (02:06):
Music required. Something hot to match our red happy pants.
S3 (02:11):
I know the perfect piece just right for exercising the
whole body. Are you ready? Let's go. Hot hot hot.
S2 (03:43):
Now that we've gingered up our brains, let's look at
those pocket things and see if we can work out
what the clues mean.
S3 (03:50):
Hmm. Well, there were Anzac biscuits, lamingtons Tim Tams, three
different apples, a jar of Vegemite, and a couple of pavlovas. Well,
there are all things we can eat.
S2 (04:05):
Well, hang on, there's something hanging out of your back pocket.
Let's have a look. It's an electric drill. Joe.
S3 (04:14):
You have a $50 note hanging out of yours. Geraldine. Oh,
we can't eat those.
S2 (04:21):
Mhm.
S3 (04:22):
Mhm.
S2 (04:24):
I think I've got it.
S3 (04:25):
Oh by George I think she's got. Got what.
S2 (04:28):
Well they're all Australian inventions.
S3 (04:31):
What. All of them.
S2 (04:32):
Yeah. All of them. I think Happy pants slipped the
drill and the $50 note into our pockets, so we'd
stop thinking about just things to eat and start thinking
about foods. Aussies invented.
S3 (04:47):
Ah. Well, did an Australian really invent the tradies, friend?
What would we ever do without the electric drill? Now,
I did know that Australia invented polymer banknotes much better
than the old paper ones. If you accidentally leave one
in your pocket when it goes in the wash. The
note comes out unharmed and nice and clean. As good
(05:09):
as new. Paper money and hot soapy water. Well, you
can imagine.
S2 (05:15):
Australians have invented some really cool stuff, like the black
box flight recorder, which isn't black, by the way.
S3 (05:23):
It's orange and the rotary lawnmower. How else would Aussie
dads ever have time to watch the footy? If they
had to mow the lawn with an old fashioned push
me pull you mower?
S2 (05:34):
An Aussie invented the hills hoist clothesline.
S3 (05:37):
Aussies also invented the pacemaker for Dickie Hearts and the
cochlear implant for deaf persons.
S2 (05:43):
Well, we're a pretty inventive lot, but all those pocket
clues were about food.
S3 (05:50):
Like pavlovas. Oh, hang on, weren't pavlovas invented in New Zealand?
S2 (05:56):
Well, the first recipe printed came from the chef at
a hotel in Perth, but the name seems to have
come from New Zealand, so I guess we'll have to
share that one with our cousins over the ditch.
S3 (06:09):
How about those Anzac biscuits? They were invented during the
First World War, when soldiers from New Zealand and Australia
went off to fight in France and North Africa. They
were grouped together in the Australian New Zealand Army Corps
Anzac for short. The journey to the battlefront was halfway
across the world by boat, so it took a long time.
(06:33):
Anzac biscuits were invented because they didn't go mouldy on
the long voyage, and they were a sweet treat for
the soldiers whose main food was tinned meat.
S2 (06:44):
An Australian favourite that wasn't in our pockets is the
pumpkin scone.
S3 (06:51):
Oh, how could you leave out the pumpkin scones? They
were invented in Queensland, where the famous Queensland blue pumpkin
was grown. In England and Europe, pumpkin was regarded as cattle, food,
and in America as something that was carved into decoration
at Halloween. In Australia, pumpkin was a big item at
(07:14):
dinner on Sunday roasted, baked in sweet pumpkin pie or
yummy pumpkin soup.
S2 (07:22):
Pumpkin scones are light and fluffy and best served warm
with loads of butter. Oh yum! The first recipe for
pumpkin scones was published in 1913. That's a 2025 take away. 1913?
S3 (07:42):
That's more than 100 years.
S2 (07:45):
Yeah. More than 100 years. Yes, yes.
S3 (07:47):
You might like pumpkin scones, but give me a good
old Aussie vanilla slice anytime. They're so easy to make
and yummy to eat. There is a no bake recipe,
so they just go into the fridge to set.
S2 (08:03):
It all sounds delish. If you would like to try
making your own no bake vanilla slice, you can contact
Happy Pat's for the recipe at.
S3 (08:17):
Delicious treats. Oh how I like delicious treats!
S4 (09:29):
I love wearing my happy pants while I'm listening to
Happy Pants.
S2 (09:34):
Sweet treats are lovely, but they don't always have much
in the way of vitamins and minerals in them. However,
there are a couple of Australian food inventions which are
loaded with good stuff.
S3 (09:48):
Oh, I bet you're talking about Vegemite, Geraldine. A tiny
smear goes well on a pumpkin scone, by the way.
S2 (09:56):
Well, Vegemite is a great example of someone turning a
product that was usually tipped down the drain into a
valuable food item. When beer is made, the used up
yeast drifts down to the bottom of the vat. Clear
beer is drained off and the sludge of used up
yeast used to be chucked out for hundreds of years.
(10:20):
Used yeast was a useless waste product. A chemist named
Cyril Callister knew that yeast was a very rich source
of vitamin B, and that humans need vitamin B to
help keep them healthy. Vitamin B helps to convert our
food into energy. It helps create new blood cells, and
(10:43):
it helps to keep brain cells in good condition. So
our brain can do all the work it does all day,
every day. Vitamin B even helps to keep our skin
in good condition. Cyril Callister saw all this yeast from
the breweries going to waste. So he set about finding
(11:04):
a use for it. By 1923, he'd come up with
a spread which could be smeared on bread or used
to flavour soups and stews.
S3 (11:16):
It took a while to catch on, but Vegemite is
now recognised as the richest source of vitamin B, easily
available to everyone.
S2 (11:26):
Oh, I'd better go for Vegemite on my toast more
often then. Might keep my brain from fading.
S3 (11:34):
Well, I'm looking at these apples. I recognise the green one.
That's a Granny Smith. And the first Granny Smith tree
came up from seed in the backyard of Granny Smith
near Sydney. More than 150 years ago. It's a wonderful
cooking apple, and for 150 years it's been sent all
(11:55):
around the world.
S2 (11:57):
And I know what that pretty pink one is. It
was bred in the south west corner of Western Australia,
and for 50 years it's been prized as an eating
and cooking apple. It's called a pink lady. And that
dark red one is a bravo. They were only bred
seven years ago, and that was in the south west
(12:17):
of Western Australia, too. So they're pretty new.
S3 (12:20):
Oh, they're my favorite. Geraldine. Crisp. Juicy. Sweet. Oh, every
bit is yummy.
S2 (12:27):
The most nutritious part of an apple is the skin.
S3 (12:33):
Big word alert. Nutritious means nourishing a good food source.
Most of the vitamins and minerals in an apple are
around the skin layer. Peeling off the skin, leaves lots
of starch and sugar, but gets rid of all the
bits our bodies really need. Washing the apple, then eating
(12:54):
it skin and all is the best way to get
all that goodness.
S5 (12:59):
Fun fact apples float on water.
S2 (13:03):
Another treat is a Tim Tam biscuit. They're not very nutritious,
but they sure are yummy. They're an Australian invention and
they're exported to more than 60 countries worldwide. Everybody loves
Chocky bickies.
S3 (13:20):
Well, that just leaves one pocket clue. Lamingtons. What do
we know about Lamingtons? Geraldine?
S2 (13:29):
Well, lamingtons were an accident, and it happened in Toowoomba, Queensland.
An English lord, Lord Lamington, was living there and he'd
invited guests for afternoon tea. His cook had made a cake,
but the maidservant dropped the whole cake into a big
(13:49):
bowl of runny chocolate icing by accident. Well, it was
too late to make another cake. So the cook cut
the cake into chocolate covered squares, rolled them in dry
coconut so they weren't sticky and had the maid carry
them into the parlor. That new style of finger cake
wowed the guests, and they became known as Lamingtons after
(14:13):
the Lord and master. Of course, the maid who'd dropped
the cake in the chocolate, and the cook who'd thought
to cut it up and roll the bits in coconut
didn't get a mention.
S3 (14:26):
Our story today is about some Australian foods and possum
magic too.
S1 (14:32):
Yay!
S3 (14:33):
It's Storytime Possum Magic by Mem Fox. Once upon a time,
but not very long ago, deep in the Australian bush
lived two possums. Their names were Hush and Grandma Poss.
Grandma poss made bush magic. She made wombats blue and
(14:55):
kookaburras pink. She made dingoes smile and emus shrink. But
the best magic of all was the magic that made
hush invisible. What adventures hush had because she couldn't be seen.
She could be squashed by koalas because she couldn't be seen.
(15:17):
She could slide down kangaroos because she couldn't be seen.
She was safe from snakes, which was why Grandma Poss
made her invisible in the first place. But one day,
quite unexpectedly, hush! Said grandma, I want to know what
(15:38):
I look like. Please, could you make me visible again?
Of course I can, said Grandma Poss, and she began
to look through her magic books. She looked into this
book and looked into that. There was magic for thin,
and magic for fat, and magic for tall, and magic
for small. But the magic she was looking for, wasn't
(16:03):
there at all. Grandma looked miserable. And don't worry, grandma said. Hush,
I don't mind. But in her heart of hearts she did.
All night long grandma thought and thought. The next morning,
just before breakfast, she shouted. Oh! Oh! It's something to
(16:25):
do with food, people. Food. Not possum food. Oh, but
I can't remember what. We just have to find it.
So later that day, they left the bush where they
had always been to find what it was that would
make hush scene. They ate Anzac biscuits in Adelaide, Mornay
(16:46):
and Minties in Melbourne, steak and salad in Sydney, and
pumpkin scones in Brisbane. Hush remained invisible. Don't lose heart,
said Grandma Poss. Let's see what we can find in Darwin.
It was there, in the far north of Australia, they
found a Vegemite sandwich. Grandma crossed her paws and crossed
(17:12):
her feet. Hush breathed deeply and began to eat a tail.
A tail! Shouted both possums at once. For there it
was a brand new visible tail. Later, on a beach
in Perth, they ate a piece of pavlova. Hush's legs appeared,
(17:34):
and so did her body. Oh, you look wonderful, you
precious possum, said Grandma Poss. Next stop, Tasmania and over
the sea. They went in Hobart late one night in
the kitchens of the casino. They saw a lamington on
a plate. Hush closed her eyes and nibbled. Grandma poss
(17:57):
held her breath and waited. Oh! It's worked. It's worked.
She cried and she was right. Hush could be seen
from head to tail. Grandma poss hugged hush and they
both danced. Here we go. Round the lamington plate to
(18:17):
early in the morning. From that time on, hush was visible.
But once a year on her birthday. She and grandma
past ate a Vegemite sandwich, a piece of pavlova and
a lamington just to make sure that poss stayed visible forever.
And she did.
S2 (18:38):
That was a reading of Possum Magic by Mem Fox.
The reader was Joe.
S5 (18:45):
Fun fact tomatoes and avocados are actually fruits, not vegetables.
S3 (18:51):
So what have we done today?
S2 (18:54):
We found out a lot about foods that were invented
in Australia. There are lots more too, like Aussie meat pies.
They're different from other pies because they are completely covered
in pastry and they don't have runny insides. And that's
because they were designed to be eaten in the hand
at games like footy.
S3 (19:14):
Mm. Geraldine, what do you call a pie that can fly?
S2 (19:21):
I don't know. Joe, what do you call a pie
that can fly?
S3 (19:25):
A pilot? Oh.
S2 (19:29):
Oh, dear. Oh, um. I've got one, Joe. Mm. What
do you call a pie with eight legs?
S3 (19:38):
I give up.
S2 (19:41):
Ah. And then there was that big word nutrition. It
means food. That's good for you.
S3 (19:51):
And we had that Mem Fox story about hush the
Invisible Possum and Grandma Poss, who found the magic to
make hush visible again.
S2 (20:00):
If there was anything in today's program or you would
like the recipe for that no bake vanilla slice, you
can contact us on radio at Vision Australia's.
S3 (20:13):
Keep wearing those happy pants and we'll catch you next time.
S6 (20:29):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land across our working area. We pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(20:53):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:21):
Good day. And welcome to Happy Pants, a show especially
for kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine
and my name is Joe. And together, we're your happy
pants team for today. Are you wearing your happy pants?
We are today. Mine are red. And this kind of
(00:41):
red reminds me of the taste of chili. Hot hot hot.
Mine are red, too. A warm, soft red. That makes
me think of the feel of water in my shower.
If I turn the hot tap on just a little
bit more, happy pants have lots of pockets. Let's see
what's hiding in them this morning. Well, so far I've
(01:04):
found Anzac biscuits or yummy. What a tray of lamingtons
and a packet of Tim Tams all melted. A chocolatey
mess in my pocket into the fridge with them, and
I'll need a handful of tissues to clean up this mess.
S3 (01:25):
That will be because of your red hot chili pepper pants. Geraldine.
Now I have. Oh! Oh. It's a bit of a squeeze. Ooh!
Three apples, a green one, a stripy pink one and
a dark red one. Now. Oh, there's a jar of Vegemite. Oh.
(01:47):
And two mini pavlovas, complete with cream and passion fruit.
What a feast.
S2 (01:53):
Well, they'll all be clues. We need to get our
brains into gear and work out how all those things
fit together. Hmm.
S3 (02:02):
Music required. My brain works better when my body is exercised.
S2 (02:06):
Music required. Something hot to match our red happy pants.
S3 (02:11):
I know the perfect piece just right for exercising the
whole body. Are you ready? Let's go. Hot hot hot.
S2 (03:43):
Now that we've gingered up our brains, let's look at
those pocket things and see if we can work out
what the clues mean.
S3 (03:50):
Hmm. Well, there were Anzac biscuits, lamingtons Tim Tams, three
different apples, a jar of Vegemite, and a couple of pavlovas. Well,
there are all things we can eat.
S2 (04:05):
Well, hang on, there's something hanging out of your back pocket.
Let's have a look. It's an electric drill. Joe.
S3 (04:14):
You have a $50 note hanging out of yours. Geraldine. Oh,
we can't eat those.
S2 (04:21):
Mhm.
S3 (04:22):
Mhm.
S2 (04:24):
I think I've got it.
S3 (04:25):
Oh by George I think she's got. Got what.
S2 (04:28):
Well they're all Australian inventions.
S3 (04:31):
What. All of them.
S2 (04:32):
Yeah. All of them. I think Happy pants slipped the
drill and the $50 note into our pockets, so we'd
stop thinking about just things to eat and start thinking
about foods. Aussies invented.
S3 (04:47):
Ah. Well, did an Australian really invent the tradies, friend?
What would we ever do without the electric drill? Now,
I did know that Australia invented polymer banknotes much better
than the old paper ones. If you accidentally leave one
in your pocket when it goes in the wash. The
note comes out unharmed and nice and clean. As good
(05:09):
as new. Paper money and hot soapy water. Well, you
can imagine.
S2 (05:15):
Australians have invented some really cool stuff, like the black
box flight recorder, which isn't black, by the way.
S3 (05:23):
It's orange and the rotary lawnmower. How else would Aussie
dads ever have time to watch the footy? If they
had to mow the lawn with an old fashioned push
me pull you mower?
S2 (05:34):
An Aussie invented the hills hoist clothesline.
S3 (05:37):
Aussies also invented the pacemaker for Dickie Hearts and the
cochlear implant for deaf persons.
S2 (05:43):
Well, we're a pretty inventive lot, but all those pocket
clues were about food.
S3 (05:50):
Like pavlovas. Oh, hang on, weren't pavlovas invented in New Zealand?
S2 (05:56):
Well, the first recipe printed came from the chef at
a hotel in Perth, but the name seems to have
come from New Zealand, so I guess we'll have to
share that one with our cousins over the ditch.
S3 (06:09):
How about those Anzac biscuits? They were invented during the
First World War, when soldiers from New Zealand and Australia
went off to fight in France and North Africa. They
were grouped together in the Australian New Zealand Army Corps
Anzac for short. The journey to the battlefront was halfway
across the world by boat, so it took a long time.
(06:33):
Anzac biscuits were invented because they didn't go mouldy on
the long voyage, and they were a sweet treat for
the soldiers whose main food was tinned meat.
S2 (06:44):
An Australian favourite that wasn't in our pockets is the
pumpkin scone.
S3 (06:51):
Oh, how could you leave out the pumpkin scones? They
were invented in Queensland, where the famous Queensland blue pumpkin
was grown. In England and Europe, pumpkin was regarded as cattle, food,
and in America as something that was carved into decoration
at Halloween. In Australia, pumpkin was a big item at
(07:14):
dinner on Sunday roasted, baked in sweet pumpkin pie or
yummy pumpkin soup.
S2 (07:22):
Pumpkin scones are light and fluffy and best served warm
with loads of butter. Oh yum! The first recipe for
pumpkin scones was published in 1913. That's a 2025 take away. 1913?
S3 (07:42):
That's more than 100 years.
S2 (07:45):
Yeah. More than 100 years. Yes, yes.
S3 (07:47):
You might like pumpkin scones, but give me a good
old Aussie vanilla slice anytime. They're so easy to make
and yummy to eat. There is a no bake recipe,
so they just go into the fridge to set.
S2 (08:03):
It all sounds delish. If you would like to try
making your own no bake vanilla slice, you can contact
Happy Pat's for the recipe at.
S3 (08:17):
Delicious treats. Oh how I like delicious treats!
S4 (09:29):
I love wearing my happy pants while I'm listening to
Happy Pants.
S2 (09:34):
Sweet treats are lovely, but they don't always have much
in the way of vitamins and minerals in them. However,
there are a couple of Australian food inventions which are
loaded with good stuff.
S3 (09:48):
Oh, I bet you're talking about Vegemite, Geraldine. A tiny
smear goes well on a pumpkin scone, by the way.
S2 (09:56):
Well, Vegemite is a great example of someone turning a
product that was usually tipped down the drain into a
valuable food item. When beer is made, the used up
yeast drifts down to the bottom of the vat. Clear
beer is drained off and the sludge of used up
yeast used to be chucked out for hundreds of years.
(10:20):
Used yeast was a useless waste product. A chemist named
Cyril Callister knew that yeast was a very rich source
of vitamin B, and that humans need vitamin B to
help keep them healthy. Vitamin B helps to convert our
food into energy. It helps create new blood cells, and
(10:43):
it helps to keep brain cells in good condition. So
our brain can do all the work it does all day,
every day. Vitamin B even helps to keep our skin
in good condition. Cyril Callister saw all this yeast from
the breweries going to waste. So he set about finding
(11:04):
a use for it. By 1923, he'd come up with
a spread which could be smeared on bread or used
to flavour soups and stews.
S3 (11:16):
It took a while to catch on, but Vegemite is
now recognised as the richest source of vitamin B, easily
available to everyone.
S2 (11:26):
Oh, I'd better go for Vegemite on my toast more
often then. Might keep my brain from fading.
S3 (11:34):
Well, I'm looking at these apples. I recognise the green one.
That's a Granny Smith. And the first Granny Smith tree
came up from seed in the backyard of Granny Smith
near Sydney. More than 150 years ago. It's a wonderful
cooking apple, and for 150 years it's been sent all
(11:55):
around the world.
S2 (11:57):
And I know what that pretty pink one is. It
was bred in the south west corner of Western Australia,
and for 50 years it's been prized as an eating
and cooking apple. It's called a pink lady. And that
dark red one is a bravo. They were only bred
seven years ago, and that was in the south west
(12:17):
of Western Australia, too. So they're pretty new.
S3 (12:20):
Oh, they're my favorite. Geraldine. Crisp. Juicy. Sweet. Oh, every
bit is yummy.
S2 (12:27):
The most nutritious part of an apple is the skin.
S3 (12:33):
Big word alert. Nutritious means nourishing a good food source.
Most of the vitamins and minerals in an apple are
around the skin layer. Peeling off the skin, leaves lots
of starch and sugar, but gets rid of all the
bits our bodies really need. Washing the apple, then eating
(12:54):
it skin and all is the best way to get
all that goodness.
S5 (12:59):
Fun fact apples float on water.
S2 (13:03):
Another treat is a Tim Tam biscuit. They're not very nutritious,
but they sure are yummy. They're an Australian invention and
they're exported to more than 60 countries worldwide. Everybody loves
Chocky bickies.
S3 (13:20):
Well, that just leaves one pocket clue. Lamingtons. What do
we know about Lamingtons? Geraldine?
S2 (13:29):
Well, lamingtons were an accident, and it happened in Toowoomba, Queensland.
An English lord, Lord Lamington, was living there and he'd
invited guests for afternoon tea. His cook had made a cake,
but the maidservant dropped the whole cake into a big
(13:49):
bowl of runny chocolate icing by accident. Well, it was
too late to make another cake. So the cook cut
the cake into chocolate covered squares, rolled them in dry
coconut so they weren't sticky and had the maid carry
them into the parlor. That new style of finger cake
wowed the guests, and they became known as Lamingtons after
(14:13):
the Lord and master. Of course, the maid who'd dropped
the cake in the chocolate, and the cook who'd thought
to cut it up and roll the bits in coconut
didn't get a mention.
S3 (14:26):
Our story today is about some Australian foods and possum
magic too.
S1 (14:32):
Yay!
S3 (14:33):
It's Storytime Possum Magic by Mem Fox. Once upon a time,
but not very long ago, deep in the Australian bush
lived two possums. Their names were Hush and Grandma Poss.
Grandma poss made bush magic. She made wombats blue and
(14:55):
kookaburras pink. She made dingoes smile and emus shrink. But
the best magic of all was the magic that made
hush invisible. What adventures hush had because she couldn't be seen.
She could be squashed by koalas because she couldn't be seen.
(15:17):
She could slide down kangaroos because she couldn't be seen.
She was safe from snakes, which was why Grandma Poss
made her invisible in the first place. But one day,
quite unexpectedly, hush! Said grandma, I want to know what
(15:38):
I look like. Please, could you make me visible again?
Of course I can, said Grandma Poss, and she began
to look through her magic books. She looked into this
book and looked into that. There was magic for thin,
and magic for fat, and magic for tall, and magic
for small. But the magic she was looking for, wasn't
(16:03):
there at all. Grandma looked miserable. And don't worry, grandma said. Hush,
I don't mind. But in her heart of hearts she did.
All night long grandma thought and thought. The next morning,
just before breakfast, she shouted. Oh! Oh! It's something to
(16:25):
do with food, people. Food. Not possum food. Oh, but
I can't remember what. We just have to find it.
So later that day, they left the bush where they
had always been to find what it was that would
make hush scene. They ate Anzac biscuits in Adelaide, Mornay
(16:46):
and Minties in Melbourne, steak and salad in Sydney, and
pumpkin scones in Brisbane. Hush remained invisible. Don't lose heart,
said Grandma Poss. Let's see what we can find in Darwin.
It was there, in the far north of Australia, they
found a Vegemite sandwich. Grandma crossed her paws and crossed
(17:12):
her feet. Hush breathed deeply and began to eat a tail.
A tail! Shouted both possums at once. For there it
was a brand new visible tail. Later, on a beach
in Perth, they ate a piece of pavlova. Hush's legs appeared,
(17:34):
and so did her body. Oh, you look wonderful, you
precious possum, said Grandma Poss. Next stop, Tasmania and over
the sea. They went in Hobart late one night in
the kitchens of the casino. They saw a lamington on
a plate. Hush closed her eyes and nibbled. Grandma poss
(17:57):
held her breath and waited. Oh! It's worked. It's worked.
She cried and she was right. Hush could be seen
from head to tail. Grandma poss hugged hush and they
both danced. Here we go. Round the lamington plate to
(18:17):
early in the morning. From that time on, hush was visible.
But once a year on her birthday. She and grandma
past ate a Vegemite sandwich, a piece of pavlova and
a lamington just to make sure that poss stayed visible forever.
And she did.
S2 (18:38):
That was a reading of Possum Magic by Mem Fox.
The reader was Joe.
S5 (18:45):
Fun fact tomatoes and avocados are actually fruits, not vegetables.
S3 (18:51):
So what have we done today?
S2 (18:54):
We found out a lot about foods that were invented
in Australia. There are lots more too, like Aussie meat pies.
They're different from other pies because they are completely covered
in pastry and they don't have runny insides. And that's
because they were designed to be eaten in the hand
at games like footy.
S3 (19:14):
Mm. Geraldine, what do you call a pie that can fly?
S2 (19:21):
I don't know. Joe, what do you call a pie
that can fly?
S3 (19:25):
A pilot? Oh.
S2 (19:29):
Oh, dear. Oh, um. I've got one, Joe. Mm. What
do you call a pie with eight legs?
S3 (19:38):
I give up.
S2 (19:41):
Ah. And then there was that big word nutrition. It
means food. That's good for you.
S3 (19:51):
And we had that Mem Fox story about hush the
Invisible Possum and Grandma Poss, who found the magic to
make hush visible again.
S2 (20:00):
If there was anything in today's program or you would
like the recipe for that no bake vanilla slice, you
can contact us on radio at Vision Australia's.
S3 (20:13):
Keep wearing those happy pants and we'll catch you next time.
S6 (20:29):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land across our working area. We pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(20:53):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
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