The Australian Bite

Support for International Students & trekking solo to the Pole

11 February 2010

Listen and download: MP3

This week on the Australian Bite we drop in at the opening of the new International Student Care Centre in Melbourne – the first of its kind in Australia.  We visit a test farm in Tasmania that’s growing a whole range of grains not normally found in Australia, including Ethiopia’s staple grain teff.  And destination North Pole -   Western Australian adventurer Tom Smitheringale tell us why he’s setting off  to pull a 160 kilogram sled for 70 days across the Arctic ice - all on his own.

International Student Care Centre opens in Melbourne

The Victorian State government recently opened the new International Student Care Centre in Melbourne. It’s kind of a one stop shop for international students in need, whether they’re a victim of a crime, suffering health issues, or having problems with their accommodation or college. Triple J Hack  reporter Irene Scott went along to the official opening, and spoke with Victorian Premier John Brumby, Chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission George Lekakis, Honorary President of Australian Federation of International Students Wesa Chau, and Gautam Gupta from the Federation of Indian Students of Australia.

Arctic explorer goes it alone

Could you imagine yourself setting out on a 800 kilometre trek, all on your lonesome, to the North Pole? Well that’s what West Australian adventurer Tom Smitheringale will soon be doing.  Tom will drag a 160 kilogram sled for 70 days across the Arctic, enduring temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees. He’s aiming to become the third person in history of polar exploration, and the first ever Australian, to achieve the feat. He spoke to James Carleton.

You can follow Tom’s adventures at his website: http://www.onemanepic.com/

Growing teff (and more) in Tassie

A Tasmanian seed company is carving out a niche as a producer of plants that few others in the southern hemisphere grow. Tas Global Seeds is currently trialling a range of different sub-tropical grain and forage crops including teff, the Ethiopian staple grain that is used to make delicious injera flat bread. Reporter Rosemary Grant went out to the company’s home base near Launceston in Northern Tasmania, and spoke with Tas Global’s Robert Dent and Bob Reid.

You can revisit this story and see Rosemary Grant’s pictures of Robert and Bob with their test plots of various grains at the ABC Rural website

Find out more about teff and how delicious injera flat bread is made here

Music (not in podcast)

Sydney brother and sister duo Angus & Julia Stone recently released their first single since their debut album, 2007′s A Book Like This. Their new album Down the Way is due for release in March

Artist: Angus & Julia Stone

Track: And the Boys

Album: Down the Way (release date March 2010)

Watch it here on YouTube

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