Geo answer
Today’s Geo Quiz takes us to a state in southern Australia. The state is the center of Australian industry and culture. It’s also the home of what used to be a thriving wool industry.
sheep shearingsheep shearingSeveral Australian folk songs glorify the hard work of sheering the sheep. That actually makes sheep shearing sound like more fun than it is.
?You have to drag each animal from the pen…wrestle it to the floor…and go through that tangled wool with electric clippers.?
No wonder sheep shearers are leaving the industry in droves. The words of another old song include the name of the Australian state we’re looking for. The lyrics go
“Here we are in blankety-blank
Shearing sheep as big as whales,
With leather necks and daggy tails.”
sheepsheep
We’ll fill in the blankety-blank…when we answer today’s Geo Quiz here…
We head to Australia for the answer to today’s Geo Quiz.
We were looking for a southeastern state that borders the Pacific Ocean.
According to an Australian folk song, they shear “sheep as big as whales” there.
The answer is New South Wales.
Sheep farm in New South Wales, AustraliaSheep farm in New South Wales, Australia
But fewer and fewer people are willing to shear the sheep in the state or the country, for that matter.
It’s grueling work…and there are better jobs with better pay.
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?