A cave rave goes viral on YouTube, toasties that taste like success, camera-carrying sea lions, and women’s football scores big time.
Waitomo Caves in the spotlight
The world’s biggest YouTuber Mr Beast has just spent seven days underground in Waikato’s Waitomo Caves.
Mr Beast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has 311 million subscribers on the video platform.
7 Days Stranded In A Cave has earned more than 70 million views in less than a week.
It’s a huge global boost for the tourist attraction.
Picton toasties go viral
Down south, a small but mighty business has been toasting success.
Founded just three years ago, Picton’s Toastie Lords had cooked up a runaway hit. They have turned the humble Kiwi toastie into a thriving business.
Toastie Lords sold 75,000 toasties in 2023.
Taylor Hamilton from Toastie Lords told 1News they’re looking to take their cheesy creations nationwide.
“Since the demand has kind of grown and grown, we’re now at the point where we’re looking at expansion opportunities. Whether that be physical locations, or pop-ups which we’ve been testing around the country.”
Camera-carrying sea lions
Australian researchers are putting small cameras on sea lions to learn more about how these creatures live in the wild.
Overall, the sea lion population has dropped 60% in the past 40 years.
Now, with the help of the cameras, scientists have mapped 5000 square km of the mammal’s habitat in Northern Australia.
Hopefully, these pictures will help save the species from extinction.
Women’s football scores big time
It’s been one year since the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
The tournament, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, continues to leave a lasting legacy.
Annalie Longo, NZ Football’s Women’s Development Manager, said there was a 13% increase in women taking up the sport at the end of 2023.
“We anticipate that to grow again.”
“A year ago around over 700,000 people filled the stadiums. The buzz around women’s sport is certainly rising.”
