May 24, 2026

Catman walks across Australia

Show Notes
Transcript

Host Johnny Mac shares “five good news stories” (ultimately “four”): a Japanese man nicknamed Catman completes a 4,000-mile, two-year walk across Australia from Carnarvon to the Sydney Opera House in a full-body cat costume, pushing a wheelbarrow, raising about $50,000 for children’s cancer research, and gaining 850,000 Instagram followers; inspired after a breakup, he describes harsh, smelly conditions and plans to walk around the world. A 31-year-old woman camps three weeks at Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park and finds a 2.3-carat diamond, the park’s third largest that year. A message in a bottle dropped in August 2024 off a Canada ferry travels 2,700 miles to Scotland, found by Maggie the dog, and the finder seeks the sender “Annie.” Maplewood Court senior residents enjoy an over-the-top glam photo shoot. A South Korean man faces up to five years for posting an AI wolf image that delayed capture of a real loose wolf by up to nine days.

5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network

John also hosts Daily Comedy News

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Kalaroga Shark Media, Oh Boy with his first went high.

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I'm Jennie mag with five good news stories. Congratulations to

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a Japanese man known as Catman. Catman has finished walking

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four thousand miles across Australia. He walked the entire distance

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over two years. Wait for it while dressed in a

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full body cat costume. That's right. Catman started in Carnivron,

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Western Australia and finished at the Sydney Opera House. He

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also pushed a wheelbarrow along the way and raised about

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fifty thousand dollars for children's cancer research. Along the way,

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he built a massive following, got eight hundred and fifty

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thousand Instagram followers. Locals helped him out with food, water

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and support. At the finish line, he was greeted by thousands,

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some also dressed in cat costumes and holding signs reading Catman.

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Catman said, I don't want to be a hero trapped

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in a screen. I want to be a real presence

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that brings hope into the real world. His journey was

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inspired after a breakup. He said, one day she told

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me she wanted to break up, and my reason for

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living crumbled in an instant, leaving me in deep sorrow.

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But when everything was gone and nothing seemed to matter anymore,

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my boundy felt incredibly light, and I felt like I

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could do anything. Life on the road wasn't easy. He

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actually rotated between two cat suits because I sweated profusely

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every day and couldn't wash my clothes, and I was

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tormented by my own stench in the tent. At night,

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when the smell was too strong to sleep, I wrapped

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a bar of soap and a towel and tied it

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around my face like a mask to escape the odor

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and get some sleep. He says he's not done. Cat

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Man will keep going. I'll walk around the world, ladies

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and gentlemen. Cat Man, a thirty one year old woman

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wanted to find the perfect engagement rings. What did she do?

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She camped out for three weeks at Crater of Diamond

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State Park in Arkansas with a shovel and a mission

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to dig up her own diamond. She told her boyfriend,

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We're not getting engaged until I do that. They come

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from the ground. What's stopping us from getting one ourselves.

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Three weeks of digging, she headed south and stayed in

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the tent and dug every day from eight to four.

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She only took one day off. The summer heat was

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pretty hot out there. She said. There were days where

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I wouldn't shower for several days. By the time I

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got out, I was so tired and hurt. I couldn't

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muster the energy to spend ten minutes undressing and taking

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a shower. One day, she went out in the field

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saw a glimmer by her foot. She said, I thought

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it was due. I plotted it with my hiking boot.

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It didn't move. It turned out to be a two

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point three carrot diamond, the third largest diamond discovered at

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the park that year. Curator of Diamond State Park averages

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one to two diamond finds per day. Most are small,

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only about a dozen a year, or over one carrot.

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A message in a bottle traveled twenty seven hundred miles

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across the Atlantic. It was discovered in northeast Scotland by

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a dog. The bottle was dropped of the sea in

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August of twenty twenty four from a ferry traveling between

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Prince Edward Island and Madeleine Island in Canada, and it

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was found in Scotland by Mike, the human and Maggie

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the dog. Mike the human said, I was amazed. As

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I was walking Maggie, my dog, was sniffing a bottle

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that was just washing up. Was a really dark glass

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bottle with a lid and something inside it. Inside the

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bottle was a letter written in French, sealed in a

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plastic bag. Mike took it home translate it learning had

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been sent by somebody named Annie. He explains there was

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a zipbag in it and a letter in French. I

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put it in my rucksack, put it on translate when

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I got home. The bottle spent two winters at sea.

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They tracked down Annie on social media but haven't heard

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back yet. So Annie, if you're listening and get in

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touch with Mike, will you. Some senior home residents at

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Maplewood Court were treated to a glam up session thanks

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to the facility's lifestyle team, who took the residence and

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did a photo shoot wearing high fashion wigs and colorful clothing.

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Laura Taylor works there and said, we love the idea

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of giving our residence the chance not to dress up,

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but to go over the top and feel fabulous. Hill

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was one hundred years old, and she said I loved it.

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That made me look eighty instead of one hundred. It

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was so much fun to dress up but bright clothes.

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Not sure this is good news, but the headline is

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attention getting man faces prison time for posting AI generated

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image of a wolf or roaming city streets. Perhaps he

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was trying to prank your local good news podcast host,

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but this was a oakes. The man used a text

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prompt to create a photo realistic image of a wolf

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walking through a town posted online. The South Korean media

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reported that the wolf had escaped from the zoo. But

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here's the thing, there actually was a loose wolf. South

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Korean authorities explained a single AI manipulated image to lay

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the wolf's capture by up to nine days. The prolonged

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deployment of police and firefighters caused significant disruptions to their

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primary duty of protecting the public. The police eventually did

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find the actual wolf. The man now risks spending five

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years in prison. Yikes, And those are your five good

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news stories for today. Well four