I have been waiting for somebody to try this. They always tell to you to "poke a shark in the eye" if you get attacked, but it always seemed unreal to actually do it when it happens. The eye of a shark is pretty damn small, not to mention creepy.

Nonetheless, an Australian swimmer says he survived a mauling by a 16-foot shark by wrestling with the beast, finally getting free by poking it in the eye. The shark, believed to be a great white, seized Jason Cull by the left leg as he was swimming at Middleton Beach in southwestern Australia on Saturday, AP reports.

The shark was one of three that swimmers reported seeing at the beach Saturday. Officials closed the beach after the attack. From his hospital bed where he was treated for deep lacerations, Cull, 37, told reporters Sunday he saw a shadow moving in the water just before the attack and mistook it for a dolphin.

"It was much bigger than a dolphin when it came up," Cull said. "It banged straight into me. I realized what it was, it was a shark....I sort of punched it, and it grabbed me by the leg and dragged me under the water," he said. "I just remember being dragged backwards underwater. I felt along it, I found its eye and I poked it in the eye, and that's when it let go."

There you go. The eye method is obviously not just an urban legend. Now it's just a matter of being able to locate the eye of a shark (while being half-submerged in its jaws) and poking it . Got it.

[via WTOPnews.com]

Oh, my beloved Australia scores again!

An Australian has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car's floor, NY Times reports. Police said they were ''shocked and appalled'' when he pulled over the unregistered car Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs and saw a 30-can beer case was strapped in between two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, but on the car's floor. The driver was fined 750 Australian dollars ($710).

''This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child,'' said the police officer in charge.

I hate to break it to them, but I am quite certain this is--sadly enough--not the first nor the last time beer has taken priority over a child.

Several botanical gardens are having Mother's Day events this Sunday. One of the advantages of going to a botanical garden, I've found, is that they usually have wonderful gift shops that are perfect places for picking up that last minute present.

If you've forgotten to buy your mother a gift, when she's not looking, perhaps, when she's basking in the fragrance of a floral paradise, slip into the shop to buy her a little something. Since the wedding season is upon us, pick up a wedding gift as well. Here are the first 10 botanical gardens I came across that listed a Mother's Day happening. Nine are in the U.S. and one is not.

(This photo is from a tribute to redbuds and mothers at the Children's Garden at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. My mom taught me to love redbuds too, so I thought this fitting.)

If you are in the midst of planning a beach vacation, this is bad timing. I was just about to tell you about the World's Most Dangerous Beaches, as compiled by Forbes.

In 2006 alone, American households apparently took nearly 55 million trips to the beach. Most of those trips were totally safe and pleasant. The rest of them....not so much.

Here are the World's Most Dangerous Beaches by Forbes:

• Shark Attacks/Bites: New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Fla., Runner Up: Hawaii
• Pollution: Hacks Point Beach, Kent County, Md./Beachwood Beach West, Ocean County, N.J.
• Jellyfish Attacks: Northern Australia
• Rip Current Drowning: Brevard County, Fla., Runner Up: Volusia County, Fla.
• Boating Accidents: Florida, Runner Up: California
• Lightning: Florida, Runner up: Colorado

Umm, Colorado? They have beaches in Colorado?

P.S. Is it just me or is this list a little US-centric?

"Why is it so hard to admit you like the good 'ole US of A?" asks Ben Groundwater, resident Backpacker Blogger at the Sydney Morning Herald.

As a non-American who spends a lot of time in the US, I wept with joy when I read his latest blog "The most underrated country in the world". OK, I didn't weep but I did enjoy it tremendously.

He gets into analyzing the American psyche, which--let's be honest here--has been the full-time job of many a backpacker worldwide. From my own modest experience psychoanalyzing the American "it", I advise against it. Unless of course you take pleasure in pissing people off. (Gadling is hiring, by the way)

Anyway, back to Ben. He shares his own observations about America: "I first touched down in the US as a kid, a time when it's impossible to hate the place....As you grow up, however, the place becomes harder and harder to love....My long-time travel buddy, the Hilton Hippy, has got the shits with the Yanks. Never going back there, he says. Doesn't want to be fingerprinted by some half-witted goon in immigration. Doesn't want to throw his tourist dollars into a place run by a glorified county sheriff....But let's cut to the biggest perceived problem with the US: the people.....They're meant to be loud-mouthed, rude, arrogant, and ridiculously insular."

Hold on here, be patient. This is where Ben goes positive on us. "Thing is, the Seppos get a bad wrap because of their behaviour when you meet them overseas, but at home, they're generous to the point of being overbearing. I've been driven across state lines by people I barely know, been offered directions by New Yorkers before I've even had a chance to pull out a map, had people beg me to come visit so they can show me their home town. Borat made those college kids look pretty damn stupid when he hitched a lift with them in the movie, but have a think about what was actually happening. Here was a bunch of kids heading off on holidays, picking up what was, to their minds at least, a middle-aged Kazakhstani hitchhiker, sharing their precious stash of beer with him and trading stories. Find me any Australians who would do that."

He's got a point there. Americans are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. (As a non-American I can actually say that and not sound like a totally clueless Yankee flag-waver.)

(Read Ben's entire The most underrated country in the world" blog here)

You probably got it by now, but Australia is one of my favorite countries. As I report ad nauseum, there is never a dull moment in Australian news.

It must be hard trying to run a country, while making sure half your population doesn't get eaten by crocodiles or sharks and stung by jellyfish, or at least bitten by snakes and spiders. It is amazing that Australia has all those creatures. And more!

Yesterday, poisonous spiders caused a problem when they plagued the Baralaba Hospital about 200 miles northwest of Brisbane. The tiny hospital had to close so officials could fumigate the building to get rid of redback spiders that have been found in large numbers in the main part of the hospital, CBS reports.

Redback spiders, common throughout most of the country, have a painful bite and a toxic venom, although an anti-venom is available. Apparently, warm weather had caused more redback spider eggs to hatch than usual. Of course, already being at a hospital when bitten by a poisonous spider is a good thing. And only in Australia.

The latest terrorist weapon in Australia isn't dirty bombs, oil attacks or hijackings. It's lasers. New high powered lasers that have recently become widely available on the market are turning out to be a formidable tool in harassing pilots while on sensitive landing patterns.

When shined into a cockpit, these high powered devices can refract around the cabin, temporarily blinding crew and potentially damaging their vision. Opposed to older lasers commonly used in classrooms and during presentations, strong lasers have the ability to reach long distances, allowing attackers to strike from relatively long (and well covered) distances.

Here in the United States we've seen sporadic instances and subsequent prosecutions of laser strikes, but in Sydney the problem is starting to get out of hand. So far this year there have been six sightings of lasers in cockpits and the government is getting ruffled. They're passing legislation to ban possession of high powered lasers without a reason, saying that they can now search and question perpetrators on why they own the devices.

Meanwhile, casual users from teachers to hobbyists are up in arms about the legislation, saying that not all lasers need to be banned from use. I suppose if more flights are safer and normal users can prove they're using the lasers for the right purposes it's not too big of a deal, is it?

I believe the time people put in working, running errands, going to the gym and all the other daily stuff we feel we have to do starts to take its toll on how we live and think. This is a big reason why Tom and I decided to pack up and leave for a little while...to put things in perspective, do a bit of work on the road and to surf (ok...learn to surf for me).

My surfing experience is limited to three times...once in New Zealand, once in Australia and one time in Costa Rica where an encounter with a jellyfish put my surfing attempts on hold. But now, since we have stopped in the Baja and there are some good learning beaches, I have decided to dedicate a few months to surfing, though the extent of my abilities so far is to stand up on my board. I'm working on it.

A few things beginner surfers need to know and remember: it is not as easy as it looks. No matter how athletic you are, expect to fall over and over and over again; practice makes perfect. Coordination, decent physical fitness and sheer determination (stubbornness...call it what you will) to get back up and keep trying are ideal traits if you want to learn how to surf.

I picked this photo by Kouiskas as the photo of the day because it looks almost too good be real, you know? Everything is perfect, from the colours of the earth to the fluffiness of the clouds. Postcard-perfect photos are usually fairly elusive, down to nothing more than the stroke of luck that you happened to visit a site on the ideal day. And it's why we bring our cameras everywhere -- we're afraid of missing that perfect photo opportunity.

Got any perfect photos to share? Share them with us -- join the Gadling Flickr Pool.

I have a soft spot for Australia. I really do. No other country on Earth has the ability to produce the same number of interesting headlines per capita.

Here is what we have coming from Australia on Gadling alone:

• Man uses hedgehog as a weapon
• Naked Nomad gives his multi-million dollar estate to his sister
• Wasps nest inside planes, cause delays
• Obesity in Australia now requires larger ambulances
• Australian puts his entire life on eBay
• Fat teens to live off the land in Australia

And now we have this: Robber incriminated by his own vomit. Not bad.

Ahmed Habib Jalloul, 20, of Para Vista, was found guilty of aggravated robbery in the District Court earlier this month for his involvement in the robbery of the Kensington Gardens post office in April 2007, Messenger Community News reports. The court heard that Jalloul had vomited "out of fear" outside the post office, in a nearby car park after the robbery, before fleeing in a stolen car with two accomplices and $3700 in cash. Guess what, DNA analysis of the vomit slick matched Jalluol's DNA.

Disclaimer: Australia has other things to offer, besides weirdos, hedgehogs, vomit and wasps.