Jan 12th, 2011 at 7:30AM:
The terrible floods in Queensland, Australia, have destroyed thousands of homes, done billions of dollars of damage, and have left at least a dozen people dead. Queensland is a major coal exporter, and with the rising waters hampering shipments and flooding mines, world coal prices have risen. A major consumer of Queensland coal are Asian steel mills, which are already feeling the pinch. This ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Australian posts
Australia floods leave tourist industry in peril
Jan 12th, 2011 at 7:30AM:
The terrible floods in Queensland, Australia, have destroyed thousands of homes, done billions of dollars of damage, and have left at least a dozen people dead. Queensland is a major coal exporter, and with the rising waters hampering shipments and flooding mines, world coal prices have risen. A major consumer of Queensland coal are Asian steel mills, which are already feeling the pinch. This ...Australian customs pushes foreigners on porn
Oct 20th, 2010 at 1:00PM: Tourists and business travelers are getting annoyed with the Australian government. Hey, nobody likes airport security and customs employees in any country, but this time, the Aussies have just gone too far. In an attempt to pacify fundamentalist Christians in the country, the authorities decided to target porn.
And hilarity ensued.
According to TechEye, "[S]ince that would not go down well ...Aussies find frozen plane in Antarctica
Jan 5th, 2010 at 3:00PM: We all complain about flight delays, but nothing tops the one that's been waiting close to 100 years to be discovered. An Australian research team just discovered what's left of the first plane ever to fly to Antarctica. It hit the ground in 1912 ... and has been waiting ever since. The discovery wasn't an accident. The guys from the Mawson's Huts Foundation have been looking for it for the last ...Tweet down under: Microblogging comes to Australia
Dec 23rd, 2009 at 3:00PM: Once upon a time, Twitter's growth prospects outside the United States appeared to be limited, because of differences in text message pricing. Well, it looks like that won't be a problem any more. On your next trip to Australia, you'll be able to tweet like mad thanks to the social media platform's new partnership with Telstra (@Telstra), the wireless carrier down there.
To get you started, ...
Oktoberfest off to a bad start for Aussies
Sep 22nd, 2009 at 2:30PM: Just two days into Germany's Oktoberfest celebration, one Australian man is dead and another in jail. The man who died was running alongside a train close to his campsite outside of Munich after the festival, when he fell underneath the train's wheels.
Another Aussie was arrested just a few hours into the festival, after he threw a beer stein into a crowd and injured two teenagers. Oktoberfest ...Hotel guests in New Zealand wake up with drunk Aussie in their bed
Aug 10th, 2009 at 4:30PM: In more naked news, a couple vacationing in a New Zealand resort town woke up to find an uninvited guest in their room. A 29-year old Australian had wandered in, climbed into their bed, and fallen asleep.
The Aussie had been out drinking with a woman and gone back with her to her hotel room. At some point in the night, he got out of bed - naked - and began wandering the halls until he found an ...San Diego homeless man gets 14 years for beating, burning Aussie tourist
May 28th, 2009 at 6:00PM: Damian Maple, a homeless man in San Diego, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for beating an Australian tourist, Robert Schneider, with a skateboard and dragging him into a fire pit. Maple went down for attempted murder for attacking the 26-year-old Adelaide resident in 2008.
Maple's accomplice, Francisco Montoya, was sentenced to two years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. Montoya is ...Aussies beware: government won't help you
May 27th, 2009 at 2:00PM: "If you're too dumb or idle to read the travel advisories ... then you ought to take responsibility for your own behaviour," says former Australian foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer.
And, he has a point. If you roll the dice, you have to be ready to lose ... even if you get lucky sometimes.
Australian tourists outside their homeland have been getting into trouble lately – be it ...Tourism Australia comes under fire from random retired American soldier
May 10th, 2009 at 2:00PM:
Tourism Australia nailed it. The struggle between work and life is reaching fever pitch. Those with jobs are working harder than ever, thanks to layoffs and a desperate play to look like top performers in case the axe comes down again. It's a battle, sometimes, to take control of your life. This is the theme of Tourism Australia's new campaign, "No Leave, No Life," which drives home the fact that ...Pay to play in Aussie airport parking lots
Apr 10th, 2009 at 4:30PM: For the past decade, Australians have griped about the escalating cost of short-term airport parking. Accusations of monopoly pricing were leveled, and a year ago, the government got involved, having the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) keep an eye on parking lot fees at the country's five largest airports. The results are amazing. Airports pull in 11 percent of their revenue ...Backpackers learn how to steal Australian travel
Apr 7th, 2009 at 12:00PM: It's really pretty simple. Foreign backpackers go to Australia. For several weeks, they'll wander the country, get drunk and ... I don't know ... go to the opera. When the trip's over, these visitors file fake income claims, which get them thousands of dollars in tax refunds – despite not having actually worked (and thus not having paid any taxes). Through word of mouth, and probably a few ...The best job in the world comes with an island and a $100,000 salary
Jan 12th, 2009 at 10:30AM: If the current economic climate is starting to make you feel a little down, how about taking a job as a caretaker at the Great Barrier Reef? You'll work very hard (for several hours a week), posting to a blog, picking up the mail and feeding the fish. And for all that hard work, you will be paid about $8400 every 2 weeks (or $100,000 for the 6 month duration of your contract). When your contract ...Aussie Backpackers Look to London Sperm Banks to Fund Their Travels
Nov 20th, 2008 at 12:00PM: London fertility clinics are reporting that up to one-third of their sperm donors are from foreign countries. Many of these donors are Australian backpackers on extended tours of the UK and Europe. They have found fertility clinics to be a decent source of income. Though the money is not great, repeat donors (always welcomed by the clinics because they only have to be screened once) can make more ...Qantas Owns up to Price Fixing
Oct 28th, 2008 at 11:30AM: Qantas is eager to put this year behind itself. Several mid-air incidents caused the airlines commitment to safety to come into question. Also, their plan to outsource labor caused a ruckus with local unions. Nonetheless, the Qantas is keeping its head above water. It dominates lucrative routes between the US and Australia and holds its own against stiff competition in Asia. So when a ...Word for the Travel Wise (11/15/06)
Nov 15th, 2006 at 8:00PM: Australia may be considered a land 'down under' and far out from most, but that doesn't mean it is keeping people from spending their savings to travel that way. Should you arrive in Sydney or Melbourne and find it way too touristy for your liking ask around to find a more remote area also known as the word found below. Today's word is a Bush word used in Australia: backblocks - a remote area ...Word for the Travel Wise (09/11/06)
Sep 11th, 2006 at 8:00PM: The Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive is just around the corner - that's if you consider May 2007 nearby. This should be enough time to plan if you wish to take part in rounding up 500 head of cattle, taking them through the outback by day and sleeping by a cozy, warm, crackling campfire at night. The four nights five day cattle drive tours take place May 5 - June 10, 2007. See details on ...Word for the Travel Wise (08/04/06)
Aug 4th, 2006 at 8:00PM: Last few times I've ventured to the land down under for a bit of lingo trivia and conversation I've clung to the likes of Aboriginal vocabulary and whether all Aboriginals are from the bush lands or not, I'm not certain. However, I saw this "bush term" and couldn't pass on passing it onto the rest of the world. It has this rather whimsical ring to it and makes something as simple as stargazing ...
