Say you live in Cairns, a part of “Oz” closer by far to Papua New Guinea in the north than to Sydney. The diving and scuba are amazing near the Great Barrier Reef. The paddling is quite epic. But there’s a danger, and it isn’t sharks: It’s saltwater crocodiles that can grow to 21 feet. [ more... ]

My guess is that even decades from now, this guy will still say to his friends of the stunt, “Imagine your worst-case scenario. Now imagine something a million times worse than that.” An enterprising young Aussie from some sort of Jackass-style group called Children of Poseidon body slammed a large cactus. Just in case you were wondering what would happen to you if you ever tripped and fell into one of these things with a loaded backpack, it’s bad.

The kids who ride Perisher Resort in Australia got a feature on the local news that includes one of them being cut off by a 20-something snowboarder and screaming “You idiot!” as he rides past. It’s a heartening look at the youth of their country. Give him a few more years and a few TV-edit Die Hard movies and he’ll call the guy a “mother clucker.” Ah, kids. We can learn so much from them.

A 24-year-old surfing on the west coast of Australia was the victim of a particularly ferocious and fatal shark attack. He was “bitten in half” on Saturday, a jet skier nearby said he saw only half of the man’s torso after the 16-foot shark attacked him. It’s the fifth fatality in the region this year. [ more... ]