Holidays In Australia: Death or a Barbie-

Deadly jelly fish and killer crocodiles are just some of the dangers tourists visiting Australia risk, according to a report in this week's Independent examining why Brits travel down under.

"Australians appear to spend every free moment surfing, sailing or sunning themselves before lighting up the Barbie (barbecue) and drinking the night away," the newspaper suggests. However, "this is a wild country," they warn.

"Outside the towns, Australia has poisonous snakes, scorpions, spiders and jellyfish. There are man-eating crocodiles and there have been dingo (wild dog) attacks."

The article appeared days after an American tourist died after being attacked by a box jellyfish as he was diving on the Great Barrier Reef (The Guardian).

44 year old Robert King was stung by a tiny "peanut-sized" Irukandji jellyfish and was the second person to by killed by this type of jellyfish in Australia this year. Box jellyfishes pose a particular threat, according to one science library, because they apparently "often frequent beaches that are attractive to humans."

http://library.thinkquest.org/C007974/2_1box.htm
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