Australia a Danger Zone for British Tourists
This week in the news there's been lots of warnings to the Brits about the dangers of travelling Down Under.
Australia is the second most dangerous nation in the world for travelling Britons, The Guardian newspaper in England has reported, The report cites new British Foreign Office figures that show the number of Britons requiring consular assistance in Australia was second only to Thailand.
Violent crime, extreme weather and incidents involving fauna were said to have contributed to the high demand for consular services. The paper reported 59 Britons died in Australia between April 2005 and March last year.
Britons are also most likely to lose their passport Down Under.
Australia has acquired the reputation of a tourist hazard spot in recent years, thanks to several prominent if atypical cases.
In 2002 a British swimmer was killed by a tiny and little-understood jellyfish in northern Queensland, and a German tourist was killed by a crocodile in Kakadu national park in the Northern Territory.
The previous year the British tourist Peter Falconio was ambushed on a quiet outback highway in 2001, 19-year-old Caroline Stuttle was thrown 65ft to her death from a bridge in 2002, and Robert Long was jailed for 20 years for murder and arson after killing 15 people by setting fire to a Queensland backpacker hostel in 2000.
Two British surfers were airlifted to hospital with spinal injuries in December 2003 after being dumped by heavy waves at Bondi Beach and Stanwell Beach, south of Sydney.
Brighton Beach, Melbourne by Susi Miller, a runner-up in the Lonely Planet photo competition of iconic Australian images.
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