The Titanic Awards » australia

Fearless (brainless?) diver takes ride on 3m-long Tiger Shark during feeding frenzy [VIDEO]

Doug Lansky — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:19:55 +0000

Dumbest tourist questions asked at Australian tourist offices

Doug Lansky — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:03:51 +0000

News.com.au reports that Australian travel agents were asked to list some of the strangest questions asked by tourists.

Here are some of the classics:

+ Can I catch a train from Fiji to New Zealand?

+ What type of car is needed to drive from the Great Barrier Reef to Perth?

+ “I’m doing a crossword at the moment and need your help. What is the name of that really tall building in the Gold Coast?”

+ “Why are Australian stop signs shaped like hexagons?”

+ “How many cartons of cigarettes can we take on our driving holiday to Queensland?”

+ “What passport would I need to visit Melbourne from Queensland?”

+ “I know it’s a long flight but how is it that I take off at 10am in Sydney and land at 10am in Vancouver on the same day? How is that possible?”

+ “Can you get Australian money out of ATMs overseas?”

Jason Cochran’s World Worsts

Doug Lansky — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:53:01 +0000

Name Jason Cochran
Who? He was awarded Guide Book of the Year by the North American Travel Journalists Association for Pauline Frommer’s London. He is a regular writer for the New York Post, AOL’s WalletPop.com, and Travel + Leisure.com. He has also written for Budget Travel (as senior editor), New York Daily News, New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Newsweek, Frommers.com, Arena (U.K.), Who (Australia), and Scanorama (Sweden). As a commentator, he has appeared on CNN, Australia.com, WOR, Outdoor Life Network, MSNBC.com, and many radio programs. He spent nearly two years backpacking solo around the world and now lives in NYC.
Age 37
Countries Visited 55

Titanic Nominations
Worst Metro Glasgow Underground. Tiny as a dollhouse, loud as a jet, and it only goes around in a circle.
Worst Airline Policy Charging for water. You can’t take your own through security, yet SAS, Ryanair, and countless others charge €3 for it. Pure trap-and-gouge.
Worlst Flies Australia’s Northern Territory. They’ll literally drink the water off your eyeballs.
Worst Maps Tokyo. You need an engineer’s degree to find the washroom in some malls. Out on the street, addresses are nonexistent.
Worst Street Crime Johannesburg. At the hostels, they don’t gather at night to talk about what they saw that day. They discuss who got mugged.

Agree? Disagree? Take the survey >>

Peter Moore’s World Worsts

Doug Lansky — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:08:37 +0000

Name Peter Moore

Who? Australian author of six travel narratives including No Shitting in the Toilet, The Wrong Way Home and Vroom with a View. Currently lives in London. More at www.petermoore.net

Age 46

Countries Visited 99

Titanic Nominations

Worst Toilet The public toilet in Tepelene, Albania. An underground bunker with a floor covered in shit. People simply stood on the stairs leading down and took aim.

Worst Tourist Attraction The Bunyip in Murray Bridge, South Australia. Insert a coin and a crappy plastic creature emerges from a pond strewn with rubbish. Brilliant!

Worst Airport Kuala Lumpur International. Changi’s plainer, simpler and more boring sister

Worst Flight Attendants Qantas. They really don’t give a shit.

Worst Hotel Banjarmasin Homestay, Banjarmasin, Indonesia. Soggy mattresses and rats running along the poorly partitioned walls. A personal favourite.

Agree? Disagree? Take the survey >>