A man dove face-first into an extremely venomous, peanut-sized jellyfish in waters off northeast Australia and medics flew him to a hospital intensive care unit to treat the potentially fatal sting, officials said Friday. The 29-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was on a yacht Thursday off northeast Queensland state. As a precaution, he was wearing a full-length "stinger suit," a lightweight version of a wetsuit that covers everything but the face, feet and hands and helps protect against venomous jellyfish that are common in northern Australia's waters during the Southern Hemisphere summer. But when he dove into the water near South Molle Island, he was immediately stung in the face by a potentially lethal Irukandji jellyfish, Central Queensland Helicopter Rescue Service spokeswoman Leonie Hansen said. He was taken back to the island, where a rescue team rushed to his aid.

A man has revealed how he abandoned a bid to rescue his teenage son to save his screaming wife after their car plunged into a river in New Zealand. Stacy Horton rescued his partner Vanessa, 35, as their 13-year-old boy Silva drowned in the Whanganui River on North Island. The father said he arrived at the scene minutes after the family's Mazda MPV station wagon skidded down a grassy bank, over a 10-metre cliff and into the water.

The 23-year-old ewe, recognised by the Guinness Book of Records, died peacefully on her farm at Lake Bolac, 57 miles west of Melbourne, after a short illness. Lucky’s owner Delrae Westgarth says her beloved sheep had found the recent hot weather in Victoria hard to endure. “It’s a relief,” said Mrs Westgarth. “She was good up to that first lot of heatwaves we had. But she went downhill a bit from then.” The Westgarths, who rescued Lucky as a newborn lamb after she was abandoned by her mother, recently invested in air-conditioning for their elderly pet, but even this couldn't save her.

A two-year-old girl has been savagely attacked by a wallaby at White Rock, Australia. Tamar Hutchins and her daughter Susan were feeding their horses on a property they rent when the wallaby sprang from the bushes and attacked late on Tuesday. "It had her head in its mouth and was slamming its back legs into her repeatedly," Ms Hutchins said. "If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have ever believed it."

ustralian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd voiced "concerns" about the Church of Scientology Wednesday after a senator detailed explosive allegations including torture, imprisonment and coerced abortions. Rudd said the accusations, made by independent Senator Nick Xenophon in parliament but strenuously denied by the organisation, were "grave" and needed further consideration.

Australia may have to force people to evacuate coastal areas as rising sea levels threaten thousands of homes, an official report has warned. * The National Sea Change Taskforce said urgent action was needed to protect Australia's coast from seas expected to rise more than 80 centimetres (31 inches) this century. * The sweeping parliamentary report noted that 80 percent of Australians live in coastal areas with about 711,000 homes within three kilometres (about two miles) of the sea.

The 16-year-old's 23,600-mile journey by will take her through some of the world's most treacherous waters. The attempt has provoked a debate in the country about whether someone so young should be allowed to try such a dangerous feat.

Their boat was stopped in Indonesia en route to Australia, and they went on a hunger strike demanding to be "immediately accepted as refugees". The Aussi PM says they must go through the the usual United Nations processing system, otherwise...

By attaching small digital cameras to the backs of several albatrosses in the sub-Antarctic, Japanese and British scientists have discovered that the great seabirds sometimes feed in conjunction with pods of killer whales, apparently picking up scrap...

Back in June, Gadling brought you a series on Queensland that sought to expand people's perceptions of Australia beyond Sydney and Outback Steakhouse commercials. That trip was my second Down Under and it reminded me of why I love Australia so mu...

Here’s some weekend wanderlust inspiration for you. Get out and explore...

Sydney woke up to an eerie dust storm - the red dust from the outback has been picked up by strong winds and blown across the country. Experts have attributed this to climate change and the ongoing drought afficting in Australia. I picked up the above photo from the Guardian Online website, one of a gallery of amazing scenes. (You can check out the gallery by clicking on the pic alongside). Wanting to find out more I had a meander through the internet to see what else was out there.

Anyone wanting to live out their James Bond fantasies can now bid for the chance to become a jet-pack test-pilot. Aussie firm Martin Aircraft Company is auctioning off the chance to help them launch their jet-pack by taking part in a series of test ...

An Australian quadriplegic, who last month won a landmark legal right to starve to death, has died. Christian Rossiter, 49, died in a nursing home in Perth, West Australia, after developing a chest infection. A former outdoor adventurer, he had won...

Left 4 Dead 2 has been refused classification by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification, effectively banning Valve's co-op shooter sequel from sale in Oz. Documents rustled up by News.com.au reveal gore is behind the dec...

The Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) is going to be overhauled whilst the Critical Skills List (CSL) will be phased out completely. The Australian Department of Immigration is near to concluding its review of the MODL. As part of their review, the department will examine and report on the role and purpose of the MODL in targeting skill needs in relation to the General Skilled...

An Australian mum is furious after a pizza delivery man allegedly grabbed her four-year-old son and tried to hold him as "ransom" for payment. Cindy Paardekooper, 30, of Darwin, claims the driver from Pizza King at the Hibiscus Shopping Cen...

Four Aboriginal people were finally re-buried in their homeland of Narooma, on the south coast of New South Wales, on Friday after spending more than 70 years in Australian museums. The remains were uncovered in excavations around Narooma but had since been held at the Australian Museum and Sydney University since as far back as 1936. They were re-buried in a ceremony last Friday on land owned by the Wagonga Local Aboriginal Lands Council.

Queensland, Australia : Health made the suggestion in a policy paper on fatigue risk management, declaring "strategic use of caffeine... to be beneficial" for doctors, Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper reported. "The recommended do...

Feature and above photos anniemullinsuk Six months into my exploration of outback Queensland, my money supplies – vastly under-calculated in a country where even a few beers can run up a...