I thought Australia was
on the most stable shield plate ever. I thought those whoreson Kiwis bore the brunt of God's subducting tectonic wrath. Next you'll be telling us that not every spider and snake and fucking plankton in Oz can sting you and your family to death in less time than it takes to say 'Strewth' in that long, drawn-out fashion.
(judgetheobscure used to sweep in butchers' shops., Fri 15 Jun 2012, 1:00, 1 reply)

so did I
I'm originally a brit, met an aussie barmaid and heyho I'm in Australia for life. Started off living in a funtimes town called Newcastle in this 12 storey student-infested block of flats by the sea. What are these great big bloody cracks about, and the huge bulge in the brickwork you can see if you stand on the roof and look down?

So the wife-to-be tells me it's earthquake damage - she was 11 years old and standing in the park just opposite said building when the earth lurched and the streetlights started waving side to side like they're made of rubber. 13 people dead, 160 injured, 1,000 people made homeless due to the damage to 35,000 homes, 147 schools, and 3,000 commercial buildings.

Right, so this is why the rent is so cheap in a tower block right on the beach subjected to huge fucking gales with massive cracks and bulging brickwork and can we get down from the roof now.

Bloody Australians, they have no sense of fear what so ever.

Then we move out to the country where there's redback spiders and brown snakes galore (our neighbour across the creek had 20 of the last year, 5 of which were in the house).

So yeah, it's pretty much as advertised - just plus earthquakes they never bother to mention.
( ferret -> twitter.com/syfyautocorrect <-, Fri 15 Jun 2012, 1:15, closed)

The only earthquake I've ever felt
was when I spent the night at Warner's Bay near Newcastle sometime around 1993.
(Redemption blamed it on the Bossa Nova since, Fri 15 Jun 2012, 4:11, closed)