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Australia is the seventh ‘most fun' country in the world, according to 17,000 people

Australia is the seventh ‘most fun' country in the world, according to 17,000 people

Time Out3 days ago
Boy, do we have a fun fact for you! Australia's known for its laid-back lifestyle, cheeky banter and silly slang. With one of the world's best work-life balances, we know how to kick back and not take life too seriously. And to prove it, a global perception survey of 17,000 people named Australia as one of the world's ten 'most fun' countries – edging out our mates in New Zealand. Take that!
This ranking comes from the US News & World Repor t's annual Best Countries report, which polled 17,000 respondents from 36 nations worldwide. Since 'fun' means something different to everyone, they surveyed a diverse pool of people, including business leaders, informed elites and the general public – asking each to rate how strongly they associate each country with fun.
Australia scored an impressive 85.1 out of 100, landing as the seventh-most fun country in the world. It was one of only two countries in Oceania to crack the top ten, and yep, we beat New Zealand, which came in ninth. Looking for fun things to do Down Under? We recommend having a laugh with local legends at your neighbourhood pub, catching a live AFL, NRL or cricket match, surfing at one of our legendary beaches, sipping your way through our world-class wineries, or simply chilling out at a backyard barbecue. Want more fun? Here's your ultimate guide to the best things to do in Australia.
If you're looking to have maximum fun while travelling, Spain is the place to be – officially crowned the most fun country on the planet. Its fun factor gets a juicy boost from La Tomatina Festival, the world's largest food fight, where more than 20,000 people chuck tomatoes at each other in the streets. Sure, getting splattered in tomato juice isn't everyone's idea of fun, but Spain's also got beautiful beaches, flamenco fiestas, tasty tapas crawls and a buzzing late-night party scene. A little bit of fun for everyone!
Next up was Brazil – home to the world's biggest celebration of Carnival – followed by Thailand, Italy and Mexico. You can check out more of the world's most fun countries below.
The 10 most fun countries in the world
Spain
Brazil
Thailand
Italy
Mexico
Greece
Australia
Portugal
New Zealand
France
🍷 Two Australian bars were named among the world's best by Time Out
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Tammy Hembrow shocks as she strips off and flashes bare bottom - after packing on PDA with Bailey Smith
Tammy Hembrow shocks as she strips off and flashes bare bottom - after packing on PDA with Bailey Smith

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Tammy Hembrow shocks as she strips off and flashes bare bottom - after packing on PDA with Bailey Smith

Tammy Hembrow was showing off her new haul of clothes on Thursday when she gave fans a little more than they bargained for. The Aussie influencer, who made headlines over the weekend after being spotted on a date with AFL star Bailey Smith, shared a video on Instagram of her trying on clothes from a recent Runaway the Label order. In the clip, the 31-year-old dressed and undressed in multiple outfits on-camera, flaunting her wardrobe refresh from the Australian brand. While changing out of the first outfit, Tammy shared a glimpse of her blue leopard print G-string and pert derrière while pulling up her trousers. Later, she threw off her top to reveal her ripped, bare back, decorated with her signature tattoos. 'Wardrobe essentials from @runawaythelabel obsesseddd w these pieces. DC: TAMMY,' she captioned the cheeky post. While changing out of the first outfit, Tammy shared a glimpse of her blue leopard print G-string and pert derrière while pulling up her trousers Fans flooded the post with love for the fitness influencer, pointing out that her recent post was reminiscent of her earlier days as a content creator. 'Oh she's so back,' one person wrote. Another simply penned: 'IT girl.' One fan shared: 'This reminds me of early tammy instagram days,' adding: 'finally relatable.' 'I hope they are all crying Right now GODESSSSSSS,' another wrote. Tammy recently raised eyebrows after being spotted out and about with Geelong Cats heartthrob Bailey Smith. Tammy stepped out with Bailey just days after claiming she was happily single following her shock split from her husband of seven months Matt Zukowski. Two months after her break–up with the Love Island star, the mum-of-three was seeb cosying up to Bailey during a lunch date on the Gold Coast on Saturday – with the long–haired midfielder flying in from Melbourne just to see her. The Cats' new recruit, 24, was riding high after helping his team thrash Essendon at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night. By Saturday morning, he was on a flight to Brisbane for his secret weekend rendezvous with Tammy. Bailey didn't skimp on their date, taking her out for a swanky meal at Pan–Asian hotspot Rick Shores at Burleigh Heads, where the pair were anything but discreet. The chemistry was undeniable, with the two seen leaving the venue hand–in–hand, laughing and whispering as they spied our photographer. Bailey jetted back to Melbourne on Sunday to resume training ahead of Geelong's clash with the Swans at the SCG. Tammy has been engaged twice before she was married to Matt - to athlete Matt Poole, who is the father of her daughter Posy, and Reece Hawkins, who fathered her older kids, Wolf and Saskia.

Rita Wrote a Letter: Paul Kelly's sequel to How to Make Gravy is an affectionate goodbye to Joe
Rita Wrote a Letter: Paul Kelly's sequel to How to Make Gravy is an affectionate goodbye to Joe

The Guardian

time4 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Rita Wrote a Letter: Paul Kelly's sequel to How to Make Gravy is an affectionate goodbye to Joe

'She's the one to save me,' errant protagonist Joe declares of Rita, his longsuffering partner and unpaid therapist, in the prison letter that forms the lyrics of Paul Kelly's 1996 single How to Make Gravy. The perennial Christmas classic was recently voted the ninth best Australian song of all time. Almost 30 years after he wrote it, Kelly has released a sequel, Rita Wrote a Letter, in which we finally learn what became of Rita while Joe was in jail: she wised up and moved on. Last year, Kelly told Guardian Australia, 'I have imagined, from time to time, that the protagonists of To Her Door [1987], Love Never Runs On Time [1994] and How To Make Gravy [1996] could be the same guy but I'm not definite about that.' Regardless of their identity, his knack of portraying the hapless underdog – plagued by bad timing and missed chances – has captured the public's imagination and his own; Kelly has clearly been unable to resist revisiting Joe. The recipient of Joe's letter in How to Make Gravy was Dan, the brother Joe feared might have designs on Rita. In the song, Joe quickly apologises and blames his overactive imagination on his jealousy, but – spoiler alert – it turns out he was right. Despite the angst (or maybe because of it), How to Make Gravy became the soundtrack to many a dreaded holiday season drive or a simmering turkey lunch. Last year, the song spawned a film – the first feature film commissioned by streaming platform Binge, with Daniel Henshaw as Joe and Agathe Rousselle as Rita. This week, in some inspired marketing, a death notice for Joe was published in The Age. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning We might have imagined that Rita Wrote a Letter would take the form of a 'Dear John' missive, but Rita only gets eight lines and this new song is still very much from Joe's perspective. 'You hear Rita's voice loud and clear, but Joe talks even more. I couldn't shut him up,' Kelly admits. Upon his release from jail, Joe finds a job as a dish pig, sleeping in the spare room of a relative, Mary. He takes some pleasure in honest grunt work, but the old malaise still lies beneath: 'The day I walked out of prison / I knew that I was still in stir …' Musically, the nostalgia is as thick as Joe's gravy, with exactly the right amount of seasoning. Built over a 50s rhythm and blues piano line, which nephew Dan Kelly came up with, the verse melody has a ghost of the original song, and there's the odd familiar guitar flourish that seems to be a wink. Kelly calls Rita Wrote a Letter a 'black comedy', a sentiment that's underscored by the upbeat, stabbing tempo (reminiscent of his 1987 single Dumb Things). Kelly's obvious affection for Joe is echoed in the video, set in a St Kilda home with shabby furniture that's seen better days. Justine Clarke (Kelly's longtime friend and collaborator) plays Rita with a resigned smile. If Joe will be around to haunt her forever, as he promises, she's made her peace with it. As the lyrics go: 'Joe, I gave you good chances / But half a year turned into two / You could never hold your temper / And you always made it all about you.' Selfishness, particularly around heroin use, has popped up in Kelly's songs before, most notably in 1989's Careless ('How many times did you call my name / Knock at the door but you couldn't get in?'). In Rita Wrote a Letter, his protagonist caves in once more – this time, fatally: 'One day I went to see an old friend / And I brought a little package home / For old times' sake sweet oblivion / But some things you shouldn't do alone.' Joe, it's revealed, is writing this new song from 'six foot down and under the clay', which explains the obit and puts paid to any further pen-pal activity. Over the fade-out, there's a ghostly throwback to How to Make Gravy: 'I didn't mean to say that / It's just my mind, it plays up / multiplies each matter …' As teasers for new albums go, Rita Wrote a Letter is a poignant one. Kelly's forthcoming LP, Seventy, is released in November and has themes of 'taking stock and celebrating continuity'. The artwork features a photograph of 70-year-old Kelly on the front and a portrait from 1988 on the rear. His most enduring protagonist may now be dead, but Kelly's creative spirit is more alive than ever.

You're using Netflix wrong if you haven't watched these 9 movies
You're using Netflix wrong if you haven't watched these 9 movies

Metro

time7 hours ago

  • Metro

You're using Netflix wrong if you haven't watched these 9 movies

Steve Charnock Published August 12, 2025 2:45pm Updated August 12, 2025 2:45pm Link is copied Comments There's a lot of content on Netflix. Some of it good, some of it not so good. The streaming service is the ideal solution to boredom at home. Nothing to do? Stick Netflix on and let something wash over you. We've no issue with the idea of watching an old favourite or even a new film or piece of TV that's not all that good, but sits nicely in the background. But for the money we all pay? We have to be taking in some of the better pieces of art that it hosts, too. And there's plenty on there. When it comes to films, you don't have to look that hard to find a decent number of pure cinematic classics waiting for you to discover/rediscover. Using the movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes' ratings to prove our point, here are nine films you really have to see on Netflix if you want to be getting the most out of your subscription... (Picture: Netflix) The Stranger is a superior slow-burning Aussie crime thriller that sneaks under your skin thanks to its quiet dread and razor-sharp performances. Joel Edgerton plays an undercover cop who strikes up a careful friendship with a man suspected of a horrific crime, played with unsettling intensity by Sean Harris. The tension builds in tiny moments - through glances, pauses, half-smiles - so that when something breaks, it hits all that much harder. It's part of a wave of modern Australian crime films like Animal Kingdom and Snowtown that ditch glamour for grit, favouring mood over action. With two powerhouse leads and a style that feels more like an experience than a story, it's a gripping reminder that silence can be just as thrilling as gunfire. Which, while true, could make this film sound boring. It is, however, anything but (Picture: Netflix) If you pay attention to true cinephiles and their picks for the finest films ever made, you'll certainly get a selection of great works of art. That's all well and good, but what do we all mainly want to watch? A surrealist Russian arthouse piece about the ravages of poverty? Or a fun chase thriller with Harrison Ford chucking himself into a giant dam? It may be 32 years old, but this big-screen adaptation of the fun sixties TV show is still a cracking watch. Tense, fast-paced and full of twists and turns, The Fugitive is a top rate thriller elevated into the sky by serious performances by both Ford and a never-better Tommy Lee Jones (Picture: Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock) Nicolas Cage loses it when his swine's pignapped. Has there ever been a better set-up for a film? Pig is one of those movies that sounds bizarre on paper - Cage plays a reclusive truffle hunter whose beloved pig is stolen and he vows to get his porcine pal back - but turns out to be quietly moving and nothing at all like you might expect. Instead of a revenge rampage, it's a tender and strange meditation on loss, memory and the lives we leave behind. Cage, whose career in the past decade has swung from wild experiments to unexpected gems, gives one of his most restrained and affecting performances here in some time. It's weird, yes, but in the best way. It's also slow, thoughtful and full of moments that linger long after the credits roll. Get in the mud and enjoy this unexpected minor classic (Picture: Everett/Shutterstock) The Power of the Dog is one of the 21st century's most powerful historical westerns, thanks to Jane Campion's masterful direction that turns vast landscapes into tense, emotional expanses. It's a directorial performance that rightly won Campion her second Academy Award. Benedict Cumberbatch carries the film with a quiet, simmering intensity, but it's Kirsten Dunst's performance that really stands out. There's restraint, subtlety and deep emotion all bubbling cleverly and quietly beneath the surface. The film strips away typical western clichés to focus on complex, fragile characters and their hidden struggles. While not spurning any of the tropes and things we all love about the genre. Campion's careful storytelling and the cast's nuanced work make this a fresh, haunting take on the western that stays with you (Picture: Netflix/Everett/Shutterstock) A genuinely terrific modern western stripped of horses and dust storms, but still steeped in frontier spirit, Hell or High Water is unmissable for anyone with an affection for the wild west and rebels with a cause. Here the frontier is rural Texas banks and foreclosed farms. Sicario and Wind River scribe Taylor Sheridan's sharp, unflinching script turns a simple bank-heist plot into a story about poverty, loyalty and a disappearing way of life. The cast is pitch-perfect, from Jeff Bridges' weary lawman to Chris Pine's understated desperation. But it's Ben Foster who - ironically - steals the film. He's feral, funny, and heartbreaking all at once. Sheridan has carved out a place in modern cinema for tough, soulful thrillers. And this is one of his finest pieces of work yet (Picture: Moviestore/Shutterstock) The rise and fall of a once-dominant corporate-friendly smartphone brand unfolds as a surprisingly fresh and entertaining story, mixing humour with sharp insight into the tech world's fast pace. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton surprises by shedding his usual comedic skin to deliver a tense, layered portrayal of Jim Balsillie, the ambitious and often prickly Blackberry co-CEO. His performance anchors the film, turning what could've been a dry corporate tale into a gripping character study. Critics praised the movie for balancing drama and wit, making it more than just a business story. It's a personal look at ambition, innovation and the costs that come with them. Much, much better than a film about Blackberry ever had the right to be (Picture: IFC Films/Everett/Shutterstock) Chuck Hogan's 2004 novel Prince of Thieves is very, very good. Ben Affleck's 2010 film adaption The Town is even better. About as Boston as anything that's ever been made, it's a movie in which Affleck dominates both behind and in front of the camera. He plays the lead, Doug, head of gang of armed robbers and childhood friends. He's already looking for a way out when he falls in love with Rebecca Hall on a job. But dating a hostage is tricky. Especially when the investigating FBI agent (played by Jon Hamm) is hot on Doug's tail. And also has a thing for Hall's Claire. This is impressively realistic and dramatic, stocked full of wicked smart performances - not just from Affleck, Hall and Hamm. But from Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively and Pete Postlethwaite too, amongst others. It's violent in places, but it doesn't glamourise the criminal lifestyle. Quite the opposite. In fact, it shows it for the trap it really is (Picture: Shutterstock) Steven Soderbergh's debut is a cinematic great because it proves you don't need big action or loud drama to grab an audience by the lapels and keep it glued to the screen. It's a film that keeps things simple - it's all slow shots, real conversations and relatable scenarios. But every glance and pause feels loaded. James Spader plays it quiet and mysterious, Andie MacDowell slowly comes out of her shell and Laura San Giacomo brings no small amount of smouldering. It's about secrets, desire and how messy honesty can be in relationships. Back in 1989, it showed indie films could be sexy, smart and real. And that small stories could make a big noise. It'd go on to be quite the influence to indie filmmakers throughout the nineties and beyond. If you've never got round to seeing it, why not add it to your Netflix watchlist and see what all the fuss is about? (Picture: Moviestore/Shutterstock) Let's end with a stone cold killer of a classic. Steven Spielberg's five star classic needs no introduction. You should have seen it. You probably have seen it. You need to see it again. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of one of the world's favourite films. Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, it's legendary for a reason. The set was besieged by all sorts of technical issues, so it's a small miracle the movie was even made at all. So the fact that it's become a touchstone of cinema is a hat tip to Spielberg's vision here. Alright, so the incredibly influential Jaws did little in the way of providing positive PR for great white sharks... But it did everything for Hollywood and the very concept of the blockbuster movie (Picture: HA/THA/Shutterstock)

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