This largish Dugite was lucky enough that I was the one who came across it at a camping and recreation spot as I don’t think there would be many people who would attempt to free it, understandably so.
I was in disbelief really, I had a close look, it was well and truly stuck.
I figured well it can’t bite me, but still with my safety as a priority given it’s extremely venomous, I used everything I had to protect myself.
I got a pair of pointy nose pliers and went to work slowly and carefully widening the opening, I was surprised how much I needed to widen it to free it.
The snake had as much of its body in there as the can is long, once freed it most likely had the bright light stun after being in total darkness for who knows how long.
It just stayed still for a good couple of minutes or so constantly sticking its tongue in and out and then slowly made its way into the bush.
Happy to have helped the poor thing.

I’ve noticed that in Australia phone calls seem to get results where emails don’t. A few examples from my own experience:

Dental cancellation: I emailed to cancel my appointment and got no response. I then realised my first email had gone to their headquarters, so I sent a second one to the local practice. Still nothing so I had to ring them whiich is just time consuming.

Price list: I emailed several dental practices asking for their prices. One never replied, even though I saw their email screen open when I visited in person.

Job applications: I sent several enquiries for jobs I were well qualified for and heard nothing back. Out of frustration, I rang a different employer instead. I was offered an interview the next day, and then the job. Like wtf?

Is this just how things work here? Why is the phone so much more effective than email, and are there any tips for getting a reply by email?

Just a heads up this is more so a rant of my recent experiences with the GPs.

To give you some context, 6 months ago I started having tiny red dots clustered all around my eyes. They first appeared after going to the bathroom or strenuous activities and would gradually fade away after a few days. After goolging it seemed like they could be pressure related petechiae. It didn't happen frequent enough for me to worry about it though.

Then a few months later, I noticed it was becoming more frequent and I would wake up finding them on my cheeks as well even without apparent triggers. Then a few more months later, they started popping up almost every day and the areas spread to my neck, sometimes my arms but more sporadic or when I carry heavy bags. Recently I scratched my neck because my hair was itching it and they popped up again in large numbers. This is when I finally made the GP appointment.

I made double appointment and showed the GP my neck and a photo of it. He spent literally less than two seconds looking at the photo, didn't look at my neck at all, heard the word 'itching' and immediately started writing down a cream he recommended me to put on because it's an allergic rash.

The next 5 minutes was me trying to convince the GP why it is unlikely an allergic reaction. The whole experience was so dismissive and maybe even humiliating.

Hearing a lot of stories across the years, I get the whole healthcare system is failing both doctors and patients, and that doctors are trained to find clues and facts from the patient's account. But now having to go through it myself made me realised that isn't it equally as important to hear what your patient is telling you? Why are GPs working almost against their patients rather than advocating for them? I can dismiss my own health problems I don't need you to do that for me. Are Australian GPs on average just incompetent af?

These could be photos you have taken, or something from the Internet, that are uniquely Australian.

Examples are Australian scenery, wildlife or tourist attractions.

You can either post them as comments here or make a standalone post with the tag [Wonderful Wednesday].

I got the painting from Facebook marketplace , it looks way better in real life but I still don't know any information about the artist other than that it could be a woman and where and when the painting is painted

Was at service nsw yesterday renewing car rego and drivers licence, wasn’t really paying attention to the music until “I see you baby, shaking that ass” and “my anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns hun” came on. Couldn’t help but laugh, was someone taking the piss by putting their own playlist on or is it just random or what? Think some of the old people in there were probably disgusted but I got a laugh out of it.

​

To give some background, I was born in Iran, immigrated to Türkiye and lived there for seven years, and then moved to Australia five years ago.

I'm genuinely happy with where I am today. I'm working, studying, adapting to Australian culture, and enjoying my life here. I feel incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to live in this country and contribute to society.

However, there's one thing about Australia that I genuinely struggle to understand: the healthcare system, particularly emergency departments.

My experiences with healthcare in both Iran and Türkiye were generally positive, especially when it came to emergency care. If your symptoms worsened or you were experiencing significant pain, you could go to the emergency department and generally receive prompt attention. Even in countries with limited resources and large populations, my personal experience was that emergency care was much more accessible.

Last night, I had one of the most disappointing experiences I've ever had with a healthcare system.

I was experiencing severe abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhoea. The pain was around 7/10, and I couldn't even sit upright. I contacted the hospital and was told the waiting time was around 4–5 hours. Unfortunately, I didn't feel I had another option, so I went to the emergency department.

After registering and undergoing initial tests, I waited for four hours. During that time, I saw only one patient being taken through for further care, and I was then told the waiting time could potentially reach 12–16 hours.

Thankfully, my pain gradually improved while I was waiting. I eventually decided to leave and arrange an appointment with a GP the following day.

But what really upset me wasn't just my own experience. It was watching other people sitting there in pain. People with broken knees, broken shoulders and other painful conditions were waiting for hours just to see a doctor. I felt terrible for them. I even questioned whether I should have gone to the emergency department in the first place, despite the severity of my symptoms.

I understand that emergency departments use triage to prioritise patients according to how urgently they need treatment, and I'm not suggesting that everyone should be seen immediately regardless of their condition. I also recognise that Australia's healthcare system has its own challenges and that my experiences in other countries don't necessarily represent everyone's experience.

But I genuinely want to understand why this happens.

How can countries with significantly fewer economic resources provide what feels like more immediate access to emergency care, while people in Australia sometimes wait 8, 12 or even 16 hours in an emergency department?

I know Australia has a universal healthcare system, and I appreciate that access to medical care isn't supposed to depend on how much money you have. But what does that mean in practice if someone is in significant pain and has to sit in an emergency department for hours before receiving treatment?

I'm not posting this to attack Australia or claim that healthcare in Iran or Türkiye is better overall. I'm genuinely trying to understand the underlying reasons, particularly from people who work in healthcare or have a better understanding of how the Australian system operates.

Why are emergency department waiting times so long in Australia, and what would need to change to improve the situation?

I'd really appreciate some informed perspectives. Thank you for reading.

Hi fellow redditors!

I am looking for some information and guidance regarding gym memberships. I have been satisfied with my current gym membership at Jett's Gym for a while, however would like a gym that provides group fitness classes, which unfortunately my local Jett's doesn't. I currently pay $29.90 per fortnight for the membership, which I believe is quite good in comparison to other gyms around.

I am thinking of potentially joining a Goodlife Health Club locally. The level of membership I am interested in is the Blue Membership, which I think is approximately $23 per week with group fitness classes included and access to one home gym.

I would like to hear from anyone regarding their experiences at a Goodlife Health Club in Melbourne (in particular the Preston/Balwyn ones.) How are the fitness classes and how big are the classes? How polite and friendly are the staff? Is the equipment new or in your opinion is it subpar to what you expected?

Lastly, I see that there is a free trial on the website. Did you have any trouble signing up and getting this free trial?

Any advice is appreciated, thank you.

I've heard a bit recently regarding NSW rules now bringing in the ability for police officers to make a copy of your mobile phones data.

I assume initially it would be in rare instances pertaining to highly suspect people, though I can definitely see it being just a routine check once people are used to it being normalised.

I'm curious about the laws pertaining to explicit content held on someones device. If I have explicit images and videos of a sexual partner or partners, all of which have not given consent for their likeness to be shared, what is the legal ramifications for an officer making copies of them/potentially viewing them?

I'm aware that distributing revenge porn is something now punishable but where does that line begin and end? I would assume that the government would take that into account before passing something like this, right?

I grew up in Sydney and lived in Dubai and Hong Kong for a total of three years before finishing high school back in Sydney. My grandparents were Maronite refugees who settled in Western Sydney, but thanks to my parents' education and careers, I had the opportunity to live abroad in different countries.

While in Dubai and Hong Kong, I attended international schools that prided themselves on shaping "global citizens" and fostering internationalism. Yet even in those environments, I regularly got comments like:

• "Oh, but you don't look Australian, you look more Spanish or Italian."
• "You're the first Middle Eastern Christian I've ever met" (yes, even while living in Dubai).
• "You're too good-looking to be Middle Eastern; I thought you were Italian."
• "Huh, I never knew Christians existed in the Middle East."

Mind you, these remarks came from peers who had lived in three to five different countries growing up. It made me realise that many self-proclaimed "global citizens" are just an insular bubble of wealthy expats who view themselves as the pinnacle of cultural open-mindedness, yet paradoxically know remarkably little about the world beyond surface-level stereotypes.

When I returned to Sydney to finish school at St Patrick's College (it's in the Inner West, but much of it's student population is from Western Sydney), where most of my classmates were second or third generation immigrants from Asia, the Middle East, Southern and Eastern Europe, and the Pacific Islands, those kinds of comments virtually disappeared. Because of how genuinely diverse the school was, having classmates who were Maronite, Copt, or Assyrian was completely normal. Frankly, those lads were far more culturally literate than the international school crowd, despite many having lived in Australia their entire lives.

The contrast made me appreciate just how fortunate I was to grow up in such an authentically multicultural place. Western Sydney gave me a grounded awareness of life that elite international bubbles never could, and it made me realise that I’m thoroughly Australian through and through despite it all.

The King surveys his domain after the deluge

Surprised?

This is my sisters childhood best friend/stuffed toy. During moving houses she sadly misplaced him, a year later and we can still not find him.
Some information that may help-
-He was purchased sometime between 2002-2008ish
-His name was Harry but I’m not sure if that was just the name given to him by my sister
-We live on the north west coast of Tasmania, though he could’ve been bought on the mainland
Ps. Ignore the finger gun :)

Edit-‼️🚨FOUND- thank you to everyone who helped!!!!

Dalby, Australia —

The first rainfall in months splashes off the windshield as the mayor of Western Downs Andrew Smith drives to the site of a proposed AI data center behind a cattle feedlot in rural Queensland.

It’s feeding time and 16,000 cattle are standing under shade sails waiting for a passing truck to shoot grain into their troughs.

Agriculture is the biggest employer in this area, 260 kilometers (131 miles) west of Brisbane. But beneath the rich vertosol soils that sustain year-round crops lies a massive gas field that’s also turned the region into an energy hub.

Now the AI data center industry has come knocking with a $22 billion proposal from Singaporean developer Zerra DC to build the Western Downs Digital Park, one of Australia’s largest AI data centers, with four buildings each the size of five football fields, and temporary accommodation for 1,500 workers during the construction phase. ....

Back in July, the Australian prime minister vowed to require tech companies to power AI data centers with renewable energy, among a raft of requirements. Within a month, he’d backed down.

Queensland negotiated an exemption, so that if approved, the Western Downs Digital Park will be directly connected to the grid, running on a mix of energy sources that includes fossil fuels – coal and natural gas from one of Australia’s largest gas basins, which sits directly below the site.

Months without significant rain have browned the grass and trees. Rainwater tanks were running low until a downpour last week. Many farmers rely on bore water, but some say their wells have been pumped dry by the gas industry, and their water is now being offered to the developers to help build the AI data center.

Zerra DC says it’ll cool the data center using air-cooling technology, which requires far less water than the evaporative methods that have sparked protests from the US to India to Indonesia.

But air-cooling technology is more energy-intensive, and residents already fear that the center’s energy demands could strain the network, raise electricity prices, encourage more gas extraction, more de-watering, and potentially more subsidence – adding more stress to their daily worries about water.

Zerra DC says the project’s phased development will give it time to work with its customers – like Anthropic – to create new power sources, and while demand for power will increase, it says its battery conditioning system will buffer the grid from load spikes to help “stabilise power prices.”

Anthropic says it intends to enter into virtual power purchase agreements – or deals struck with energy providers – to procure more power for the grid, with a preference for renewables. “The source for this generation will be new build projects – but precisely which projects is an ongoing discussion,” said Masters, from Anthropic.

With the spread of Fire Ants reaching the inner west to Sydney from Brisbane. How far up shit creek have we gotten before realising our paddle was back at camp?

Tell us the good things about the town, city or suburb you live in, or a place you like to visit.

Text posts or photos are OK, either in the comments or as a standalone thread.

Please use the tag [Town Talk Tuesday]. Sub and sitewide rules apply.

I’m 32. My husband is 33 and we have two kids (4 and 1) we have only ever rented. I am on maternity leave and will be for another 12 months. We have $20k in savings for a house and it’s been at that amount since I got pregnant with my first child. My parents suggested we move in to save money. I don’t want to be there long (mainly for my mental health) lol so I wanted to cap it at 6 months, or until I return to work.. I’m worried that I’m going to be missing /altering very important bonding and special moments that are meant for just me/husband and my kids by being at my parents house.. I know that sounds silly but we really cherish our alone time as a family.
But then I’m thinking, what’s more important? That alone time together just us or buying a house and actually owning something for once in my life..
and do I stay for the 6 months or long enough until we have enough for a house.. me and my husband are so clueless when it comes to homes / real estate because we’ve only rented so we never needed to learn about any of it