10 Wackiest World Records Broken by Australians

Australia is a country with a lot of variety, and the superlative is very often used when talking about it in various contexts. Not only does Australia boast the most beautiful scenery, along with uniquely diverse flora and fauna, but the fact of the matter is that Australia claims some interesting world records as well. No surprise, since the country itself already has the title of being the smallest continent in the world. In fact, only in 2018, over 100 world records were set by Australians as observed in the Guinness Book of World Records, so, from surfboards through sheep all the way to lottery winnings, read on to learn what some of Australia’s unique world records are.

 

Surf, surf, surf…

Australia is a renowned surfing country with some of the best surfing spots in the world. No wonder that their residents love and enjoy this sport and come up with creative world records connected to it. In 2015, they decided to break the world record for the world’s largest surfing lesson – and they did that in Santa costumes. Despite the unnecessary costumes, they succeeded with 320 participants, but alas, the record was broken in Portugal recently, with 327 participants.

…and surf!

But the surf-related entries do not stop there – Australia also held the record for the longest line of surfboards, adding up to 1,123.28 metres, which, again, was unfortunately broken not long after. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of surf enthusiasts ready for new challenges so we can probably expect more such record-breaking attempts in the future.

Have a Slice!

There is no shortage of food-related entries in Guinness, and hungry onlookers are always ready to cheer for one another. A world record that Australia set in 2018 was for “The world’s largest dessert pizza”. A pizza company decided to make a 46.6m long delicacy topped with strawberries, chocolate and ice cream as their attempt to get into the record book. The pizza was made on the Gold Coast, comprising of about 2000 slices that those interested in the event could freely try.

Hit the Jackpot

A very different Guinness World Record from the previous ones, Australia is currently holding the record for the biggest online payout. Placing a bet on the outcome of lotteries on an online betting platform with ease, a 36-year-old German woman earned a staggering €90,000,000 ($105,121,000) with her second try. The record still stands, as she hit the jackpot on the 1^st of June, 2018.

Burnout

While food-related records are popular, destroying one’s vehicle is less so. Nevertheless, Australia holds one such record, for the world’s largest simultaneous car tyre burnout was set this year, in January, in the capital, Canberra. During the popular Summernats Car Festival, a total of 126 vehicles decided to sacrifice their tyres for this purpose, creating a huge cloud of smoke enveloping the audience. This record still remains to be broken.

The Sleepiest Marsupial

Quite an odd title, but it cannot be denied that koalas are endearingly slow, and that is how they earned the title of being the sleepiest marsupials in the world. In fact, koalas even surpass sloths in their sleepiness, which makes them the sleepiest animals in the world. This is no surprise considering that they tend to snooze between 18-22 hours a day!

The Weight of the World

Besides avid surfers, another thing that Australia has a lot of is sheep. In fact, there is even a sheep-related Guinness World Record, which is the slightly odd record of the “most wool sheared from a sheep” in a shingle shearing. The animal lived in the wilderness and was carrying over 41 kilograms of wool on itself when it was caught and sheared, which is a staggering amount. The fleece was donated to a museum afterwards.

Spidermen

While Australia is infamous for having some quite deadly animals crawling around in people’s backyards, this Guinness World Record has nothing to do with real spiders, thankfully. In fact, Australia proudly held the world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Spiderman with 438 costumed individuals who helped surpass the previous record of 398. Unfortunately, that record has since been broken as the current holder is Sweden with 547 participants.

Fit and Strong

Fitness is also a prominent movement on the continent of Australia, and we can find sport- and fitness-related world records held by Australians too. For instance, a fitness trainer from Queensland decided to inspire her clients by breaking the world record for the most burpees done in one hour. The 37-year-old trainer did no less than 1,321 burpees in 60 minutes, for which she trained for three months before the event.

Highway to Hell

In an attempt to raise funds for the Australian Children’s Music Foundation, 457 musicians came together in Sydney to play the famous “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. The annual Sydney Guitar Festival was the host for this interesting event in Chatswood. Each participant who signed up to be a part of this world record attempt received a mini amplifier to ensure the sound was great, and the atmosphere was surely great too.

Australia has plenty of interesting things to offer, but who would’ve thought that Aussies are this creative at setting various world records too? From Spiderman-costumed mobs through to ice cream on pizza for 2000 people, it’s hard to predict what is next for the record-breaking nation, but whatever it might be, it will surely be interesting.