From wrestling crocs and riding roos to surfing monster waves, Australians have a well-earned reputation for living life on the wild side. Now, a global study has proven there might be some truth to that popular stereotype (minus the part about the kangaroo). Australia has just been crowned the most adventurous country in the world, after an analysis of the popularity of 14 different adventure sports.
Winter sports tourism site Snow Season Central analysed Google search volumes of sports-related phrases (skydiving, skiing, scuba diving, mountain biking and more) over a 12-month period. The result? Australia came out on top as the country with the highest search volumes for action-sport terms per capita, and by a decent margin, too.
Aussie's top-searched adventure sports were hiking, surfing, BMX bike riding and scuba diving. And when you think about it, our daredevil tendencies make a lot of sense – when you've got incredible beaches, mountain ranges and bushland in your backyard, it's only logical to get outside and make the most of it. Australia also had the second-highest number of searches for mountain biking, climbing, skateboarding, skydiving and waterskiing.
Coming in second place on the most adventurous countries list was Canada, followed by the United States and Finland.
Here is the full ranked list of the top ten countries:
- Australia
- Canada
- United States
- Finland
- New Zealand
- France
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Singapore
- Denmark
If the most adventurous title wasn't enough, Australia was also recently named one of the best countries in the world. All we'll say is — you bloody beauty!