You could say the 12 Apostles are the Great Ocean Road's poster boys - even though they are simply pillars of resistant rock and that at last count there were only eight of them.

While firefighters yesterday continued to battle huge blazes in Victoria, floods swept through Queensland, shutting down roads, railways and airports as former cyclone Oswald inundated coastal regions.

Australia's hopes are now focused on the monsoon finally forming over the north of the continent as more homes were lost to furious fires raging in above-40s temperatures and powerful hot winds yesterday.

Liz Hurley British actress Liz Hurley has had an ugly run-in with a journalist as she and fiance Shane Warne departed Perth.

Parking congestion at Auckland mosque more pressing issue than conflagration over clumsy anti-Islamic production.

Bus operators hold lives in their hands, work difficult shifts for little reward, but would prefer to avoid strike, Peter Calder writes in the first instalment of his new column.

Valerie Adams? Mahe Drysdale? They're just the latest namesto take the podium. To celebrate New Zealand winning its 100th Olympic medal today, here's a look back at five of our less known Olympians:

Spend a bit of time in Melbourne's laneways and some of the fabulous shops and you get to appreciate another side of this city.