Australians haven’t travelled long haul en masse since last March.There is one place in Australia from which you can now fly a fair distance though: Perth.Frequent flyer (and owner of Flight Hacks) Immanuel Debeer recently experienced this, taking advantage of the relatively new trans-Tasman travel bubble, and flying from Perth to Auckland.This trip takes roughly 6 hours. The pointy end connoisseur took to Instagram recently to share what it was like.

 

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A post shared by Immanuel Debeer (@flighthacks)

“Not sure who let this guy on but it’s nice to be back! Flying Perth to Auckland NZ onboard the Air New Zealand B787 Dreamliner,” Debeer captioned the post.“I booked this flight using Aegean Miles + Bonus miles (usually hard to find availability with Air NZ). A one way set me back 21,000 + $109 in taxes. You can also book this using Virgin Atlantic miles which is a steal at only 15,000 miles + taxes. Alternatively, business seats are currently on sale for just a smidge over AU$900 (one way) which is half of what it used to cost!”

“Looking forward to more travel bubbles this year.”

“Hope you drank them dry,” one follower commented, in reference to an Instagram story Debeer has posted earlier, asking followers whether he should sleep or sink beverages.“I’m always modest,” Debeer replied to the comment.There was also an interesting discussion over the cabin’s unique business class design, which sees the seats sit at almost a 90-degree angle to the wall.“This cabin layout though. Nothing I would look forward to fly to be very honest,” one Instagram user wrote.“Used to be a ground breaking design… not so much these days,” Debeer replied.Whatever your take on the layout of the plane, we can all agree this 6-hour flight is probably the longest flight most Australians will be taking this year (unless, of course, the Singapore travel bubble comes to fruition soon).Though Qantas has stated it hopes to resume overseas flights from October 2021, and though some are taking this as an indication of when long haul travel will resume, it isn’t determinative.Experts predict normal rates of air travel won’t return until 2023 or 2024 at least.The Australian government has put a travel ban in place that prevents Australians from travelling overseas without an exemption. This ban is in place until June 2021 (though it may be extended).The Department of Home Affairs has yet to give a firm timeline on when Australians will be able to travel freely overseas again.Vaccination rates are likely to prove crucial to the process.

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The post Australia's Pandemic Approved 'Long Haul' Route Is A Business Class Winner appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

How to get abs in 2 weeks? It’s a question pondered by men the world over. And, despite having damning evidence from German bodybuilding sensation Jo Lindner that women aren’t all that bothered if guys have six-pack abs or not, it’s fair to say it’s still an aesthetic feature that most men crave.To have a six-pack is akin to winning a trophy; they reveal much about a person: that they go to the gym; they work hard on keeping body fat to a minimum; and they sustain themselves on a balanced, healthy diet.So the mind-boggling pressure of being a 21st-century human goes…It’s these factors that deter many men from obtaining the holy grail of fitness. To win yourself a six-pack requires much dedication and commitment, and, at the start of the process at least, it helps to stay away from alcohol. To say it’s a challenge would be an understatement.But one YouTube video recently caught my eye. Uploaded by Travis and Koa Smith, two members of ‘The Smith Brothers’ family, a trio of surfing siblings from health vlog mecca Hawaii, their walkthrough video claims you can get yourself a set of serious abs in just two weeks by following their 10-minute core workout. As someone who has found himself enjoying keeping fit much more than he expected – and previously willing to follow ‘the internet’ for the fitness hacks – yet still unable to achieve the elusive abdominals, I thought I would give it a go.How hard could it be?

This hard.The MC of their gruelling ab workout is Daniel Bachman, owner of D.Bach Functional Fitness on Hawaii’s North Shore, and the personal trainer to all three brothers. We’d liken him to the devil, or some other ungodly being. We’re not sure what kind of figure he’s hiding beneath his hoodie, but the man must be ripped to sh*t. The ease with which he demonstrates the movements to the boys is unlike anything we’ve seen before. The fact the brothers, who are far from unfit themselves, appear to struggle with some of the moves even in the first few reps should be proof enough that this workout will be no walk in the park.But as they say, ‘no pain, no gain’, and I definitely wanted to gain. And if a route of pain was what it took, so be it.The beauty of this particular core workout is that it can be performed anywhere, anytime, as it only requires your own bodyweight. So, no excuses…unfortunately.Daniel provides great instruction to the boys, and to anyone following along, which is to breathe out as you perform the move, and inhale as you return to the starting position. My initial instinct was to inhale as I performed and exhaled as I returned, so breaking this habit and trusting Daniel’s guidance added another obstacle to overcome. But it definitely worked, and I found the movements easier to perform following this method.That’s not to say they were easy. Just easier.

I’m not going to write out the full workout, I wouldn’t want to scare you. But you can watch the embedded video whenever you feel like putting your body through its paces. But for some extra tips with regards to completing it effectively, Daniel provides some advice. Appreciating that these movements are difficult he says “the pace is up to you, you can go slow, you can go fast.”For the majority of the movements, “the main thing is to keep the upper body isolated”, meaning, don’t use the swing of your legs to help move your upper body. You want to be engaging and using your core instead.He further adds, “The key is to maintain consistency, take a break if needed and just continue when you’re ready”, and for anyone struggling to maintain the correct technique, Daniel suggest some easier versions of the same movement to help you get through it all, “we’re reducing the difficulty, but still moving forward.” I personally found these to be invaluable.So, circling back to the point of all this. Was I able to gain a six-pack in two weeks? In a word, no. However, there are other factors at play. The boys suggest completing this workout 2 – 3 times a week, for the two week period. Being honest, I wasn’t able to stick to this. I visited the gym, yes, but I have my own program to work through first, which also includes some core work. On more than one occasion I just didn’t have the energy to put myself through another 10 minutes of torture exercise.I completed the workout to the best of my ability four times, and admittedly, I did find it slightly easier each time. I took on board the advice about using the breath to aid with movement, and there’s no doubt my core strength improved. I can certainly feel muscle beneath my layer of belly fat, so maybe if I was to continue using this workout, I would gain a six-pack.

Therein lies another factor, however: belly fat. You could perform just core workouts for your entire life, but if you have a generous layer of belly fat covering them up, you’re never going to be able to show them off to the world. Shedding body fat could be an easy process, or a hard process for you, depending on your body type. Ectomorphs will find it easiest, but then they also find it harder to put on muscle.Endomorphs meanwhile put on fat much easier, and therefore find it harder to lose. As we’ve seen before, the key to losing fat is to build up your muscle, although many choose to go down the cardio route of running, walking or cycling their way to a slimmer body. These methods do certainly work, but you also run the risk of losing some muscle in the process.RELATED: Man’s Incredible Transformation Proves What 12 Months Of Hard Work Can AchieveSomething else to consider is the fact this workout is coming via a YouTube video, and not personal, one-on-one training and guidance. Michael Ramsey, co-founder of Strong, a new style of high intensity workout that combines pilates, cardio and rowing into a full-body workout, says this doesn’t necessarily mean a bad thing. “YouTube tends to work really well when you/the consumer, has a base level fo fitness and a basic understanding of movement. No doubt there’s some extremely successful and trustworthy ‘YouTube’ trainers publishing content, however there’s no screening process and an equal amount of rubbish getting published online.”

“It’s important to read reviews, comments and search for success stories before committing to an online trainer. If you’re starting from the bottom I’d recommend getting some fact to face guidance to at least learn the fundamentals and correct form.”

As for whether Michael believes it is genuinely possible to obtain a six-pack in two weeks, he replies with a resounding, “NO”.

“A good ‘6-pack’ generally comes from losing visceral fat (fat around the stomach) which particularly in males is the last spot you lose fat from. This is done through consistent training and eating in a calorie deficit.”

Echoing our earlier comments, he adds, “On a deeper level, proper nutrition, a solid training program, 6-8 hours of sleep per night, 3-4 litres of water per day, and some mobility work throughout the week will get you to not only your goal of a 6-pack, but feeling healthier and better in general.”I’m going to attempt to keep adding the Smith brothers’ workout into my routine as much as possible. Even if it takes me much longer to see what can be described as abs poking through my stomach, at the very least my core strength will improve.

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The post I Believed I Could Get Six-Pack Abs In 2 Weeks. I Was Freaking Delusional. appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Incredible scenes bouncing out of Miami are making the world’s dance music community sigh with envy.But it’s not just the music they’re in awe of – it’s the gig. Something we have seen precious little of, particularly in the US, for a good fourteen months.Michael Bibi is a DJ and producer from London – a one time DJ Awards winner who’s been a fixture of the UK’s dance music community for quite some time.His raw passion for Music, which has been with him since childhood, was recently on full display as he took to the decks in Miami.Yesterday he shared clips of the Miami show on Instagram, captioning the post, “the world is healing.”

 

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A post shared by MichaelBibiOFC (@michael_bibi_)

The comment section quickly filled up with gratitude from patrons and fans, asking for track “IDs” and blowing smoke up Bibi’s talented proverbials…“Thank you for blessing our ears and hearts,” one wrote. “Deep in that flow state,” commented another.Another user wrote: “Miami leading the way bro… My 7 weeks there this winter literally gave me faith that the rest of the industry will get past this. Unforgettable Memories.”

“Can’t wait to see you @arcmusicfestival im gonna cry first festival in over a year.”

We Rave You reports, “With President Biden enforcing responsible measures in the fight against COVID-19, American nightlife has been able to re-open, with Pryda taking to Club Space in Miami earlier this week for a very special set, which lasted a total of 4 hours.”“With the venue also hosting the likes of Michael Bibi, Jamie Jones, and Luciano, the move marks a new chapter for the U.S night-life industry and follows on from the recent news that the Wynn resort in Las Vegas have booked Alesso and Kygo as residents for the 2021 season.”Though we all need a bit of good news after the last year, given the re-explosion of COVID currently in some other parts of the world, Bibi’s video also stirred a bit of envy.One Instagram user wrote: “Colombia isn’t healing.”Another tagged her friend, writing, “look at miami now wtf why can’t it be like that here.”“Pfft,” another said, after being tagged by their friend.Over here in Australia, it’s also remarkable to see. Though we have far fewer COVID cases than the US…

…our festival scene is yet to properly kick back into gear.

Meanwhile, though it is in a much better place than last year, the US still has significantly higher numbers of confirmed COVID cases than Australia.At the time of writing, Miami Dade County has had 488K total confirmed COVID cases and 6,207 deaths.Florida has had 2.25 million confirmed cases and 35,477 deaths.That being said, Australia is now perhaps set to start looking at America with envy rather than sympathy.As an article in Traveller recently pointed out, even though Australians have become used to feeling sorry for those in the US (where more than half a million have died since the beginning of the pandemic), “the US is about to become, if not the envy of the world, at least the leading example of what the world will look like in a post-vaccine era.”

“The US’s vaccine rollout has been astonishing and extremely impressive, particularly when compared to the efforts of other countries – say, for example, Australia. Already, more than 200 million vaccine doses have been administered in the US. The country is expected to have fully vaccinated 70 percent of its citizens by July. Daily COVID-19 cases have plummeted.”

Traveller continued: “The whole world will eventually look like the US, with its open borders and vaccinated populations. There will still be cases of COVID-19 in the States, of course. But this is the way the world will have to be, the way we’ll have to survive, the way Australians will eventually have to live, too: with vaccinations, and with COVID-19.”As of May 6th, 2021, 47.31% of people in Miami-Dade County, FL had been vaccinated with one dose of the vaccine, and 32.67% of the population were fully vaccinated, according to Springfield News Leader.Bibi’s “the world is healing” remark, then, if you just look at the US, had something to it (though, globally, there is a long way to go).Bibi’s next two shows are in Orlando, FL, US (May 15th) and Barcelona, Spain (June 18th).He also has upcoming gigs in Portugal, Serbia, the UK, Italy and Malta.

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The post Maskless Miami Dance Party Suggests America Is Healing appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

During the height of the U.S. summer 2020, we started noticing a trend in the men’s fashion arena: the full matching outfit. Some 9 months later, it’s continuing to do the rounds, and Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor is the latest in a slew of celebrities to show us how it’s done with an outrageous, yet stylish, full Gucci ensemble.Back in August last year, Kevin Hart was spotted wearing a matching shirt and shorts combo, following in the footsteps of others such as LeBron James and Scott Disick. The matchy-matchy looks rocked by these guys were rather refined and sedate, and were also an indication that the humble Hawaiian shirt was due for a comeback – which recently happened, thanks to David Beckham. But Conor McGregor, being one to live a lavish lifestyle, unsurprisingly went full designer mode in his most recent Instagram upload, dressing quite literally head to toe in Gucci, along with the caption “almost time for camp.”

 

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A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)

Rocking some of the latest drops from the Italian designer, Conor can be seen wearing a blue GG hexagon silk crepe bowling shirt – yours for US$1,200 – and matching shorts, which we’re currently unable to find online. It’s a resort-approved fit if ever we saw one and just further proof that guys can indeed wear full-matching shirt and short combos, and not just leave the playsuit to the girls.It’s not just all-inclusive resorts that can command the comfy summer fit, as Australian indie band Lime Cordiale recently proved guys can look damn fine in single-colour safari suits, itself a suitable sartorial option for summer.Circling back to Conor’s caption on the post, we can only presume it means he’ll soon be back to training in preparation for his fight with Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas on July 10 2021. The fight will mark the third time the two UFC stars have gone head-to-head, and follows their previous meet up in January 2021, where Poirier knocked McGregor out in the second round.

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The post Conor McGregor Goes Full Gucci With Outrageous Resort-Approved Fit appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

We’re inundated with more fad diets and nutrition terms than you can shake an organic kale shake at. You’ve got such examples as the carnivore diet, which proponents claim aids weight loss, mood issues, and blood sugar regulation, among other health issues, or the keto diet, which has you replacing foods naturally high in carbohydrates with those high in protein, to ‘trick’ your body into thinking it’s starving, whereby it enters ketosis. The idea being it helps you lose excess fat without sacrificing essential nutrients.

Then, on the other side of the (celery) stick, there’s going vegan.

Safe to say, nutrition is an industry rife with debate, with another key battle being the animal-based vs plant-based foods argument. Both subject to their fair share of pros and cons – and as for whether you believe we as humans are biologically designed to consume meat or plants (or a mix) is for you to decide (though, ethical debate aside, the science is pretty clear: we are omnivores).

RELATED: Nutrition Expert Debunks Myth Claiming Humans Aren’t Made To Eat Meat

Fortunately, there is a new term currently sweeping the world of nutrition that may be more aligned to your thoughts and opinions: going ‘nutrivore’. Essentially meaning ‘to sit on the fence’, a nutrivore diet is a diet registered nutritionist Ryan Carter has been talking about much of late. Taking to Instagram recently, Ryan shared why he came up with the term and what it all means.

 

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A post shared by Ryan Carter | Nutritionist (@livevitae)

“In the nutrition world which is constantly pushing extremism, I am here to say, it’s not needed. Unfortunately, nutrition and environmental science is littered with context and conflict.” Truer words have never been spoken in our opinion, and it’s a subject expert nutritionist Max Lugavere has previously approached too, who says “That’s why I often defer to common sense and evolutionary logic and say to learn to listen to your body!”

“If you’re seeking your health issues and answers on social media alone, you will most likely never get anywhere”, says Ryan.

RELATED: Grim ‘Bulking Gone Bad’ Transformation Shows What Happens When You Blindly Follow Internet Fitness Gurus

To help settle some of the aforementioned debate at the top of this article, Ryan adds, “human physiology is designed to consume and utilise both plants and animals.”

“Put simply, you don’t need to embark on restrictive diets. Even now there are carnivore advocates including plants in their diets and ex vegans eating meat again.”

“Personally, I will stick in the middle, consume as much local and seasonal food as possible, eat as nutrient dense as possible and utilise common sense using intuition with energy density of foods, sleep quality, exercise and how I feel! I call this ‘diet’ a nutrivore with common sense.”

DMARGE reached out to Madeline Calfas, registered nurse, naturopath and – per her LinkedIn bio – nutritionist, to get her take on this ‘nutrivore’ trend. She begins by telling us “the true definition of a nutrivore is someone who strives for maximum nutrient amount per calorie eaten. Simply put, they try to make sure that every calorie that enters the mouth us nutritionally abundant.”

“A nutrivore tries to reduce the amount of processed and refined food that they eat, and I would say what [Ryan] is describing is more of an omnivore, someone who eats both animal and plant-based foods.”

So, regardless of official definition, is there weight to the ‘nutrivore’ argument and is it a diet we should all adopt? For Madeline, the answer is yes. “Whichever way you take the definition, a nutrivore diet is absolutely something we could all benefit from.”

“Ensuring that we eat nutritionally abundant foods is the best way to try and ensure that our bodies are able to perform their best. Every cellular process in our body requires nutrients – vitamins, minerals, amino acids etc – to do their job, and the best way to achieve that is by eating a wide variety of nutrionally-dense foods.”

“That’s not to say we can’t enjoy empty calories, but keep in moderation. Essentially, keeping a nutritionally balanced diet is the best advice for everyone.”

 

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A post shared by Luke Zocchi (@zocobodypro)

While we had Madeline’s attention, we wanted to find out her take on the whole “humans aren’t made to eat meat” debate.

“Humans as a biochemical rule are designed to be omnivores.”

“Our nutritional requirements dictate that we eat a combination of both plant and animal-based foods to ensure that we get the appropriate nutrition to ensure a healthy, well-functioning body. There are several nutrients, such as Vitamin B12, Creatine, Carnosine, Vitamin D3, DHA, heme iron, and taurine, that can only be found in animal products.”

“These are essential nutrients, so for those who choose to go vegan, they must be supplemented.”

“Having said that, there is a small percentage of the population that actually do better not having animal products in their diet. A greater number benefit more from being vegetarian or pescatarian, which means they still have animal product, but not red meat. The majority of the population does best eating a combination of different animal product sources (red meat, chicken, fish, eggs etc).”

RELATED: Big ‘Diet Fad’ Mistake You Need To Stop Making, According To A Nutrition Coach

As Ryan says in his post, it can be unwise to follow solely social media for all your nutritional information, so we put the question to Madeline, “how should we go about choosing a new diet for ourselves?”. She says, “If you are interested in trying to adapt a new way of eating and want to make sure it’s a good option, absolutely speak to a health professional who is trained in nutrition. Social media is a great way to get new ideas, but be very particular about where you get your information, as literally anyone can put ‘nutritional’ information out there.”

“Be sure to check your sources’ qualifications as well as where those qualifications came from. Likewise, when it comes to Dr Google, it is important to understand that there is no limitation to what information can be put on the internet. Google doesn’t sit down and fact check what gets posted, so it’s wise not to just assume that everything that appears in your Google search is factual.”

“The other important thing to factor in is how you feel when you eat a certain way. If you feel better only eating seafood and not red meat, then do so. If you really want to be vegan for ethical reasons but your body disagrees, don’t force it. Rather, make ethical choices about where you source your food.”

“If there is a term that I would really like to see become not just an industry-wide term, but a global term, it’s INTUITIVE EATING. Literally follow your gut.”

“What works for your bestie may not work for you, and if there is one thing that I have seen over the year, it is you cannot force your body to be something it doesn’t want to.”

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The post Forget The Ketogenic Diet; 2021 Is All About Being A 'Nutrivore' appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Australia’s automotive landscape is competitive, fluid and diverse. But in 2021, there are two things you can be absolutely confident of: the second-hand car market is hotter than a vinyl singlet, and Australians are obsessed with sport utility vehicles, or SUVs.

The first is a bit of a no-brainer. The COVID-19 crisis has fuelled demand for cars whilst also reducing the supply of new ones: disruption to global trade and manufacturing means dealers have been low on stock, meaning that locals have turned to the second-hand market. Prices for used and waitlists for new have reached painfully high levels.

The second phenomenon is one that’s been brewing for years. SUVs have long supplanted the large sedan / wagon as the most popular vehicle segment for Aussies, a trend we’ve seen right around the world. This trend has also seen the rise of the crossover SUV, another market segment that’s increasingly popular.

But what if we told you that our love affair with SUVs has also helped create the insanely overheated second-hand car market we’ve been experiencing during COVID?

CarAdvice’s Jez Spinks relates that the rise of the SUV has spelled the end of the affordable ‘city car’ – i.e. the sorts of small hatchbacks that typically dominate the lower end of the new car market.

“Most car manufacturers have deserted the city car category to focus on entry-level sports utility vehicles.”

“It’s good news for dealers as pint-sized SUVs provide greater scope for a return compared with the notoriously slim – or even non-existent – profit margins of city cars.”

“But it’s not good news for buyers with limited budgets as city-sized SUVs are being priced significantly higher than the city cars they’re based on. It’s not necessarily any consolation that these SUVs are in some instances equipped like a higher-grade city car.”

While cheap city cars and small hatchbacks still exist, many of them have seen their prices move somewhat more upmarket – such as the Fiat 500, Mazda 2, Toyota Yaris or Volkswagen Polo. There are still some genuinely cheap small cars to be found, like the Kia Picanto, MG3 or Suzuki Baleno, but they’re an increasingly endangered species.

RELATED: Affordable Second-Hand Cars Australians Should Start Collecting Now

But price isn’t the only factor here. Even the smallest crossovers on the market are bigger than city cars or subcompacts. Bigger isn’t always better, especially in our increasingly congested cities or where driving dynamics are concerned.

And that leads us to our main point: Aussies who can’t afford, or simply don’t want, a crossover SUV, are increasingly being forced to head to the second-hand market to find things more up their alley… Which might (at least in part) explain why the second-hand market’s got so hot.

It’s one hell of a thesis, but does it hold weight? There’s hardly a shortage of city cars et al on the second-hand market. The question is this: is demand for city cars on the second-hand market strong enough to reduce overall second-hand car supply and drive overall prices up? We’re not so sure.

Actually, the vehicle segment that’s seen the most speculation over the last twelve months has actually been off-roaders, many of which are SUVs anyway.

The vehicle that’s seen perhaps the most spectacular demand has been the Suzuki Jimny, however: a city car-sized 4×4 SUV. Maybe we’re muddying the water here…

RELATED: Suzuki Jimny SUV Suffering ‘Rolex’ Price Surge In Australia

We’re in two minds about it. Cheap, little cars are great – but they have their shortcomings. It’s no conspiracy why crossovers have become so popular: they’re practical, versatile and usually quite fuel-efficient. Try fitting a family of five and all their belongings in a Yaris.

We just don’t want to see city cars go the way of the sedan, nor do we want a new (or used) car market that prices people out of the sort of cars they want to drive.

Much to ponder.

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The post The Biggest Loser In Australia’s Second Hand Car Market Chaos appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Hunter S. Thompson once wrote: “There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge.”Though it’s not quite the same… We’d like to stretch it an ounce further, and talk about Australia’s housing market.There’s precious little in the world more helpless than a Sydneysider in the depths of housing market FOMO… especially when the chips are stacked against them.Do we exaggerate? You be the judge.Speaking to James Whelan – Investment Manager at VFS Group in Sydney – DMARGE recently learned there is a big difference between how financial advisors and real estate agents are regulated.While at first glance you might think, “fair enough, they are very different industries,” dig deeper into how significant a purchase property is in most people’s lives, and how the property market affects us all when it tanks or flies, and you might be prompted to think again.“As a financial advisor to reach our clients – mums and dads – I’m required to do 40 hours of professional education and development every year, sit various tests and do all sorts of mandatory bits and pieces. There is also a complaints process so that should I advise a retail client incorrectly, potentially I could be banned from the industry for a very long time and lose my livelihood,” Mr Whelan told DMARGE.The property advisory market, meanwhile, “Is not subjected to the same level of education or stringent requirements you need to advise people and yet they are advising mums and dads and young people on the biggest investment of their entire life.”This is particularly risky in a climate where more and more Australians want to get in on property market action.Take, for instance, the phrase, ‘I think you should buy.’ Mr Whelan tells us: “I can’t say that to most people regarding a $5,000 trade on BHP and yet a 5 million dollar place in Bondi – they’ve got no problem…”

“But if you took that away the market would probably collapse – if you brought those requirements in on the real estate side then I think you’d find the market would probably react pretty negatively.”

“It does really seem that it’s like a stack of cards but one that doesn’t seem like ever coming down.”“As an investor in things in this nation, it would be nice to have young people buying a home and filling it with stuff – new stuff that they buy – [instead we have] old people buying investment properties at cheap money and renting it out.”

“The ownership of your own home is the fundamental requirement of a good strong economy.”

Mr Whelan also reckons some Australians are being taken advantage of right now, recently taking to Twitter to warn against a risky new trend.

The trend of skipping building and pest inspections to get property will be taken advantage of by a barely regulated group of unethical sharks.

— James Whelan (@jameswhelan42) April 18, 2021

“The trend of skipping building and pest inspections to get property will be taken advantage of by a barely regulated group of unethical sharks,” Mr Whelan posted to Twitter in April, promoting comments from other Twitter users like: “Looking forward to the ‘I bought a house riddled with termites, agent didn’t tell me, what recourse do I have?’ posts on the Facebook groups.”

Looking forward to the “I bought a house riddled with termites, agent didn’t tell me, what recourse do I have?” posts on the Facebook groups.

— Pleb Capital (@plebcapital) April 18, 2021

DMARGE has contacted the ACCC for comment regarding the number of complaints of this nature seen of late. We are yet to receive a response.According to the Housing Industry Association (via Trading Economics), “Australia’s new home sales soared 90.3 percent month-over-month to the highest since 2004 of 9,691 units in March 2021, after a 22.9 percent growth a month earlier, boosted by the HomeBuilder scheme, along with low-interest rates changing population dynamics and improving market confidence.”That’s a lot of houses and a lot of money. And – as DMARGE has reported various times over the last 12 months – a lot of FOMO.Even though Australia’s housing market has been having a ~moment~ as of late, the debate over “puffery” in the real estate sector has been going for decades.In 2009, speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, the acting chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Peter Kell, said people were sick of visiting advertised homes only to find the best features had been exaggerated and the worst ignored.He said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, there would always be some form of puffery in the industry, but sometimes it went too far.“What the ACCC is concerned to address are statements that are actually misleading or statements that are likely to induce a consumer to purchase a property on false grounds.”

“Silence or omitting information can also be just as misleading as any other sort of behaviour.”

“Agents found to have misled potential buyers through inaccurate or embellished descriptions face penalties of up to $22,000 for individuals and $110,000 for companies,” the Sydney Morning Herald wrote in the 2009 article. “They cannot avoid liability by claiming the buyer should have made reasonable inquiries and checked the information provided.”“The ACCC received 833 complaints or inquiries about real estate agents in 2007-08, compared with 551 the previous year,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported, in the same article from 2009.Jumping back to 2021…  at the time of writing, the ACCC states on its website that it is unlawful for real estate agents to:

• intentionally mislead you
• lead you to a wrong conclusion or impression
• give you a false impression
• leave out or hide important information (e.g. in fine-print disclaimers)
• make false or inaccurate claims
• It makes no difference whether the agent meant to mislead or deceive you—it is how you perceived the conduct that matters

Six changes to the laws that regulate NSW’s real estate and property industry agents, it should be noted, came in on the 23rd of March 2020. As The Lawyer Mag reported at the time: “The new regulations get stricter and more specific in making sure that the agents disclose the necessary details and facts to a prospective buyer.”Still: Australians – particularly those in booming cities like Sydney – are best advised to play things safe. Nasty surprises with your property aside, even if everything (bricks and mortar wise) goes swimmingly, there’s still the matter of debt.“It’s a cold reality of Sydney’s white-hot property market and experts are warning it could land newly minted homeowners in trouble,” the ABC reported in March 2021.

“Buyers are being urged to not be swept away by the Harbour City’s housing surge that saw prices increase by 2.5 per cent last month – the equal highest level in the country.”

“It’s prompted a warning some people could be taking on more debt than they can handle,” the ABC reports, with The Reserve Bank reportedly currently monitoring financial institutions to ensure they’re not lending out too many dollars.Want more tips on how to stay safe and stay savvy? Check out the articles below.

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• ‘Like Reading Roman History’: Truth About Australia’s Housing Market

The post 'Barely Regulated Sharks' Taking Advantage Of Australia’s New Home Buyers appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Over the past twelve months, Australians have been exploring their own country like never before.As part of this, we’ve started comparing Australian destinations with famous overseas ‘alternatives’. DMARGE is as guilty as anyone of this, having compared Port Stephens to Crete, The Great Ocean Road to Polignano a Mare and Adelaide to Andalucia, in the last few months.

The Daily Mail Australia has been doing this too, recently reporting that a photogenic part of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, which looks a bit like a fancy European island, is blowing up on Instagram.

 

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French Canadian travel blogger @lustinherworld recently wrote of the place on Instagram: “does this look like Greece or what?”

 

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One man on Tripadvisor similarly picked up on this sneaky spot’s Mediterranean vibes: “The Pillars is a must do! It’s like Europe but in Melbourne. They have blocked it off but I have a kayak and paddle around to it.”The place they are referring to – The Pillars – is a set of sandstone cliffs popular with sightseers, fishing enthusiasts, cliff divers and photographers like @travel_stamps (see below). The place is 83 kilometres south of Melbourne.The above man’s remark would also appear to be out of date, with access now open again by foot.‘The Pillars’ hashtag now has 11,324 posts to its name, and a geotag with hundreds more photos to its name.

 

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“There are no signs for the Pillars, but a well-worn walking trail just off Deakin Drive leads down to the water,” the Daily Mail Australia reports, also writing that holiday-starved millennial Australians have been flocking there since the start of summer.

 

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There are some that claim The Pillars is not all its cracked up to be, however. Various people have taken to Instagram and Tripadvisor to leave scathing reviews of the place.

 

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One Instagram user wrote in December: “The Pillars near Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula is a controversial spot. Their beauty draws attention. As visitors flock to this glorious spot, rubbish gets left behind and damage is done to the natural landscape here. Like every place we visit, it’s important to respect the locals and their backyard. These places are to be shared, but only if we can look after them properly.”

 

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Another, on Tripadvisor, wrote in 2019: “Reason l give this place two star is, it is a beautiful scenic spot but crazy in summer with kids out of control jumping off the cliffs, going to the toilet in the area and leaving their rubbish. Have spoilt this lovely view space for sunrise and sunsets.”Another left the following negative review: “The Pillars is not fit for tourism. It has been wrecked by the hoardes of irrespectful [sic] tourists who come; graffiti on the rock face, rubbish and bottles everywhere, killed flora and fauna by those who walk over them to get to the cliffs, massive areas of erosion.”“As a local we suffer when hundreds of people walk along the *already* narrow esplanade and now it has had to be caged up just to keep people out. Also might i add that the dangers of the pillars are super obvious to locals like us who sit day after day listening to the sirens of ambulances having to rescue stupid tourists who have hurt themselves whilst jumping during low tide or on dangerous choppy days.”

“Thanks for wrecking a once good thing!”

Another claimed: “This place is a nightmare. It’s filthy and full of people who are ruining it more. It is fenced, police will arrest you if you go there and there is nowhere to park. People walk on the road and put their lives in danger. It is idiotic to come here and stand on the road. There is nowhere safe to access it. A fence is there to keep spoilers out. This is everything that is wrong with humans and local government not caring about the environment.”“There is litter everywhere. If you bring children here you should be arrested, because it’s not safe for them. This is a shocking state of decay. A disgrace. Plan anything else but here.”Others have claimed such remarks may have an agenda and as such are exaggerated.Another hit back in January 2020, for instance, writing: “The Pillars are well and truly back. Don’t worry about those trying to discourage others by writing bad posts, there was a concerted effort to stop others enjoying the area but it belongs to everyone so so go have a fantastic time it is well worth a visit. Just please take any rubbish away and act responsibly.”Interest piqued? Check out a video of The Pillars below by The Wanderlust Times.

@thewanderlusttimesOne of the most beautiful spots in Melbourne ##melbournetodo ##melbourneaus ##travelaustralia ##summerinaus ##foryoupage ##oceanweek♬ The Nights – Avicii

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The post Mount Martha Pillars: Australia’s Secret ‘Mini Greece’ Is Not As Perfect As It Seems appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Though Joe Rogan may have shot to fame in 2011 with comedy bro-downs, DMT rants and chats with ancient history professors about the modern world being a “society with amnesia,” given his mixed martial arts background, he remains a solid source of fitness inspiration to many too.A dedicated practitioner of martial arts, Rogan is not just a prolific podcaster, but holds black belts in both Taekwondo and Jiu-Jitsu. He is also a top UFC commentator.Having spoken to more health gurus and fitness experts in his life than most of us ever will, and having the financial resources to dabble in their theories, Rogan has become a firm proponent of a number of fitness techniques. One of his favourite? The sauna.Taking to Instagram yesterday, the 53-year-old posted the following photo, with the following caption, after stepping out of a sauna at 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Celsius!!).“Fresh out the hot box and feeling like a slightly better version of who I was when I went in. I think some wild thoughts in there, especially during the last 5 minutes.”

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“When those are over that’s when I feel so thankful and appreciative, not just that I didn’t die from heat stroke, but thankful of everything. I wanna call friends I haven’t spoken to in years. I wanna complement people, and tell them that I love them.”“The ultimate goal is to always be a better me, but my progress always seems to resemble a Bitcoin chart; 2 steps up, 1 step down, 3 steps up…”“I learn, but for whatever reason I seem to learn best and grow most when there’s some struggle.”Followers were flabbergasted at the temperature. Diplo wrote: “How can you get it to 200!”

This is not the first time Rogan has taken to Instagram to speak about the benefits he finds in the hot room.Back when he was still on 190 degrees Farenheight, he wrote: “Discomfort is your friend. Deep breathing in the sauna leaving me with a strange euphoria, and a general sense of calm when it’s over.”

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“But I have to earn that in the last 10 minutes. The first 10 minutes or so aren’t that bad, so generally, that’s when I just lay down and relax. I just think.”“Then when it starts to suck I take the AirPods out and I start the breathing. 6 seconds in deep and 6 seconds out. I get my rhythm and I try to think of nothing but my breath.”“When I get to the point where I am really having a hard time I promise myself 10 more deep breaths in and 10 more out.”

“When I get there, I can say ‘if you can do that, you can do 10 more…’”

According to Thieme journal, how long you can survive with heat depends especially on the humidity: the less humidity the longer you keep up.“In a sauna at 230°F adults withstand a maximum of 3 to 4 minutes, in a burning house up to 10 minutes – as long as they don’t pass out because of the carbon monoxide. Children fall victims even more quickly to high ambient temperatures, e.g. in a car heated up to 122°F they fall victims after a few minutes.”“During a heat stroke the body temperature increases to over 104°F. The acute overheating causes a brain edema, that evokes symptoms such as cramps, clouding of consciousness, headache, and sickness. In the worst cases heat stroke ends with lasting brain damages or even with death.”According to ZME Science, “There are different types of saunas and steam rooms, with temperatures that can range quite a bit. Typically, safe temperatures range between 78-90°C (180-195°F). Though saunas can get much hotter (reportedly, going up to 160°C 220 °F), that ranges well outside the realm of safety (at least for most people).”All that said… done right, both saunas and deep breathing have both been shown to have numerous benefits for the body and mind.Primarily, deep breathing can help lower your stress levels. Urban Balance says that when we feel stressed, our brain releases cortisol, but taking in deep breaths our heart can control the flow of oxygen into the bloodstream (to the point where the is much more flooding in) which signals for the brain to relax.As for the sauna? That too has myriad benefits, such as improving circulation due to your heart beating faster because of the increased heat, according to Heal With Heat. That said, as with any fitness-related advice, and just as you wouldn’t push yourself too hard in the gym if you’re a beginner, you shouldn’t push yourself in a sauna if you’re not in good physical condition (even then: baby steps).Though normal sauna use (at a normal temperature) does not pose risks for most people, the other side of the coin to feeling awesome from a tough workout is dehydration, nausea, or worse (especially if you crank the dial-up to the unusually high temperatures of the likes spruiked by Rogan, which we do not recommend).Get it right though and saunas have also been proven to help reduce stress levels and to flush toxins from your body (something deep breathing can also promote), so combining the two could make sense.Particularly if you are going to attempt anything like the sorts of thermometer heights the likes of Rogan and Laird Hamilton enjoy, we’d recommend you discuss it with a medical professional first, and – much like when breath training in a pool, or anywhere at all risky – avoid doing it solo.In other news, Rogan recently spoke to Ethan Suplee about his incredible weight loss journey, determinism vs. free will and how demonizing foods or particular food items can really harm people.

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He also has continued sharing his workout moments (“morning iron worship”) from throughout the day, tagging his sponsors as usual.

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Food for thought indeed.

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• Joe Rogan Unveils Ancient Technique That Could Seriously Boost Your Lung Capacity
• Joe Rogan Shares Harsh Secret To Mental Strength

The post Joe Rogan’s Sauna Experience Is A Lesson For Us All appeared first on DMARGE Australia.