Source: The Mercury, Tuesday, September 22, 1998, p.11

Hobart falls short in
the sexy city stakes

HOBART has been voted
Australia's least sexy city
in a new survey.

   With just l% of the vote, its
only rival is that staid centre
of bureaucracy, Canberra
which finished equal last.

   Sydney received 49% of the
national vote for sexiest city
followed by Melbourne with
32%, Brisbane with 10% and
only 2% of respondents rated
Darwin or Adelaide as the
sexiest city.

   Nationally, Australians
have raised their form in bed
from fifth place to first to tie
with French and Americans as
the world's greatest lovers.

   The survey, conducted by
condom manufacturer Durex
discovered the shower was
Australia's biggest fantasy
venue for sex.

   The beach, your parents' bed
and the boss's desk were the
next best fantasy venues in
the global survey.

   The survey quizzed 10,000
men and women in 14
countries in ages ranging from
16 to 40-plus.

Lovemaking for the aver
age Australian lasts 22.6
minutes, five minutes longer
than the global average of
17.7 minutes. And that
excludes foreplay.

   But pressure to perform is
on from the first date, with
10% of Australians and
Russians rating a close second
to the French (12%) as the
nationalities most likely to
go home together.

   The global average for
expecting sex on the first date
is 7%. Most Australians
(85%) expect sex with their
new partner to happen within
the first three months of a
relationship.

   The only area where we
appear to be hitting the global
average is in how unfaithful
we are-37% of Aussies
surveyed admitted to carrying
on more than one sexual
relationship at any one time.

   Australians lose their vir-
ginity at 17.1 years old,
compared to a world average of
17.6 years.

   Countries participating in
the survey were America,
Australia, Britain, Canada,
France, Germany Hong
Kong, Italy, Mexico, Poland,
Russia, South Africa, Spain
and Thailand.

   The Latin lover image came
in for a battering with Spain
and Italy stumbling home in
ninth and tenth place, bettered
by Britain - hardly known
for amorous adven-
tures-which knocked
South Africa out for second
place.

   Last on the list of top lovers
by nation were Thailand and
Hong Kong where people
make love the least, for the
shortest amount of time and
with the least care for their
partners.

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