Three Japanese tourists in Australia found themselves in an embarrassing situation after their GPS navigation system lured them down the wrong path.

The three, who are students from Tokyo, set out to drive to North Stradbroke Island on the Australian coast Thursday morning, and mapped out their path on their GPS system.

The road looked clear, at low tide - but the map forgot to show the 9 miles of water and mud between the island and the mainland.

As the three drove their rented Hyundai Getz into Moreton Bay, they found the GPS device guiding them from a gravel road into thick mud.  They tried to get back to solid ground, but as the tide rose they were forced to abandon their car.  Passengers on passing ferries watched in amazement.

"It told us we could drive down there," Yuzu Noda, 21, told the local Bayside Bulletin. "It kept saying it would navigate us to a road. We got stuck . . . there's lots of mud."

Noda and her friends made it about 50 yards offshore before they realized they were stranded. A tow truck driver eventually gave them a lift back to the mainland. The students decided not to have the car repaired because of the damage. The car was insured, though Noda will still have to pay about $1,500 that was not covered.

The students will fly back home to Tokyo this weekend, but they said they plan to try a trip to the island again some time in the future.

"We want to come back to Australia again," Noda told the Times. "Everyone is very nice, even today."

From Yahoo! News

.The Time Is Over

World Population Has Reached 7 Billion In

.October 31 2011

The Population Is Now

.Over 7 Billion

:World Population Description

.World Population has reached 6 billion in 1999

.is predicted to reach 7 billion on October 31, 2011

.(has doubled in 40 years from 1959 (3 billion) to 1999 (6 billion

.is currently growing at a rate of around 1.15 % per year

.growth rate reached its peak in the late 1960s, when it was at 2%

growth rate is currently declining and is projected to continue to

.decline in the coming years

average annual population change is currently estimated at over 77

.million

world population will nearly stabilize at just above 10 billion

.persons after 2200

a tremendous change occurred with the industrial revolution: whereas it had taken all of human history up to the year 1800 for world population to reach 1 billion, the second billion was achieved in only 130 years (1930), the third billion in less than 30 years (1959), the fourth billion in 15 years (1974), the fifth billion in 13 years (1987), the sixth billion in 12 years (1999) and the seventh billion in 12 years (2011). During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion