Things i’ve learned.
In addition to antiseptics and bandaids, Australian first aid kits need tick removers, anti-histamines, Stingoes, a snake bandage. 😳
Teeny weeny Scottish spiders will seem cute compared to their large Antipodean cousins.
It’s ok to scream like a banshee when a Huntsman spider hiding in the letter box runs up yer arm or fat, blood-filled leech detaches from yer abdomen and splats at yer feet (it did) having had its fill as you walked through the rainforest earlier.
It’s a rational response to jump cartoon-like on a chair and scream at the sight of a rat INSIDE your house
The cute green tree frog landing innocently on your arm didn’t deserve to be fired across the room in a panic (it lived to tell the tale)
Bumping into a paper wasp nest clad in ear mufflers, garden hat and over-shoulder whipper snipper is not to be recommended, they attack in a group and sting like a b@^*#•d.
Trust your senses, that weird noise and tiny movement out the corner of your eye might be your son’s large escapee pet Python hiding in a rolled-up yoga mat enjoying your company in the early morning light.
Learn, blowing on the face of (another🙄) small pet Python will make it release its jaw if it bites the hand of your child (just about to leave for school) and won’t let go. Be glad your husband was home to deal.
Again, trust your gut. Is a steep walk down into the rainforest 24hrs before a flight overseas really a good idea? (it wasn’t.) Logs turned over, boulders lifted, trees climbed, spider holes peered into, husbands foot randomly bitten by a mean ant, swelling to twice its size. Didn’t make for an enjoyable flight.
Learn, QLD caterpillars are not tiny squidgy green things but big stripey hairy buggars, fascinating to look at, hideously itchy if hair touches skin.
Believe the mother of your kids friend on returning from a boy-led tour of the house and various pets, indoors and out. “Jeez, you’re very tolerant.”
Last but not least … innocent speck of dust on limb? Wipe it off. Doesn’t budge. Closer inspection. “Is it a tick?? Is it? Is it? Eeeew it is!!”
You’ll become an expert remover of these teeny, burrowing blighters feeding on unsuspecting bodies. Make sure the thing is DEAD first, spray with insect repellant or freeze with ice cube, don’t leave half a body insitu.
If the tick victim is a toddler or small child one person has to wrap, pin down, the other tweeze. Child will scream like their leg is being sawn off.
On removal tick must be examined for completeness and commentary made of it’s tiny size and evil properties. Every time.
But don’t let any of this put you off coming to Oz, you’ll love it!