Australia. Land of the dry ground, deadly wildlife, violent birds, and
drunken townsfolk - actually, all of these things were a part of our
time in the sizable town of Griffith in the heart of New South Wales.
The air was hot and dusty, the ground was hot and dusty, we encountered the most solid rock-like ground for our pegs that we have ever seen - the boys hammered away for hours, struggling and sweating to get the tent up. I had a good go at the pegs, but my tiny girly body didn't even succeed in getting one full peg into the ground, so I set about arranging all of the marking materials for the next stand.
Our kiwis experienced the swooping magpie for the first time this morning. Luke turned around, returned to the caravan and emerged holding a large stick above his head.. Kerry turned to face his feathered opponent and commenced a Haka.
Today it was clear that the time had come to take up arms against the magpies. And by arms, I actually mean legs as we ran back to the caravan, giving up on the hope of bathroom attendance.
The magpies were viscous, violent and aggressive. It was impossible to leave the confines of our fence line without an assault. I think now our two Kiwi boys have a solid Maggie phobia!
Night fell, the only safe time to visit the bathrooms - or was it?
The early sunbeams crossed the caravan and the various phone alarms chorused in the morning light. Kerry emerged from his sleeping quarters and stumbled across to our caravan. We heard a plaintive call from him and opened the door to find him looking woeful and holding up his drink bottle.
Floating in about an inch of water left at the bottom of his bootle was a HUGE dead Red back spider. The redback is a spider that has been responsible for a number of deaths on Australia, and is broadly recognised at the top of the venomous spider lists. Apparently the spider had crawled into the bottle as Kerry, half asleep filled it up in the middle of the night. Through the night he had drunk most of the water, without realising that it housed his deadly friend. "Will it hurt me if I have drunk some spider?" He wailed.
The air was hot and dusty, the ground was hot and dusty, we encountered the most solid rock-like ground for our pegs that we have ever seen - the boys hammered away for hours, struggling and sweating to get the tent up. I had a good go at the pegs, but my tiny girly body didn't even succeed in getting one full peg into the ground, so I set about arranging all of the marking materials for the next stand.
Our kiwis experienced the swooping magpie for the first time this morning. Luke turned around, returned to the caravan and emerged holding a large stick above his head.. Kerry turned to face his feathered opponent and commenced a Haka.
Today it was clear that the time had come to take up arms against the magpies. And by arms, I actually mean legs as we ran back to the caravan, giving up on the hope of bathroom attendance.
The magpies were viscous, violent and aggressive. It was impossible to leave the confines of our fence line without an assault. I think now our two Kiwi boys have a solid Maggie phobia!
Night fell, the only safe time to visit the bathrooms - or was it?The early sunbeams crossed the caravan and the various phone alarms chorused in the morning light. Kerry emerged from his sleeping quarters and stumbled across to our caravan. We heard a plaintive call from him and opened the door to find him looking woeful and holding up his drink bottle.
Floating in about an inch of water left at the bottom of his bootle was a HUGE dead Red back spider. The redback is a spider that has been responsible for a number of deaths on Australia, and is broadly recognised at the top of the venomous spider lists. Apparently the spider had crawled into the bottle as Kerry, half asleep filled it up in the middle of the night. Through the night he had drunk most of the water, without realising that it housed his deadly friend. "Will it hurt me if I have drunk some spider?" He wailed.
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