Tales from Australia
Saturday, December 29th, 2007 by Sara Verwymeren
I lay in bed as I write this while Nick, my husband, performs what is becoming a weekly ritual called “find the smell.” A few weeks back, we smelled something atrocious coming from what we thought was our old, dingy couches. After days of looking, we found the remains of a poor gecko, caught between the door and the screen. Within hours, all that was left was the gecko’s frail skeleton, thanks to the powerful ants.
In the tropics, you can take no chances. About a month ago, we awoke to a mass exodus of maggots from the trash bin and decided from then on, we would change the bag every other day. No food or crumbs can be left out because the flies and the ants are desperate. They are desperate enough to shoot in through the holes in the screen when there is a chance that we may be cooking. The flies sit in eager expectation on the louvers of the window, waiting for a drop of bread or a piece of forgotten chicken.
Ok, I’m making it sound like they’re worthy of sympathy. But make no mistake – we are to feel no remorse or pity for these creatures. There’s more than enough food here in North Queensland to go around. Our back yard boasts one of the largest mango trees on the street that when we moved here, we were rather proud of. We saw a lot of North Queenslanders cutting down these beautiful trees and for the life of us, couldn’t understand why.
We now know why.
The fruit bats, about three times the size of a North American fruit bat, dine on the mangos in the summer. But, they’re rather picky. Once they decide that they are finished, they make a horrible screeching sound, throw the mango from the top of the tree to the ground where it rots in the scorching summer heat. In the middle of the night, the mangos usually drop on the tin roofed shed, making enough noise to hold par to an air raid.
Not only do they make noise while they’re eating, but they’re messy. On the morning of the maggot fiasco, I was still finding little plump larva while Nick kicked the screen door in, holding the laundry basket. I looked up and all he said was, “The friggin’ bats crapped on all our laundry.” At that moment, all I could do was laugh because there was no other ammunition I could offer against Australia’s animals.
People are usually terrified of the crocs, sharks, snakes and spiders. I can honestly say that I dread the infestations more than a few visits from the creatures that make headlines. Though that doesn’t mean I enjoy any of said animals.
The other morning, Nick left early for a meeting at work. Still a little sleepy, I walked out from our room and headed over to the kitchen sink. Wondering if Nick had fed the fish, I called his office to ask. Just as the receptionist answered the phone, I saw it clinging to the wall - a large, hairy brown Huntsman spider. The receptionist said hello twice before I answered and I squeaked through the phone if I could talk to Nick right now please.
He informed me that unfortunately, he was in a meeting and I was just going to have to get rid of it myself or wait till he got home.
Wait? That was like, a whole 30 minutes! These spiders are ridiculously fast and God only knows the places it could go in those precious minutes. Not able to tear my eyes from the wall, I reluctantly hung up and stood perfectly still. What in the world was I supposed to do? I could yell for the man upstairs, but the noise might startle it. I could get a shoe? Yes, I’d get a shoe.
I went for the door to grab a flip-flop and the sudden motion startled the spider. It scrambled to the windowsill and I clasped my hands together in surprise and sucked in my breath. Moments must have gone by as I watched the spider because my nails left marks in my clenched fists. Just as I was about to run for a shoe, my valiant man of a husband rushed in the front door. Thankfully, he killed it before it ran out of sight. The very next day, I found the same kind of spider lurking in the shower curtain. My fright had left me and I was only annoyed that the same insects kept invading, time after time.
People say that we are incredibly lucky, living in paradise. But tonight, as Nick tears apart the couches looking for “the smell,” it’s very hard for us to agree. But I guess once you get past the cockroaches, the ants, screeching bats, maggots, spiders and scorching summer sun, it’s not all that bad. Besides, we get to spend New Years on the beach under magnificent fireworks. And we can swim all year round. Wait – I take that back. If you find a non-netted area between the months of November and May, watch out for killer Box jellyfish. Right. Oh, and saltwater crocodiles and the Hammerhead shark breeding grounds right off shore.
Sigh…anyone for a visit?
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 11:49 pm and is filed under Entry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to “Tales from Australia”
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About Us
Sara and I (Nick) have been married since June 2007. We volunteer with an organization called YWAM (Youth With A Mission). YWAM has close to 1000 bases around the world. One of those bases is Reef to Outback in Townsville, Australia which is where we are located. Nick currently works in the communications department and Sara works with the music ministry. We believe that we will be in Australia for a few more years to continue volunteering. Neither of us receive a salary from RTO (Reef to Outback) or YWAM for what we do. We must raise all of our own support through church, friends, family, and anyone else who is genuinely interested in helping us (if you’d like to help us please visit our ‘Donate‘ section).
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December 31st, 2007 at 9:44 am
Actually it’s a tiger shark breading ground. They are man eaters only second to the white pointer (great white shark). Those boyes that you see out from the Strand (beach) are shark baits so that they don’t get too close. They caught a 4.2 metre one off Maggie Island this year on one of those hooks.
A haul of 75 sharks was caught on drumlines between The Strand, Pallarenda and on Magnetic Island this year.
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I know how you feel my dear!!! I STILL have nightmares about the cockroach infestation I lived through in Jamaica. I shriek at pitches only nonhumans can hear whenever I see one… no matter how small. Sorry I know that’s not helpful at all except that I know what you are going through! At least you have each other
Love you.
January 5th, 2008 at 5:53 am
Well, I guess there’s something to be said for our COLD Canadian winters….those little critters don’t stand a chance here.