Someone I met in Costa Rica is currently in Australia and
has been posting various pictures and hilarious snippets on Facebook bringing
back a flood of memories of when I was in Australia.
While I was there, I wanted desperately to see two
animals: A Kangaroo and a Koala.
Just as desperately, I did not want to run into a funnel web
spider, or countless other dangerous and creepy creatures, and would
tentatively look under my mattresses for fear of being surprised by the funnel
web spider while I slept.
I had gone caving and spelunking in California some time
before Australia, and a man named Pete had been on our tour of 3 people total
plus a guide. Being in the caves
tromping around in the mud and crawling through tight spaces for 6 hours forged
a particular bond between us. Pete, a
Kiwi from New Zealand, shared some of his beer and snacks with us afterwards at
a picnic table and told us about his encounter with a funnel web spider while
living in Australia.
His story involved running into the spider in his
garage. He used his hand to create intense
gestures like shadow puppets in broad daylight, curling the fingers up to show
us how the funnel web spider had reared up on its hind legs at him as he stood
frozen looking at its fangs.
