Melvin is my pet spider. He's maybe 1ft long and
bright red with a black head and yellow legs. No, he is not alive, unlike his relatives
which I met today when I was taking pictures of interestingly colored soil; but he still
manages to scare some female visitors. When I was walking to the point of interest, armed
with two cameras, I felt a sudden resistance - I ran through a major spider web.
As I started backing out, I
saw the owner of the web - what a majestic presence: a spider maybe 10+ cm long. On the
following 50 or so meters I had left to cross, I watched carefully for more webs - I don't
want to make the spiders nervous, they are probably bad for my allergy, and I don't want
to destroy their source of income either. When I finally arrived where I wanted to be, I
was out of film in one camera and witnessed the end of a green grasshopper on a spider
web.
Speaking
of allergies: I have only one, but a really big one. Watch what a mosquito bite can do to
me, you will be amazed. After a rather successful day for flies and similar biting
species, I switched back to sweatshirt and long pants; you really don't want to see my
legs now, I have more than 50 bites on each - these bloody mosquito females. Reminds me
sadly of Norway (but unlike there, I still fit into my shoes - there, it was 50 bites
below the ankle alone). Ah, and since we are speaking of Europe again: a British jury has
been jailed for contempt after it didn't find a verdict in 17 days...
My today's trip heading north in Queensland was very interesting. The
land is getting more and more green - yay, I really like that very much. Camping spots
"in the wild" are getting harder to catch, though, as land tends to be claimed
by small farmers with friendly fences and signs all around. Another thing are open
supermarkets - while I am back to civilization, or what is called as such here in
Australia - everything seems to close for Easter. Without a stove and (naturally) a fridge
I am limited to foods which must be eaten relatively fresh - I hope that along the coast I
will find open places of some kind, as I am not necessarily a person to visit restaurants.
But they had really cheap Schweppes Tonic Water in Dalby, A$0.85 for 1.25L, which is about
half the US and 1/10 Swiss price, so I am set for the weekend in this respect.