BigBlue2

Gondwana was actually an ancient supercontinent that Australia was part of. Gondwana also contained South America, Africa, Antarctica and India, either wholly or in part.

I've heard Australia being referred to as Gondwanaland, but it's not very common to do so.

DarkBronzePlant

About the Australian spiders, snakes, & other creepy-crawlies...

is it really as bad as it sounds from my end? I mean, does everyone shake out their shoes before putting them on (in case something with fangs & venom is currently living in one of them), and carry anti-venom syrines wherever they go? Or is it like... I don't know, like San Francisco and earthquakes*?

* earthquakes happen once in a blue moon in SF, but people who live there almost never think about them, and most residents aren't directly affected by them; yet whenever anyone from anywhere else in the U.S. thinks of SF, if they don't picture cable cars chances are they're picturing earthquakes.

rudolk

I'm planning on buying a broadsword and traveling to NZ to run around the countryside for a few years. The more beasties the better, I say. I need a really short hairy dude and a waify blond guy to come with me though. Let me know if anyone's interested.

Kurt

ohwilleke

Well, New Zealand had more marsupials before humans arrived. Although, my HS teacher in NZ actually placed more of the blame on placental cats than on the humans. Placental cats wiped out, or nearly so, the marsupial cats and quite a lot of other native fauna. Still, NZ does have a number of native marsupials.

Sauron

Maybe for the snakes, but I thought I saw a Nature show with blue ring octopi in Sydney bay.

And jack jumpers had infested a suburban housing division.

What about funnelweb spiders? They're like everywhere, right?

Sauron

Sounds like to sub-plot to a gay porno.

Farren

Well, considering things are orchestrated by Gandalf the Gray, the main characters are all boys, except for a fairy, and they're on a quest to find the One Ring, there's plenty of grist for the right wing conspiracy mill. Tolkein was a crypto-gay activist, for sure

rudolk

Can't three men go gallavanting around the New Zealand countryside sporting leather and metal without having their sexuality questioned? Is that so much? And I'll bet you guys were just foaming at the mouth with gay jokes when Aragorn kissed Boromir in an act of platonic man-love. If more man-love were expressed in the world, we'd all be a lot better off.

I'm disgusted by all of your lack of maturity

Kurt

Farren

You can't imagine. What with the kiddywinks being exposed to smut from slightly under Down Under (!) and that filthy stuff about young witches following a pothead around, ah'm sure the good lawd is going to snatch up all the godly folk and commence with the end times by next sunday, at least.

echidna

Nah, not as bad as it sounds. 70% of Australians live in the major cities & have to visit a wildlife park to see anything as exciting as a snake. Redbacks are around, so you�re just careful unloading the woodpile or fossicking in the toolshed, nothing to worry about, they keep to themselves.

Bear in mind (pun intended) that we don�t have anything like grizzlies or pumas which can be openly aggressive. Maybe the most dangerous are the saltwater crocs up north, but they�re pretty easy : don�t swim where they hang out !

Snakebite first aid is handy if one is planning on spending a lot of time in the bush off the beaten track, but to be actually bitten is a rarity. The only person I know who�s been bitten has actually been bitten on two occasions so I reckon it�s her fault. Snakes are generally timid (except tigers in spring) & providing you�re not creeping around, they�ll quite happily get out of your way before you get too close � not that a few close encounters haven�t got me shittin� green grubs on occasion �

The San Fran earthquake example is good. From my perspective San Fran�s next earthquake is inevitable, only a matter of time, but over here with a bit of luck I�ll never die from a poisonous bite. More dangerous is the drive I take every day to work.