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Writer's pictureAnnemarie Rawson

Discovering Australian Beasties & Beauties in Adelaide

Updated: Feb 4, 2021

Walking out the door yesterday morning I turned to pull it closed and jumped 20 feet in the air. A large, hairy Huntsman spider crawling down the door nearly gave me a heart attack! Very common here and harmless ... so I'm told. One friend has one residing in her kitchen which she has named, Simon. She won't get rid of Simon as he eats all the flies and mozzies that come in. I think I'd rather deal with the flies and mozzies.


For a change of scenery we drove out to the Belair National Park to take a walk. It's a fabulous place with plenty of covered and shaded barbecue areas, great toilet facilities, playgrounds for children and places to sit and enjoy the park. The cacophony of birdsong is never-ending and such a delight to hear and the fragrance from all the eucalyptus trees is wonderful. I never get tired of it.


Steve discovered a blue-tongued lizard, sunning itself in the shrubs beside our pathway. I'm not a fan of lizards but several people have told me they have them in their gardens and they help get rid of bugs and pests and again, they are harmless but you don't want to be bitten by one!


Several kangeroos were bouncing through the bush and I was absolutely delighted to see koala snoozing in the trees. I've never seen that on our walks in Australia before, only at Australia Zoo.


I don't think there's anything else I need to encounter during our last two weeks here. I'm not good with creepy crawlies.

Harry the Huntsman spider

Lizzie the Lizard - you can't see her legs in the photo. Someone said she is either pregnant or just had a great feed!

Kim the Koala having a snooze in the gum tree

The Vice-Regal's summer residence in the middle of Belair National Park


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Annemarie Rawson
Annemarie Rawson
Jan 18, 2021

Thanks Kathy. I can rely on you to ‘respond’ so thanks for that. You are the only one! Yes, snakes give me the Heebie Jeebies too. Mozzies find me tasty too. Plenty of them here in the heat. Everyone there in the UK is not far from my mind and how difficult it all is for you. Stay strong and stay positive. Xxx

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kathymarsh
Jan 18, 2021

The downside of Australian living! Although I understand that Huntsman spiders are more likely to run away from humans rather than bite. I’m with your friend on that one, would sooner have a Simon spider than awful mozzies (for some reason, mozzies find me very tasty!). So, neither the spider or the lizard would really freak me out, but if I came across a snake..........😲😲😲😲, a very different matter!! A lovely pictorial description of Belair National Park.

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