Tuesday, December 16, 2003
I want to stay forever.....closer each day...home and away.
Ahhh, Here I am again, still having a ball in the wonderful world of cork hats and kangaroos, allthough in fairness I have seen none of the above to date.
What I have seen however, following as trip to the famous Aquarium in Manly are all the Fish, Insects, Snakes and other organisms that have the ability to sting, bite or otherwise maim me during my stay. This took almost a whole day, walking around the exhibits, reading about the after effects of an unfavorable encounter with one of the little bundles of joy on the other side of the glass. The descriptions did not go so far as to speculate, as to why the great creator would equip a snake that lives on the ocasional rodent with enough venom to kill a football stadium full of people, or why a spider that lives on small insects would need fangs that can penetrate your fingernail.
The musem curators (bless them) have lovingly devised a system of icons displayed on each exhibit. A smiley face indicates that whilst the insect or amphibian looks capable of homicide, it's sting will probably just make the area swell and hurt for 24 hours. A green 'plus' symbol indicates that our little friend has the ability to cause excruciating pain for extended periods and possibly respitory problems linked to shock, and finally a skull and crossbones (allthough I was hoping for a sad face) indicating that any agonising pain you do experience will probably be short lived, chiefly because you will also be short lived.
Australians take all this in their stride, Your average 'Pom' on the other hand (myself Included) will run around a beer garden screaming like a baby the first time a wasp takes a shine to him. I can only assume that Australians have either so much contact with these wee beasties it's like aversion therapy, or they are too woried about the sharks and crocodiles etc to worry about the spiders etc!
All this considered, I am still having a fantastic time here, making the best of the appaling public transport, traveling on the Manly ferry (makes me feel manly), and even realising my childhood dream by visiting the beach from Home and Away.
Closer each day...
Eric
¶ 10:31 am
What I have seen however, following as trip to the famous Aquarium in Manly are all the Fish, Insects, Snakes and other organisms that have the ability to sting, bite or otherwise maim me during my stay. This took almost a whole day, walking around the exhibits, reading about the after effects of an unfavorable encounter with one of the little bundles of joy on the other side of the glass. The descriptions did not go so far as to speculate, as to why the great creator would equip a snake that lives on the ocasional rodent with enough venom to kill a football stadium full of people, or why a spider that lives on small insects would need fangs that can penetrate your fingernail.
The musem curators (bless them) have lovingly devised a system of icons displayed on each exhibit. A smiley face indicates that whilst the insect or amphibian looks capable of homicide, it's sting will probably just make the area swell and hurt for 24 hours. A green 'plus' symbol indicates that our little friend has the ability to cause excruciating pain for extended periods and possibly respitory problems linked to shock, and finally a skull and crossbones (allthough I was hoping for a sad face) indicating that any agonising pain you do experience will probably be short lived, chiefly because you will also be short lived.
Australians take all this in their stride, Your average 'Pom' on the other hand (myself Included) will run around a beer garden screaming like a baby the first time a wasp takes a shine to him. I can only assume that Australians have either so much contact with these wee beasties it's like aversion therapy, or they are too woried about the sharks and crocodiles etc to worry about the spiders etc!
All this considered, I am still having a fantastic time here, making the best of the appaling public transport, traveling on the Manly ferry (makes me feel manly), and even realising my childhood dream by visiting the beach from Home and Away.
Closer each day...
Eric
¶ 10:31 am
