What are you afraid of?

Spiders. I’m fine with snakes, wasps, sharks…but spiders are a big old nope for me. And the bigger the spider, the scarier it is. I am never visiting Australia for this specific reason.

I am also scared of having a horse bolt while I’m riding it, due to a number of negative experiences I’ve had with this in the past. I am currently working on moving past this, it’s holding me back in my riding quite a bit.
It’s also a long flight. Primarily one reason I cancelled my flights to Japan. Australia probably the same distance, or maybe worse.
 
Okay to be serious for a moment - the chance of coming across any of Aussies little (and not so little) nasties is if you venture out into the bush or outback, which is unlikely unless you go to Alice Springs or intend to drive from Melbourne to Perth or Adelaide to Darwin - or are stupid enough to not take heed of warning signs especially where swimming up north is concerned.

You might come across a spider or two in cities and suburban areas - just like you so here or anywhere else in the world with spiders and snakes for example.
 
It’s also a long flight. Primarily one reason I cancelled my flights to Japan. Australia probably the same distance, or maybe worse.
Flight time from Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane (all on the east coast) to LA is about 13 hours non stop. Yep, it's a long flight but most of it is at night - at least they were the flights I took :)
 
They are not the sort of flights you'd want to take if you were affraid of flying :)
 
You might come across a spider or two in cities and suburban areas - just like you so here or anywhere else in the world with spiders and snakes for example.
First venomous spider we came across after coming to Australia, was in a car park in Canberra several months after we moved into the bush!
 
The Red Back and White Tail are the only two venemous spiders I can think of that hang around the suburbs and populated areas. Have no idea why you haven't come across one where you live though, I'm sure they will be there ... just staying out of harms way maybe.

Only time I have come across a Red Back was when I was IN Adelaide and I had to climb over my drive way gate. Put my hand across the top of the gate (6' high) to lift myslef up and bingo - got bitten. I must have put my hand on the thing so it retaliated, so I can't blame it but it knocked me on my butt for a bit and the mark it left took years to disappear. The bite itself hurt like hell as well, like having two little pins jabbed in your hand.

Other than that, I had never come across any venemous spider or snake in any populated area in Oz.
 
The Red Back and White Tail are the only two venemous spiders I can think of that hang around the suburbs and populated areas. Have no idea why you haven't come across one where you live though, I'm sure they will be there ... just staying out of harms way maybe.
I am told from various reliable sources that the main reason I have not seen them is actually that they prefer air-conditioned houses. The cooling ducts are idea habitat for them and that is why they are much more common in the suburbs than living on a farm without AC and only a stove.
 
Other than that, I had never come across any venemous spider in Oz.
ditto. to the best of my knowledge and I am notorious for photographing anything I don't recognise and most things I do recognise!

People also forget that the UK has both a venomous snake and a venomous spider as well.
 
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