Backpacking around Australia
Cheap flights to Sydney - good call, but what about the salties?
Beware the salties. They'll grab you quicker than you can say, 'Pass me another Pimms from the hamper, darling.' What good your cheap flights to Sydney then? So pay attention, all you backpacking students out there who think Oz is the wizardly person from that old black and white1939 film musical. If you're not careful, then Oz'll get you, chew up your cheap ticket faster than a walk through Paraburdoo, and believe me, that's going some!
Seriously, backpackers, you don't want to dabble the tootsies in the old billabong after a hard day thumbing it on the A1 up to Cairns. Trust me, you really don't. You'll not see the saltie - you probably know him better as the salt water or estuarine crocodile - because he's a sneaky little chap. He'll lie there in the murky water and then strike without warning.
He'll pull you in and twist around and around and drag you under the water at the same time. A brute of a beast. The average saltie weighs in at around 1,000 lbs and is about 17 feet in length. But the bad news is many are even bigger, commonly in the region of 2,000 lbs in weight and 23 feet long. And if he loves lolling about all day in a shady billabong, he can also be found swimming miles out in the open sea, too. So mind you take good care of the surfboard or he'll have it for afters.
Since we're talking about the open sea, there's another creature you might have heard about that's worth paying a little bit of attention to. You guessed it, the Great White. He's one of a number of sharks found around the coast of Australia. Although incidents of sharks attacking humans are pretty rare, nevertheless a few precautions are in order.
According to the experts, don't swim, dive or surf where dangerous sharks are known to hang out. Sounds pretty much like common sense to me! And always swim, dive or surf with other people. Good advice. Don't swim in dirty or turbid water and avoid swimming well offshore, near deep channels, at river mouths or where the bottom drops off into to deeper water. Also, swimming around dusk or at night is not recommended. Neither is swimming near people fishing or spear fishing.
Now, there's another critter you definitely don't want to tangle with if you do decide on a bit of swimming. It's called the Sea Wasp or the box jellyfish. And boy, can this guy sting. He's pale blue and transparent, and is shaped either like a bell, or a cube, with four definite sides. Hence the name. There are something in the region of 15 tentacles hanging from each corner, each usually measuring about nine feet long. Cross this one and you ain't got a hope.
Could go on and on talking about other fascinating nasties, like the blue ringed octopus, cone shells, stone fish, taipan snakes, tree-dwelling funnel-web spiders. But you probably know all about them anyway. Don't want to bore you to death!
