Australia: A Deadly Paradise? (cont.)
But to say that the Aussies are blasé about deadly animals is an understatement. Two beaches down from where we lived, rescue boats were called to remove 120 Nippers from the surf when sharks were spotted menacing the waters (Nippers are lifeguards-in-training between the ages of 5 and 15 who compete weekly in various beach-based sporting events to prepare them for the inevitable task of rescuing some idiot tourist such as myself). They delayed the games a good thirty minutes while the boats chased the sharks back out to sea. When the coast was clear (how did they really know?), they ushered the kids back into the ocean and the games resumed: swimming out to buoys, paddling on surfboards, running through the breaking waves, splashing wildly in the water like a school of bait. An article in a local paper spent only four lines on the sharks, and the rest with the more important issues of winners and losers. I think we are all losers when we chuck our kids into shark infested waters to win a trophy, don’t you?
But in this wild and fascinating country the list of deadly creatures goes on. There’s the Blue-Ringed Octopus (so tiny and cute it can stop you breathing in about twenty minutes) the Stone Fish (which you don’t even see until it’s killing you) the Paralysis Tick (no explanation needed) the Dingo (took my baby) and even an ostrich-sized, bloodthirsty, razor-toed bird called the Cassowary. According to Readers Digest, even the furry Kangaroo and the cuddly Koala could cut you neck to navel if so inclined. They even include a full chapter entitled, “Trees that Sting”!
You might wonder why we would travel such a great distance to subject ourselves to this kind of mortal danger. My mother sure would like to know. The truth is: the trade-offs are superb. I remember sitting in the warm sand of a near-empty beach, rocky headlands on either side, watching my three young daughters giggle and splash in the clear water. The sky was brilliant blue, there was a breeze blowing sailboats gently across the sea, and all this a mere twenty miles from Sydney—one of the most spectacular cities in the world. The idea that a man-sized bird of prey might slit my throat as I entered my front door seemed rather silly (as indeed it should).
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