Hi Andrew,
We certainly do have some critters over here (and yes that includes the resident Huntsman next to the keyhole for the garage door
Huntsman spiders for those playing at home are not really dangerous, but are about the same size as a small horse... you could probably ride them if you tried!)
Anyways, in summer is usually the time for all of our nasties to come out. I'll run through a couple:
Box Jellyfish: very nasty, in fact very deadly. But is only in northern Queensland (further north of Brisbane) and other areas of Australia way up north. So unless you're going to parts of Queensland, Northern Territory or north Western Australia, you won't have to worry about this one. If you are going to swim in these areas then heed local warnings and get yourself a full body lycra suit.
Blue Ringed Octopus: hangs around the Sydney area and a bit to the north and south but not really anywhere else in Australia (please someone correct me if i'm wrong here). They live in the rockpools around the beaches and are not much to look at until it feels threatened, when it's rings turn a brilliant blue colour. These guys can be potentially fatal as well, so if you get bitten ice and ambulance/hospital would be my suggestion. I'm not sure about the use of a tournique, a search on the internet will help you with this. However as deadly as they are, i've not heard of a death from a Blue Ring in a long time. Just a little care around the rocks will keep you away from this one.
Irukandji Jellyfish: not sure on this one, it might be a small jellyfish in northern Australia that can paralyse. Anyone know about it?
Blue Bottles (Portugese Man-o-war): These little buggars are nasty. They're not deadly, but the sting is quite painful and they are more common than anything else. They are little blue bubbles about as round as when you put your thumb and forefinger together, with blue tentacles about a metre long, and they float on the breeze. They are common between November-Jan/Feb. I got stung on the face about a month ago. It feels like fire at the time, then goes for a few hours, then comes back as an itchy painful welt for about a week or two. You can sometimes see them washed up on the beach which is a telltale sign that they are in the water (don't touch them on the beach as they can still sting). Best treatment if you get stung is to apply vinegar to neutralise the sting, however recently they are saying that an extremely hot shower for 15-20 minutes on the affected area soothes and relieves and also kills the poison. Ice helps with the swelling too. They aren't here all of summer, in fact they tend to only be around for a couple of weeks in summer. I'd say if you are here from Jan-April you will be unlucky if you get stung. If you are near a beach with lifesavers on it they will have vinegar and creams etc. for stings.
Oh, and to state the obvious there are sharks around the coastline. There are shark nets on nearly all Sydney beaches, and it has been a long long time since anyone was attacked on the eastern coast. Unfortunately there have been some recent Great White attacks around Western Australia and South Australia where they seem to be a bit more common.
But all in all it is pretty safe over here. I've been beaching all along the eastern coast of New South Wales since I was a kid and i've had 2 bluebottle stings in about 14 years. The biggest risk of all is to turn up to a beach with your cricket bat and ball only to find it's a nudie beach rofl
Hope this helps you out, have a great time in 'stralia!
Cheers,
Ben
