Saturday 22nd January 2011 – The wet season is well and truly upon us this week. It must have started about 4 or 5 days ago when I took the dog for a walk up to have a nosey at a lovely old Queenslander-style house that’s for sale on a nearby hill. Just as we got there, the heavens opened and we had to shelter on the veranda for about half an hour for the rain to subside enough for us to run home (not that it made any difference, we still got soaked). And its pretty much been raining ever since.

The rain also brought out a huge plague of “flying ants” which swarmed the kitchen. These just look like petals being blown in the wind, but they are actually termites that lose their wings and burrow into the woodwork of your house. The rains also heralded the first appearance of bats in the house. All this, combined with the presence of frogs, geckos (small lizards), huge moths, spiders, flies, ants and the dog having several barking fits during the night, all left me feeling somewhat shaken, and by Thursday, I had practically decided I should move out and entrust the care of the house and pets to the owner’s son. I even got as far as writing an email to that effect, but luckily, my internet account ran out of credit and I couldn’t log on to send it. By Friday morning, I had re-assessed the situation and decided I needed to focus on all the positive aspects of living in the house. Within a few hours I started to feel better and after a particularly fun night in the pub, by the end of the day, I had changed my mind and decided to stay. After all, what kind of adventurer would I be if I ran away after only 2 weeks because of a few wee bugs (well, lots of bloody great big ones actually, but you know what I mean)?

I'm just hoping the roads will be open tomorrow so that I can get back down to the coast for work and a music festival to raise money for the Queensland Flood Disaster Fund.