Encounters with Australia's fierce creatures

Australia is known for fierce and deadly animals: venomous spiders, crocs, jellyfish, a vast array of venomous and extremely deadly snakes. These things were intimidating at first and they still do worry us in certain situations. But, the reality of the matter is that Australia is full of a rather docile set of animals. Sure kangaroos are taller than us and look like they have a vicious right hook but as with most other marsupials they are harmless and friendly. Wombats might be large as some bears but they bumble about in the nighttime and mind their own business. There is something about being a marsupial that creates docile animals.  Even the tasmanian devil, with its terrifying name and fierce dietary habits, is of no danger at all. Sophia asked me before bed one night about what might be lurking outside. Are there lions? Nope. Are there bears? Nope. Are there wolves? Nope. She smiled brightly, proclaimed, "Just some poisonous spiders..." and drifted off to sleep comforted.

We went camping this weekend because we really like it. And we came up against what might be the fiercest on offer on the shores of Jervis Bay. As we began to open up packets of food in preparation for our cookout we found ourselves surrounded by fast approaching possums. This might sound funny but I assure you it wasn't. They were not afraid of our yells, nor our threats, nor our running and waving and stomping, nor did they even flinch when we threw things directly at them. These were some confident and hungry possums. We spent the rest of the dinner fending of cheeky possums. At one point as Tova sat happily munching peas she looked up and there standing right next to her on the bench, brushing up against her, was a possum eating off the table right alongside her. Jakob threw an ear of corn at it but it seemed intent on joining our family. Tova screamed and screamed until Jakob picked her up and then she spent a good while burrowing her head in his chest whimpering. The possums were undeterred by the fuss and we spent the rest of the evening taking turns guarding Tova from their advances. It was annoying. And yet, it was a testament to how docile these creatures actually are. They showed absolutely no sign of aggression towards any of us even while we were throwing things at them. I don't think we could say the same for raccoons.

We got this pristine beach all to ourselves

Taking a break from all the beauty

It's nice to be somewhere warm enough to climb barefoot