Yesterday, David and I set out for a walk in the forest near Bellingen. The forests around here are huge so we carefully kept to the gravel road to lessen the risk of getting lost. We saw our first snake, a black one as it moved off the road into the grass ahead of us. Then a lace monitor, a type of lizard which was about 18 inches long and climbing up the trunk of a tree. We encountered a couple of huge ants about 2 inches long, including one walking around my ankle. I flicked it off before poking a stick near it. It was pretty aggressive so I walked away. Phew! Have now discovered it was a red bull ant which has a venomous bite that can cause severe pain for a couple of days....... Whoops.
Later we saw a bright green and yellow snake dead in the road. Apparently kookaburras grab them behind the head then fly up and drop them from a great height to kill them. This may be how it died. Anyway we survived our walk, another Aus experience.