Down Under with Bryson

I've been reading Bill Bryson's excellent book 'Down Under' for the past few days (which I would thoroughly recommend to all) and as well as laughing out loud at some points, I've also often nodded in agreement as he comments on all things Australian - he really does have a sharp eye.

At one point he ends up in Surfer's Paradise talking to a barmaid who's from Canberra...here's how the conversation goes:

"'So which is better, Canberra or Surfers Paradise?'
'Oh, Surfers by a mile.'
I raised an eyebrow. 'It's that good, is it?'
'Oh no,' she said emphatically, amazed that I had misread her. 'Canberra's that bad.'
I smiled at her solemnly.
She nodded with conviction. 'I reckon if you were going to rank things for how much pleasure they give - you know? - Canberra would come somewhere below breaking your arm.' I grinned and she grinned too. 'Well, at least with a broken arm you know it'll get better!'"

Having been to both of those places I know exactly what she means. However, I spent 30 mins at Surfers (basically a poor version of Blackpool but without the lights, the tram or the tower!) and would never feel an urge to return, whilst Canberra (historic buildings from 1927!) had at least some mild interest to me (although ZERO nightlife).

Another point Bill talks about is the large number of things that can kill you in Australia...and getting a shock with the spider on my balcony this morning (non-poisonous this time) reminded me of that. Snakes and spiders are just the start of it here, there's also sharks, stonefish, box jelly-fish, sea-snakes and crocodiles - and if that's not enough the number of lethal sting-ray attacks is increasing too. Oh, and there's a huge bird - the Cassowary - similar in size to an Emu but with claws which can slit your throat. Of course, the number of deaths from each of these is not huge, but I am curious as to why so many deadly things reside in one country....and most Australians seem very nonchalant about the whole thing!

One final point from the book, and then I'll stop ruining it for you, is about rabbits. Amazingly enough, rabbits have had by far and away the most devastating effect on the ecology of Australia - as well as destroying swathes of farmland, plant species & the habitats of many native species (to blame for extinction of 1/8 of all Australian mammalian species) they are to blame for many of the erosion problems here. There are now 300 million rabbits in Australia, and this is just half of the number prior to myxomatosis being released into the population in 1950....all of this from an initial release of just 24 rabbits in 1859 (a Thomas Austin released them so that he could pursue his hobby of rabbit shooting).... I guess that's where the term 'breeding like rabbits' comes from. (24 to 600,000,000 in 90 years is some going!)