Important News- NEW BLOG!!!

I've spent the afternoon transferring my blog to a new address. Many years ago I registered http://simonbills.blogspot.com with a view to using it as a travel blog, this didn't really pan out the way I had planned so it's been lying dormant for several years. It's now been defrosted and brought out to replace Billo's Photos which just doesn't sound that professional, don't worry, my entire backlog of posts can be found at the new blog.

This will be my last post here.

Make sure you check in to http://simonbills.blogspot.com going forward to see what I've been up to, also don't forget to change any bookmarks you might have as it would be a crying shame for you to miss any future spider related terror posts.

Missing the UK?

I've been back home in Adelaide for 2 months now. Wow. That went fast. So far I'd have to say my return has gone extremely well, better than expected, after a few weeks of feeling unsettled I quickly found my feet and am loving the lifestyle Australia has to offer.

However.

It's not all beer and skittles, there are certainly a few things I miss about the UK. Rather than give you some sort of extensive list I'm just going to jump straight to number one. The main thing I miss is the absence of MASSIVE DEADLY SPIDERS.

As part of my move into my new place last week we moved a BBQ from my parent's shed. We moved it quite a lot, from the shed to the lawn, from the lawn to the trailer, from the trailer to the new back yard – you get the idea. The whole time someone was holding the BBQ like this:



Three days after moving in I decided to fire up the BBQ for some tasty sausages, imagine my terror when I saw a GIANT DEADLY REDBACK spider crawling on it. Needless to say the sausages were cooked on the George Forman that night. The following day I did some investigation and discovered this insipid arachnid chilling in her web about 10cm away from where our ungloved hands had been earlier that week. Still can't believe I didn't check! As if a redback alone isn't terrifying enough there were 3 sacks under there which I can assume were filled to the brim with THOUSANDS of REDBACK BABIES. I was forced to euthanise the redback family, I don't like to kill spiders but I make an exception for ones that can kill babies and the elderly.





So, still jumpy after my earlier discovery I opened the laundry door to disturb a HUGE huntsman spider. I know these guys almost never bite people, and they're not deadly, but phobias aren't rational and it still freaked me out more than in should. Maybe it was because I'd recently watched this clip?



He quickly ran to the top corner of the laundry, he was happy, I was happy enough, we each knew where each other stood and kept ourselves to ourselves. This is what he looked like.





The following day I was enjoying a little TV when I saw movement on one of the lounge chairs. Uh oh, another BLOODCURDLING SUPER SPIDER.





I think I've pretty much seen the worst of the infestation, my place isn't big enough to house too many more big ones, and I've given the perimeter of a house a good spray which should keep any would be party crashers out.

Looks like last week's excellent galah has been countered by the events of the last few days. Hopefully the next wildlife I see will be another good one, koala perhaps? As long as mum doesn't have to come and get it out of my house with a broom I'll be happy.

Flamin' Galah

Alf Stewart would have loved it. Yesterday as I gazed out my kitchen window I noticed a galah perched upon the fence in my carport. A real life flamin' galah just sitting there practically begging for his photo to be taken!! Needless to say I was happy to oblige, I rushed to the spare room, attached the 70-200 big bertha and shot a few shots through the grubby window. If nothing else it proved that such a classic Australian bird was on my property, but the shots weren't exactly blog worthy, it was time to move outside. As I got closer and closer Gary (that's what I've named him) was totally un-phased, I moved all around him, left to right, behind, always getting closer, I eventually was no more than 1.5m away. Gary was just playing it cool.

It was a perfect house warming gift generously bestowed upon me by Australia's native fauna, although it must be said the ice cream scoop I received that night ran a very close second.

Here's a couple of shots around the house, plus a bunch of Gary.















Don't forget Adelaide, I live here now and am taking booking for weddings and portraits so if you know someone who's after some beautiful, fun and elegant photos then point them in my direction!