In the weeks leading up to my semester in Australia, I constantly received pictures of 30 foot snakes and poisonous spiders from my family and friends. I packed shoes that I knew bugs couldn’t hide in and I made sure my suitcase was always zipped shut for my first few nights abroad. Now, when I’m advising for Australian programs, I always get asked: “how bad are the bugs?” And I tell them what I was happy to discover while living in Sydney: they’re not as bad as they are in Michigan! My entire time in Sydney I didn’t see a single snake, scorpion, or spider. While you may run into some scary creatures in the rainforest and the mountains, Sydney didn’t give me anything to worry about. The worst, and most populous animal in Sydney, had to have been the cockroaches. Be careful of the jellies while swimming and don’t try to fight a kangaroo and you will be just fine!
While wildlife was my biggest concern before leaving for Australia, it ended up being one of my favorite things about my experience. From the turtles on the Great Barrier Reef, to the dolphins off the coast of Sydney, to the Tazmanian devil, to the sleeping koalas, I was amazed by everything I got to see!
I was on a hike on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania when my friend and I ran into dozens of wombats on the trail. We were nervous to get too close to them since we knew next to nothing about these animals. However, after watching them for a while we learned they could not have cared less that people were around. People walked right next to them, and even pet them, and the wombats never once bothered to stop eating grass and look up at the people.
The one time I interacted with some scary creatures was up in the Daintree Rainforest in Northern Australia. Here, I had a tour guide ask me what I was supposed to do if I got stung by a box jellyfish. When I told him I didn’t know, he told me I could put my head between my knees and kiss my a** goodbye. I luckily didn’t come across any of these jellyfish, but I did see some spiders as big as my face. They were crawling above us and I was running around because I was convinced that one would drop on me. As frightening as they were, the rainforest was beautiful and absolutely worth the scare. And these were the only spiders I saw the entire trip!
Possibly my favorite experience from my semester abroad was snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef! Before jumping off the boat, I was nervous about the jellyfish and the sharks and everything else that we don’t have in Michigan. Wearing a sting suit, I was able to hold jellyfish, swim with the schools of fish, watch sea turtles, and just generally feel like I was in Finding Nemo. After learning how beautiful everything was, I was much more comfortable in the water for the rest of my time abroad. I started swimming most mornings before class, and even took surfing lessons!
My biggest recommendation would be to embrace Australian wildlife rather than fear it! Listen to the locals and try something new! You’ll be glad you did.
Have questions for Caroline about her semester in Australia? Contact her at carostaf@umich.edu.
