We have walked through several areas of subtropical rainforest. This was taken from the “skywalk” on Dorrigo National Park on the Waterfall Way going inland from the coast to Armidale.

And here I am sitting on a rock in a forest at the top of a hill near the coast just south of Port McQuarrie.

On this walk we had to dodge spider webs. In fact, I didn’t have to, because they all seemed to be built across the path at about 5’6″. I walked under and my husband got them in the face.

However, he got the last laugh. I noticed a minor irritation on my lower leg and pulled up my pant leg to see if there was an ant. Instead there was a 1-inch earthworm-worm-like thing on my calf. First I brushed at it in a minor panic with no effect. I had recently read a mention about leeches in a different park, which said “just scrape them gently off” so I was able to calm down quickly. I called husband over from his spider evasion activities and asked him to gently scrape it off. His efforts with a dried leaf didn’t work either. As a loyal blogger, I had pulled out my camera and snapped a couple. (Regrettably, the pictures are not very flattering to my leg or the leech so I will not add to the ick factor by posting any here.) Then I reached into my hidden pouch of valuables and pulled out the mature traveller’s remedy for all – a Mastercard – and handed it over to my assistant. It worked as well as it does for icy windshields, and the 1-inch leech found itself unceremoniously dislodged from my leg.

Later, at the car, I found another one under the strap of my sandals. (That was the first time I’ve walked in sandals in any forest or bushland, out of concern for snakes and spiders, but not leeches!) This spot continued to bleed (VERY lightly) for about 2 hours. At least it distracted me from the hairpin turns of the narrow road coming down the somewhat tricky “mountain” road.