ABD79

Hello!
We're looking at a possible relocation to the Brisbane area, (about an hour/hour and a half outside, most likely north of Brisbane), and I was just wondering how bad the bugs were, especially spiders :-/ I genuinely hate spiders, (just writing this I keep feeling tickles on my head or skin like fantom feelings and have to keep itching and looking around for spiders), even though it's VERY rare we ever get a spider in our house in the UK, and even more rare that it's a big one (by big I mean maybe a few centimetre, 5 at the most). So as you can imagine, I'm freaking out!!! Is it really THAT bad out there? What's people's experiences please? I have visions of sitting down to watch television and seeing bloody great 8 legged monsters crawling up the sofa or worst still, one crawling on me as I sleep!!! Help!!!

Amazulu

Bad - very bad

They will eat you alive

GarryP

Google 'Huntsman' ...

One of the advantages of living somewhere like Brisbane is that even in the depths of winter, the temp doesn't really get down anywhere close to freezing. The flip side of that is there is little to kill off the creepy crawlies - meaning you are more likely to come across things like spiders, both of the small and deadly and huge and harmless persuasions.

However, there are still (regretfully) lots of queenslanders around, so obviously it's not a major thinner of the herds.

ABD79

Oh God :-/ This doesn't help!!! :-/

Amazulu

That sensation you feel when you wake up in the middle of the night and find a spider crawling across your face is not very cool

ABD79

Amazulu - please tell me you just like playing on people's fears? :-/ Is it really THAT bad? I mean I'm expecting SOME spiders but spiders crawling on my face while I sleep, on my shoulder while I watch television, a sailing down from the sun visor while I'm driving...that kind of thing I'm hoping wouldn't be an every day occurrence :-/ Can I ask where you're from originally and where you live now please? And experiences you've had spider wise? I'm freaking out a little here :-/

spouse of scouse

You'll be fine. I've seen as many spiders in the UK as I did in Australia, and I lived there for over 50 years.

Spiders (anywhere!) like dark, quiet, undisturbed corners. Ants, mice, cockroaches etc like a dirty house with easy access to dinner. A clean house with people living in it would be their last choice to set up home.

ABD79

Spouse - thank you Im genuinely worried. I'd have to have hypnosis and do lbs of the courses at the zoo. I'm just worried about not being able to relax. It would be a BIG move for us and quite difficult as it means uprooting our three children but I'm trying to find the positives in a move...it does look beautiful there. I'm hoping this will outweigh my fear of always having to look over my shoulder and think about being careful every time I open up a drawer to get some clothes out :-/

Amazulu

Nope. Being serious

spouse of scouse

Stop being a bugger Zulu.

spouse of scouse

I'll have a chat with you later today, bit rushed at the moment as I've grabbed a cancellation appointment for a passport interview in London and have to run to get a train at Liverpool Lime Street. Bloody train tickets cost nearly as much as the passport fees!

ABD79

Spouse - yes please Thank you! It's probable hard for some people to understand if they don't have a fear of spiders. If you can imagine somebody finding out they have a spider on them, then literally running around smacking themselves over the head, ruffling their hair, hitting themselves, screaming and making complete tit of themselves, well, that would be me! I once babysat for someone and there was a power cut. While I was sitting on their settee I saw a BIG spider (by UK standards), crawl over the back of the settee in the light of the streetlights from outside and with that I ran out the room, closed the door and had to sit on the stairs for the next 4 hours until the people came home :-/ I've no idea what I'd do in Australia if ever my husband had to be away with work (which he does) and a huntsman was in the house!
Can I ask (if you don't mind) whether you'd ever move back to Australia? My husband can turn down the relocation so we're weighing up what to do. The adventurer in me says life is short, we should go, enjoy the weather and the scenery and experience a different way of life. The "in my comfort zone" part of me says to stay here...no spiders! and family and friends are here. It's tough to know what to do when you have three young children to think of. I'd hope though that it would be a wonderful experience for them and would make an interesting set of chapters in their lives. Anyway, I should stick to the topic of spiders! I did start a new thread about life in Australia if you wanted to add any advice there!

Pollyana

My sister has a pathological fear of spiders, so I get where you are coming from. She came out to Brisbane for 4weeks, didn't see a spider once, and we were in lots of bush areas etc where you would expect to find them.
I've been here 14 years, saw 1redback out in the country my first year, and have see a couple of Huntsmen when out at the ex-MiLs place, rural, 3 hours from Brisbane.
Hopefully haven't jinxed myself now, but there are much worse things here to worry about, honestly. Don't get too freaked out at the thought of them, and just be sensible -don't go ferreting in garden beds, or woodpiles etc, for instance.

ABD79

Pollyana - thank you! I hope you haven't jinxed yourself too! I've had a mixed response to my question on here and I also posted in trip advisor. Some say they hardly ever see them, others have said they had a huntsman fall on them in the car and when they also opened the front door of their house! I think huntsman worry me most because of their sheer size. They look like something from outer space to me! So the thought of one in our home terrifies me! I'd take precautions - screens on all windows and doors, I'd get the house fumigated (although I am an organic type/chemical free person so I don't know how that would fit in with that!) and I'd probably invest in a couple of cats (but then I'd worry about them getting killed by a spider). What do you do if you ever have to move the fridge or washing machine out? I think I'd be there in a full boiler suit with a head covering and a blow torch! )

Pollyana

Personally, although I dislike chemicals, I now have fly spray and insect killer at the ready all the time (my landlord is too tit to install flyscreens), and the units I live in are pest treated every so often by the Real Estate. My place is old and wooden, so should be a haven for insects but I rarely see much beyond the flies. Oh, and the occasional cockroach, those are the spawn of the devil and freak me out far more than spiders, but over the years I have learnt to keep cans of Mortein handy and zap the beggars as soon as they appear -and to be honest, its only 2 or 3 a year.
The spiders here tend to do outdoors more than the Uk ones that love fridges etc. If I have to move something like that, I warn any resident insects by shouting at them first ( ) then spray underneath, then move it. Worst thing I ever found under a fridge was a mouse, in my last place. I was quite pleased about that, been telling my then husband for weeks that we had a mouse and he wouldn't believe me!