Ok, so this is the infamous Red Back Spider. It's part of the same Spider family as the Black Widow. This one is a Juvenile female Red Back, whose bite is dangerous. I've looked it up here: http://www.austmus.gov.au/factsheets/redback.htm ... The thing is.... unbeknownst to Alexi and I this particular spider had set-up house and home underneath my chair at our kitchen table. I noticed the spider when I put my hand slightly below my chair's cushion into the web. Needless to say, it was scary and had I placed my hand about half and inch forward, i would have been in some trouble.... there is antivenom available... so the bite isn't deadly per se... either way i didn't really wanna deal with extreme pain, sweating, muscular weakness, nausea, vomiting.... Another scary thought... how long had this spider been living under there?

....another exhausting beach day....

...the fence post has nearly drowned... the field of green grass is disappeared.... this once-was pasture is right near our house... we were safe and bored trapped indoors during the storm... except when we escaped to take some photos...

so it rained and rained harder than i have ever ever seen or heard... and it did not let up for over 2 days... it consistently poured hard, very hard forever and there were floods all over the place... roads and highways were closed, cars flooded, houses in 3+feet of water and people trapped.... this is a field where cows usually roam... it become a lake in under 12 hours....

Julian Rocks

Believe it or not... on the very same day of the flood/buckets of rain day, Alexi and I FINALLY went for a dive out at Julian Rocks just off the coast of some our favorite beaches... as seen here.... although there were horrible weather conditions on the surface... underwater the visibility was 15-20 meters and the water was warm and calm.... i had a most enjoyable dive here. We saw a lion fish, tons of wobbegongs (aka Aussie carpet shark), rays, a moray eel (the one with sharp teeth), a large parrot fish who was actually sleeping (lying on one side on a small coral embankment), a big turtle, nudibranchs, so many big fish, etc etc etc... we sadly did not get to see the beautiful leopard sharks in the area at the moment... but hopefully we can get another dive in before heading to Melbourne.

...mood-setting photograph taken by Alexi Winston Hobbs....

...the view from a rock in the river....

behind the scenes at a Minyon Falls photo shoot.....

more prep.... two bottles of bubbly, one bottle of vodka, mixers and a six pack... there is food in there too... it was a good hot New Year's....

preparing for New Year's Eve festivities... cheap green king prawn... marinate and thrown on the bbq...

Before and After

The transformation took place in under 3 hours... primary tool used were a pair of dollar store scissors. 4-5 inches of hair... gone. pretty damn good haircut, no?