Welcome to Doo Town!

They don't get ill down here - what am I to do?

Way down south on the Eaglehawk Neck peninsula, bottom left of Tasmania (nothing after that but Antarctica!) stands a motley collection of shacks, and one or two finer houses, collectively known as Doo Town. This is nothing to do with what dogs leave behind. In 1935, for a bit of fun, one of the residents put up a sign outside his house with 'Doo I' written on it. (This was later renamed Xanadoo!) Since then the locals have been vying to compete and most abodes have a 'doo' in their name such as 'Doo Drop Inn', 'This'll Doo' and 'Didgeree-Doo'. The photograph is of the local GP's place.

Back in Queensland on a fine drive in the mountains we finally came face to face with the

Just a little touch and I've got you!

dreaded Gympie Stinger. High up in the rain forest we were directed onto a boardwalk where we were advised to wear 'enclosed shoes'! If you look closely at this photo the pale green round looking leaves are those of the Gympie Stinging Tree. Whereas our home grown British stinging nettles are a bit of a pain for an hour or two if you have a bad dose, the stings of these babies last for months - the leaves sting, the fruit stings, even the bark on younger trees stings. What's more any dead leaf detritus left lying around still has the capacity to give you a pain - old dried leaves one hundred years old have been shown to retain their stinging capabilities. So if you're strolling on the boardwalk it's quite possible that you'll encounter something that'll get you. Poor Vicky just had sandals on and as she read more of the diabolical details about the Gympie Stinger on the various signboards on the circuit, she began to worry more and more and decided after a short while to call it a day. Not before she'd tucked herself in at the foot of this Moreton Bay Fig - we've seen some big ones in botanical gardens, etc., but this was the grand daddy of them all!

Got a ladder?