Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

HEALTH & SAFETY 41
large towns and cities have 24-hour
clinics. Failing that, go to the local
hospital’s emergency room.
BUGS, BITES & OTHER WILD-
LIFE CONCERNS Snake and spider
bites may not be as common as the hairraising
stories you will hear would suggest,
but it pays to be wary. Australia’s
two deadly spiders are the large hairy
funnel web and the tiny red-back,
which has a distinctive red slash on its
back. Snakes are common throughout
Australia, and you are most likely to see
one if you are in the “bush” or hiking. If
you are bitten, keep calm; moving as little
as possible may save your life.
Demobilize the limb, wrap that whole
section of the limb tightly (but not tight
enough to restrict the blood flow) with
a wide cloth or bandage (not a narrow
tourniquet), and then send someone to
the nearest hospital, where antivenin
should be available.
If you go bushwalking, check your
whole body for ticks, which are common;
if you find one, dab it with
methylated spirits or some other noxious
chemical. Wait for a while, then
pull the tick gently out with tweezers,
carefully ensuring you don’t leave its
head buried inside the wound.
Many Aussie marine creatures are
deadly. Avoid stingrays, stonefish
(which look like stones, so don’t walk
on underwater “rocks”), lionfish, and
puffer fish. Never touch a blue-ringed
octopus (it has blue circles all over its
body) or a cone shell (a large shellfish
shaped like a blunt cone). Marine
stingers, or box jellyfish, inhabit the
coastal waters of the northern third of
the country in summer. Their sting is
very painful and can cause heart failure
and death. Pour vinegar over the
affected site immediately—local councils
leave bottles of vinegar on the
beach specifically for this purpose. On
beaches in Sydney and other areas, you
might come across “blue bottles”—
these blue jellyfish with long tentacles
inflict a generally harmless but painful
sting that can last for hours. Sometimes
you’ll see warning signs on patrolled
beaches. The best remedy if you are
stung is to apply vinegar or have a very
hot shower.
There are two types of crocodiles in
Australia: the freshwater, which grows
to almost 3m (10 ft.), and the highly
dangerous estuarine (or saltwater) crocodile,
which reaches 5m to 7m (17 ft.–
23 ft.). Freshwater crocs are considered
harmless; unfortunately, estuarine crocs
aren’t. They are called “saltwater” crocs
but live mostly in freshwater rivers, wetlands,
gorges, and billabongs (ponds).
They are very dangerous, move at lightning
speed, and are invisible even an
inch beneath the water; few people survive
an attack. Never swim in, or stand
near the bank of, any river, swamp, or
pool in the northern third of Australia,
unless you know for certain it’s crocfree,
and don’t swim at beaches near
stream or river mouths.
SUN/ELEMENTS/EXTREME
WEATHER EXPOSURE Australians
have the world’s highest death
rate from skin cancer because of the
country’s intense sunlight. Limit your
exposure to the sun, especially during
the first few days of your trip, and
from 11am to 3pm in summer and
10am to 2pm in winter. Remember
that UV rays reflected off walls, water,
and the ground can burn you even
when you’re not in direct sunlight.
Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with
a high protection factor (SPF 30+).
Wear a broad-brimmed hat that covers
the back of your neck, ears, and face (a
baseball cap won’t do it), and a longsleeved
shirt. Remember that children
need more protection than adults do.
Don’t even think about traveling without
sunglasses, or you’ll spend your
entire vacation squinting against Australia’s
“diamond light.”
Cyclones are occasionally experienced
in tropical areas such as Darwin
and Queensland’s coastal regions from
about Gladstone north, during January