We had a whizz bang trip to Oz, flying to Brisbane to meet some sailing friends. They’ve recently bought a cabin in the hills inland, north of the city. We met some wildlife including wallabies and kookaburras and frogs and snakes. It was our own mini version of Australia Zoo.

I’d gone to bed when Dave came into the bedroom and said “Do you want to see a big snake?”. We’d seen a brown tree snake the previous evening but this evening’s specimen was much bigger. Likely over 2m long, a carpet python which looked like it’d just had dinner, was looking for a place to hide and feel fat. Andy had spotted it and was wholly unperturbed by its presence. We were both more circumspect. He said, “we’ve had lots of them here”.

We watched as it climbed the bbq, stretched maybe 40cm towards the wooden uprights of the building then disappeared up into the rafters. Apparently they are non venomous but could deliver a nasty bite with lots of tiny razor sharp teeth. I’d never seen such a snake in the wild previously.

Our 4 nights in Oz went too quickly. It was time to get on a plane and head to Manchester. Visas dictate we need to be out of NZ for 6 months. I’m typing this from the spare bedroom at Dave’s mums house. We are back in the UK. Bring on a hot UK summer.