Thora by Night

Each night of camping has so far issued a new natural challenge.  The first night heavy rain, the second a plague of horse flies and tonight in the tiny tiny town of Thora, we have Christmas beetles!  Literally hundreds of them.  They ambushed us after sundown attracted by our single 12 volt cooking light.

They're in everything - clothes, my tent, the van, our dinner.  With every fluorescent lit forkful, paranoia sets more deeply.  It's only going to take one crunchy bite for me not to bother with food at all tonight.

Photo by Cyron http://flickr.com/photos/29145102@N00/2494040

I'll bet nearly every Australian has at some time in their lives, been subjected to a swarming orgy of Christmas beetles.  As a kid it is a bit overwhelming.  Their spikey little feet grab on to you and wont let go.  You have to pry them out of your hair and flick them from your fingers usually at least a couple of times before they release their grip.  So filled with mating hormone, they just don't care where they fly and what they land on.  And there is always hundreds and hundreds of them.

  

Ironically, human vision being what it is, requires the very light that attracts a Christmas beetle to see if one has landed in a cooking pot, the dinner, your coffee, the washing up water.  And usually at least one has.  And usually there is more than one and they are usually stuck together which makes a positive identification just that little more obvious.  And thus we spend the night picking and draining and flicking and sweeping dozens of pairs of Christmas beetles off and out of everything we touch until we fall asleep.