It was a gorrrrrgeous day! 38 degrees, breeze blowing…..Just the day to head down the beach. Yesssirrreee the dogs love it and I was just in the mood for a quick dip in

the ocean. When you have two rottweilers like mine, a trip to the beach is not a quickly organized outing. It's like taking out twins. Bucket of water, toys, umbrella,

and a few things for me.

25 kilometers later we are there, walking up steep dunes to trek the ¼ kilometer to

the beach. Its awkward and a pain to get to but I chose this beach because it is 9

out of 10 times you have the certainty of it being deserted. (No possible dog fights)

It is about 200 metres of beach, with a heavy outcrop of rocks at either end. You can

see anyone approaching for quite a distance, well enough time to throw the leash onto the dogs,

As I descend down the dunes I can see there is no one there. I climb down over the

rocks, and before I can reach the bottom, Lex is into the water. He begins his laps.

All that dog does is swim out, swim back. The distance he goes usually depends on how

far out I am, and in my absence from the water, he just keeps going until I call him back.

I survey the scene, its great, behind me is a cave, that is usually full or rubbish

left by other visitors to this beach. I never go in there, but it is good shelter for

the dogs to lay in to escape the heat. They love to fossick about inside this cave, I

guess to them it is a veritable treasure trove. Occasionally one of them is rewarded

by finding a bone left from a feast of the Colonel's finest.

Today was like any other trip to the beach. It was deserted; the water was clear, blue, and relatively still.

Who knows why it's always deserted? Maybe the deserted electricity building

that looms down on you from the hill in the distance is a clue? <shrug>I was quick to follow the dogs into the water, and swam aimlessly about for about ½ an hour; shooing the dogs away, as having them circle around me like sharks is rather annoying.

I sunbathed for a bit, then back into the water. In 1981, in a hotel room somewhere in Brisbane 3 girls sat down to watch some TV. The show we had all decided on was

grippingly titled "KILLERS". Very briefly it was a documentary with hoped to alert viewers to the various things in each state that could kill you. For example it talked of the funnel web spider in Sydney, Crocodiles in Darwin, Stone fish and box jellyfish in Queensland. I was intrigued. I had always had a notion of animals and events that could

take your life, but now for the first time I was actually in a state that had killer creatures. Tasmania had been represented as one of the first states, and after viewing the killers inTasmania, I was rea-ssured that I did in fact live in the safest state. You see according to the program, the only two killers to be found in Tasmania

are

1. The 1967 bush fires; and,

2. Cot deaths in Bridgewater. Anyway back to the beach.

I went for my second swim. "Killers" must have had a profound effect on me because ever since viewing it I have been ever mindful of the killers to be found in Australia,

Suddenly I feel something against my arm. I shudder and get a chill right down my

back. I look frantically around, expecting to see the mouth of jaws lowering over me.

I see nothing, but as my arm is nowstinging wildly, I know its was something. I begin to back out of the ocean, searching wildly for my as yet unseen assailant. My arm is red, stinging, slightly swelled, and itchy.

Now what I want to know is, Where was the fucking music. You know the warning music that alerts you in the movies to something terrible happening. All horror films and thrillers have the music. In jaws you knew the shark was coming because the music told you. WHERE WAS THE MUSIC ?

I rushed out of the water, and investigated my arm out of reach of the killer.

"Vinegar" I need vinegar I vaguely remembered from some first aid course I had done ages ago. I knew I had to stay calm, it was no good getting stressed and speeding up your blood flow so the toxic poison would circulate through your system more quickly. "Killers" came to mind. What were the killers in Western Australia?

Not the jellyfish! Hahahahahaha NOT THE JELLYFISH! I was all right. I wouldn’t have respiratory failure, or a heart attack from the toxin. I have some welts and a bit of stinging. WooooooHooooooo

I gathered up my things to head home. The dogs walked gingerly across the hot sand; tired and panting they looked like they had had enough as well.