Then there's the drop bears. *shudder*
Drop Bears are the
ONLY thing you need to watch out for. What they can do to you is so... horrific.
If at the beach, be mindful of box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, irukandji, sharks, poisonous stone-fish, not to mention rip-tides, undercurrents and the ever present danger of drowning or being swept out to sea.
Aside from that:
~ Be on the lookout for the spiders under your chair, in your shoes, on the ground... in fact, anywhere really.
~ Be careful of the countless species of snakes that can kill you.
~ The poisonous barbs on emu's and platypus'.
~ Don't pet koala's, they can get incredibly aggravated and will shred you with their claws.
~ Kangaroos aren't exactly cuddly... trust me.
If you can't remember all of this, then just remember this
One Golden Rule: If it can move, it can probably kill you.
~~~
Okay, whilst what I said above is, to a certain degree, accurate, rest assured the chance of anything bad happening to you is very low.
Beaches are incredibly safe, and with Surf Lifesavers patrolling all the major areas, help and rescue is never far away. If you do go to the beach,
always remember to swim between the red and yellow flag. Surf Lifesavers mark out an area on the beach everyday, and that area is usually the safest. If you are out swimming and come into a bit of strife, just raise your arm as high as possible and they'll come get you. A lot of drownings on our beaches are because misinformed tourists swim in unpatrolled areas and fail to recognise potential dangers - therefore, they get themselves into trouble but no one can see them to call for help. If you don't swim between the red and yellow flags, no one can see you and it could end up very bad.
All deadly animals here will not harm you unless they feel provoked. Basically, just don't touch it if you don't know what it is, or don't touch it if you know it can harm you. Again, the chance of anything happening to you is unbelievably low. I mean, I've lived here all my life and the worst I've had is a bee-sting. If anything did happen, practically all the hospitals carry anti-venoms. If you get stung by something at the beach, the Surf Lifesavers are trained to deal with all possible situations. But as Kraiden pointed out, most of our deadly stuff is confined to zoos, or out in the middle of the desert somewhere - places where I doubt you will be travelling to.
If you do travel around, people here are generally friendly and willing to help. Most of the time, you'll get much more information asking a local than reading a tourist guide.
So if in doubt, just ask! Also, you'll find that once they find out you are a foreigner, expect people to strike up a conversation with you. Actually, random strangers will start a conversation with you, regardless. So be prepared!
That's about it. I can't stress enough that the chance of anything bad happening is so low, you'll probably be a little disappointed that absolutely nothing happened to you. All this "deadly creature - instant death" talk is all just hearsay.
