​​ We were familiar with bull ants as children on the Northern Tablelands, where we had two sorts, red and black. The black ones were more common and bigger, but the red ones were known to have more powerful stings. You didn’t want to be stung by a red bull ant! But the bull ants that we get here on the North Coast, are enormous, astonishing to encounter for the first time. I have very occasionally seen the odd ant out foraging, but this is only the third nest that I have fou

A few months ago we built a bridge over our little creek-bed. The creek is ephemeral and only appears after heavy or persistent rain, but we needed a bridge so that we could wheel down the barrow-loads of concrete to make the end of the path on the other side. It is a very solid bridge. Standing about 40cm above the bed of the creek and made of concrete it is supported on plinths at either end over a raft of steel posts with an additional internal reinforcing mesh of metal.