h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some people living not in Australia think that we have kangaroos running rampant through our streets along with dingos and other wildlife. Well it's really not true. Until the other day I had never seen an echidna in real life and when I did see one it was in my backyard. Yes the other night my dog had an echidna cornered in my backyard. It rolled itself into a spiky ball (the echidna, not the dog) and the dog was having a lovely time woofing at it madly! It would have been bigger than your average rugby league football. But it was gone by morning....

Fantastic! You're really lucky to live in a place where amazing creatures like this visit. I'm sad to say that the only echidnas and platypuses I saw in my 3 weeks of Oz were in Taronga Zoo.

However, the highlight of the whole trip came up in Far North Queensland, with a safari out into the Atherton Tablelands - we saw 5 types of possum, 4 types of kangaroo, tiny frogs about 5mm long and one huge owl, plus possibly the world's rarest lizard (as our guide said "world distribution, this wood you're standing in"). Plus it's probably the only time in my life I'll drink port at midnight in the middle of a rain forest.

I think I need to go back.