Sigh

echo beachSource: http://www.weekendnotes.com/images/cimg366111.JPG

Yesterday I wanted to go to my favourite beach. Tide was in around 3 pm, so I thought I would leave Brisbane by 2 and get to the beach in time for the high tide. Yaya’s exams were delayed and by the time I left Brisbane it was already past 3.30 and then I got stuck in peak traffic. I reached the beach around 5pm and I found that the track that I normally use for hiking is closed. So I decided to hop/walk on the rocks to get to where I wanted to go.. ( you can see the rocks in the photo above)

I am very safety conscious ( at least that is what I thought) and even planned my escape route if the tide gets unnaturally high. There were few paddleboaders in the water, returning to the shore and I waved hi to them and continued with my rock climbing, I was bare foot, carrying my back pack that contained my beach towel, book and a bottle of water. I was really enjoying the walk, it was really beautiful, very quiet and tranquil and I felt so much at peace. Then I heard a familiar rustling sound and where I was about to step on was a snake. Ideally I should say, I am Methran Thambi’s grand daughter and am fearless. But I was frozen, I wanted to run screaming, but I was still standing on top of a rock and I still needed to walk back all the way back to escape. Eventually, the snake went away. But the problem was when you see one snake, you imagine a snake hiding beneath every rock, every leaf moving was a snake..and it was really traumatising..I just couldn’t walk back all the way climbing on the rocks. I finally found a track that let me get back to the trail that was closed.

I had left my phone in the car, there was not another human anywhere near me and if I was bitten by the snake, I wouldn’t have made it alive.

As far as my stupidity goes, this should top my list.

4 thoughts on “Sigh

  1. Ayyo, snakes terrify me.
    I have done some crazy a$$ things in my time, but facing a snake up close and personal is totally freaky. Happened 2 times at home, once it was a garter snake sunning itself in our garden, and once as I was laying out the recycling a baby garter was slithering away beneath it.
    Cant go to snake parks, hate the snake house at the zoo. Even knowing that they are that close- even though boarded sends chills up my spine.
    Hats off to you for the cool head eh?

    • Mona: I lived close to the snake temple in Penang and I have never visited it. I have taken friends to the temple, but I always stayed outside. I can’t stand snakes.
      I just couldn’t react when I saw the snake..and I know I would have stepped on it and gotten bitten, if it hadn’t heard me approaching and made an effort to crawl away. I didn’t even think there would be snakes beneath the rocks. I am still traumatised..

  2. You’re safe and that’s what matters Sarah.
    I was away for a couple of weeks…came back and was going through the posts that I had missed …happened upon the one titled “old age” -food for thought .I love the way you’ve taken care of yourself financially among other things .Would I be asking too much if I asked which foreign countries is it possible for me to invest money so that I too can make use of it in my old age?That too without the money being affected by my NRI status or some tax cut?
    Regards,Nimmy

    • Nimmy: I have an account in a bank in Luxembourg. It is easier to open an account there and also do the transfer from my bank. If I keep my money in the bank here, eventually when I retire, the govt and the tax man will know how much I am worth and will reduce my pension according to how much money I have in the Australian banks.
      My cousins in Canada used to borrow money from the bank to invest in RESP every year before the tax deadline to offset their income tax, only to find that when they retired and accessed the money in the RESP, the amount withdrawn was taxed, plus their pension was reduced because they had a lot of money in the RESP.
      I pay a significant amount of money as tax, I intend to get every bit of pension I am entitled when I retire and one of the way I am ensuring is to make sure that my assets and savings within the country is limited.

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