Now I've spent nearly six months here in the tropical paradise that is Queensland and so far I thought I'd done particularly well at avoiding any contact with any of the dangerous critters that consider this part of the world their home. I've avoided being boxed by a kangaroo, nibbled by a shark and bitten by a spider or a snake – but then in my final few days on Hamilton Island I fell foul of a miniscule little creature known as an Irukandji.

I was enjoying a post Christmas jetski session with some friends at a quiet beach on Hamilton Island and as I climbed off the back of the ski and onto the beach felt a small bee-like sting on my forearm, I didn't think too much of it at the time as it disappeared very quickly and left the beach to head to a sports massage appointment I had. As I arrived I noticed that my feet and hands were tingling slightly and before I started my treatment commented on the chain of events which had led to this – the member of staff immediately suggested that I get the symptoms checked out and within minutes had the islands security there to escort me to the doctor’s room, only a few hundred metres away.

I was feeling pretty hot and sweaty, had a headache and felt pretty sick too, together with pain in my lower back and a tightness in the chest and a really high blood pressure – all classic symptoms of Irukandji syndrome! This was not what I’d wanted at all and had caught me little off guard to say the least – I’m supposed to be relaxing in my last few days on Hamilton Island.

The doctor knew instantly what it was and straight away started the course of treatment to get me on the mend, I had a couple of injections which immediately took away the uncomfortable pain I was feeling and I slipped into a comfortable sleep after an hour or so, waking to say hello to a couple of friends who arrive to see if I was ok! Bre was there the entire time tending to me like a little Florence Nightingale!

Once I'd recovered sufficiently I was discharged that evening and allowed to go home to sleep the effects off and only really knew what had happened when Bre told the full story the next morning – I had been very lucky.

I'd had a minor brush with what can be a very serious jellyfish and has led to people being hospitalised for a number of days, my slight knock was enough to tell me that it's not something to be messed around with and I really should have been wearing a full stinger suit, as it recommended at all beaches here at this time of year…even if you're in the water for just a couple of seconds as I was!

This is what I should have looked like:

stinger suited

(Source: islandreefjob.com.au)