BBQ in Bendigo

One of the guys had a BBQ at his rented house in Bendigo.  I had to ask if he was serving kangaroo, because they do eat them, it's not a joke.  Australia is the only country that eats both its national icons (the kangaroo and the emu).  But he said no, we weren't having BBQ kangaroo.  I would have tried it, but I was really relieved that weren't having kangaroo, after just seeing them playfully hopping around in the paddock.  They tell me kangaroo is very good if cooked properly.  It's very lean meat, similar to venison, but more gamey.  

The BBQ was great - with BBQ pork chops, sausages, and chicken strips, along with stir fry veggies and cole slaw.  Very much like a BBQ we'd have at home, and I felt very at home.  We ate, drank Australia wine, and laughed and told stories. 

Somehow we got on the subject of 'critters'.  Of course, Australia is famous for it's dangerous and unusual creatures.  I learned about the Huntsman spider, which is huge - the size of your hand - but not poisonous to humans.  Apparently it's just fine to have a Huntsman in your house because they eat bugs.  Several folks had Huntsman spiders in their bedrooms, and they were okay with that.  Sounds creepy to me.  Australia also has wombats, which are incredibly dense little creatures, and really mess up your car if you run over one.  I told them the story of the critters around my house, particularly about the beavers, which were eating my crape myrtles.  They said, what's a beaver?  And what's a crape myrtle?  Somehow I was surprised that they didn't know about either of those.  They are so common in the US, and hardly even interesting compared to giant spiders, kangaroos, and wombats!