Spiders...?

[kdixon]

OK, I know this may sound childish, but are there really a LOT of spiders. I was on another message board and there was a thread about the spiders in NZ. It made it sound like everyone had spiders crawling through their housesin vast numbers. Are they really that bad? Do people not use bug killer? Not a lot of spiders in Canada, certainly none that will hurt you, and I've lived in Arizona where we had black widows living in the storage shed and the hot water cupboard. Some good spider spray took care of that. I'm not going to let spiders determine whether I migrate or not, but some of the comments I read gave me the heebie-jeebies.

[calbernard]

ohhhhh, there are a few around, but nothing to worry about, for the most part. I've known a few people to get a white spider (is that the right name??) bite, but they're tiny things and so hardly lethal. Compared to most places, there's little that's lethal here (apart from the drivers). Mostly, in the houses, there's just daddy long legs(es) and they can easily be got rid of with spray.

[casphar]

If you ever get bitten by a spider in NZ I would be REALLY surprised.

Australia is the place to be worried about spiders.

[loopylinda]

apparently the only spider you have to beware of is the white tailed spider but can't say i am bothered by the thought of finding one, a good wallop with a frying pan would sort it out - ha ha! seriously, it is australia that has more spiders .... we live next door to a pony paddock her in raumati beach near paraparaumu on the kapiti coast and our kids get freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee rides on a horse .... yippee! anyway, as i was saying before i went off on a tangent, it's the ruddy flies tha i cannot stand. as i am typing this, one is on my leg, one is on the laptop screen and i hate the mosquitoes as i am well tasty to them but just cover yourself in "bug off" and you will be fine!
you been to new zealand yet? if i had believed everything i had heard, the spiders, the prejudices against the brits .... well i wouldn't be living here now.
for those of you that are looking for jobs, decide what you want to do .... find an agency who deals with that type of job, get them to take you seriously and be willing to come out for an interview if they ask. they would not arrange an interview if you were not going to miles off getting the job! my husband did not even have to be in the country for an interview, it was all done in london having a video shot of him for the employers to see him etc. and then a phone interview followed. he got the first job!
i hear of a lot of people who faff around. just get the job, get the forms from nz house, come over on work to residence .... live here for two years and i cannot imagine anybody wouldn't like it. i do miss my mates but when i think about what sort of life my kids will have here than there, and a better education .... well what more can i say!

[MattandJules]

I think people just like to talk about the terrible things, like if you have a baby everyone tells you all the gorey stuff. Don't be put off, I am phobic about spideys but honestly it's fine in NZ. Yes there are some, but I have no horror stories to tell. And I have to keep reminding myself that the spideys eat the sandflies, and THEY are a pain in the rear (or wherever else they bite you!). Sandflies are the evil cousin of the Scottish Midge - argh! Anyway, the good far outweighs any bad in NZ, so if you have the opportunity to get here, go for it!
Jules

[Dolly]

Hi,

For me, it's not the venomous ones that I'm scared of..it's the humungous ones like the huntsman.

Had one on my windscreen at the weekend. It scuttled across the windscreen as we were pulling out of a multi-storey car park. Luckily, it was on the outside!!!

I live in Victoria but I'm pretty certain NZ gets them too.

Not had one in the house yet, only daddy longlegs spiders so they're not crawling out of every orifice of your house. I am truly the worlds worst arachnophobe and I'm coping fine.

Dolly

[simonz02]

Ill be stopping over in OZ to NZ I hear its way worse over there.. Yuk!

[freesiarose]

There are no truely dangerous spiders in NZ, to be honest I have seen a lot more spiders since moving to the UK. I think people get confused between NZ and Oz. Oz is the place for all sorts of dangerous things, NZ has no dangerous animals or anything else that can hurt you, there are wild boars, but they tend to run away from humans not attack. Don't listen to people with wild stories, they don't know what they are talking about.