a pain in the neck

I seem to have been bitten on the neck by one of these beauties... but to be fair, it's all speculation, since I never actually felt the initial bite, or saw the culprit. I thought perhaps the necklace I was wearing had somehow pinched me, and then I felt a big bump. And then I looked in the mirror and saw what looked like a big red welt on my neck. Naturally I showed my paramedic husband and he thought I'd scratched myself (on purpose probably, tsk tsk). I felt in relatively safe hands since my sister-in-law was here too - and she's a nurse. But as is the way with these medical types, there wasn't much interest shown, and besides, it wasn't actually that painful. So I continued with whatever it was I was doing and tried not to feel it too much...and to wait until the next day to see how it felt. All the glands in my neck started swelling up and were tender - all the way up to my left ear. I went to bed hoping it would all be ok by the morning. Anyhow, after 2 days it still wasn't getting better so I went to a (very nice and duly concerned at the size of my swollen glands) doctor and am now on antibiotics. My left ear is slightly blocked, along with my left nostril and my left eye feels sleepy and warm. I feel lethargic and sleepy and slightly sorry for myself although I know I'm being ridiculous. I am fine, really. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it's nothing.

So, I am now aware of the White Tailed Spider, which is one of a handful of spiders that actually bite in NZ, and is often attributed to mystery bites, where no suspect is noticed.

So, big scary insects and arachnids aside, I cannot express enough, how grateful I am that there are no snakes in New Zealand.