Adventure Ausrama Blog

There is proof that the Roman Empire had trade links with Pangkung Paru in Bali in Southeast Asia. This is a revelation. It was thought that Rome conquered most of the known world, but knowledge of far away Asia must have been commonly known on Europe. An oval stone sarcophagus was found and it was excavated by the Bali Institute of Archaeology (BALAR). It contained the largest collection of Roman gold-glass beads. Moreover, there were also bronze mirrors from China. People did not stay in their home villages in those days. They travelled widely. Trade from Europe to far Asia blossomed on the mid 1st-millennium. However it was not thought to have happened this far back. Another four burial sites in Pangkung Paru yielded bronze artifacts, shells, gold ear pendants, and more gold-glass beads as well as Chinese bronze mirrors. A second sarcophagus had a bronze drum and artifacts draped around the individual's skull. The gold-glass beads were from the time when Rome occ

One of Australia's best-lmown spiders is the Redback Spider Latrodectus hasseltii , a close relative of America's Black Widow Spider.  It is easily identified by the wonderfully striking orange/red slash on its glossy black (sometimes brown) body.  The Redback Spider was immortalised in Slim Newton’s 1972 hit song Redback on the Toilet Seat:                     There was a Redbnck on the toilet seat                        When I was there last night,                        I didn't see him in the dark but boy                        I felt his bite. It Probably wasn't a male spider that bit the man in the toilet. Only the female that bites. A male redback is only about a tenth of the female's size.  He has fangs but they usually can't penetrate human skin. Redbacks spin their webs in dry sheltered areas under rocks or logs. They also frequent human places - under eaves, floorboards, garden sheds, in junk piles, gardens and the outdoor dunny!  Their

Things have been falling from the sky for centuries. The usual things are frogs and fish. However, some odd things fell to earth in times past. A Roman era pillar was seen to settle gently on the ground. Unfortunately, this was not proven as fact. It could have happened, though. Apparently, spiders covered farms in the Southern Tablelands. They have been appearing there for some time now. The occurrence has only just been announced. Threads from the webs is what people usually see, not so much the spiders themselves. You have to look closer to see the tiny spiders floating along with the webs. This happens all over the world. We just don't notice the arachnids sticking up their rear ends, pumping out silk and floating off into the blue yonder. It has a name:  ballooning.   Spiders do this as a group taking off from an isolated spot and landing in another. The weather has to be in a specific condition for this to take place. Small spiders and babies of larger