Post #1 Busy On Everest – The Picture You See Every Time You Log On To Backpackers Union, Australia

Every time you log on to Backpackers Union (on a computer) you see a picture of me at the top of the page*.  It’s not random.  That picture was from the first trip I ever took overseas and taken within the first few days of arriving.  It was also that trip that inspired the other trips and eventually the Backpackers Union.

A few seconds before the picture was taken I almost died and didn’t find out why until months later.

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I was on Noosa Head, an infamous surf spot in Australia and hiking along some trails with a few buddies.  We were told very clearly to stay on the paths by a local surfer.  To get that picture, I not only jumped off the path, I scaled over a fence and climbed down a rock wall to get to the ledge where the picture was taken.  When I landed I was greeted by a charging snake I couldn’t see until it was staring at my ankle.  But it never bit.

Completely oblivious to what type of snake it was, I told my friends to take a look before jumping back to the chain link fence and shimmying about ten feet away and jumping back down to take the picture.

Months later I found out I was staring at the #2 most venomous snake in the world which infest that area.  The Northern Brown Snake.  The reason he didn’t strike and I lived to talk about it;  I was naive enough to stand still to see, “what stupid animal was charging towards me instead of away?”.  Little did I know, they are attackers and charge their threats.  Standing still is what saved my life as they respond to movement and it assessed me as not a threat.

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In the end the picture came out great but I almost died for it.

I’m really glad he didn’t bite, the trip clearly became amazing.

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*This is the picture that was at the top of the first version of the website.
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