Australian Tea

Neil (our host) invited us over for tea, you know, to welcome us to the country.  Upon arrival, Neil waved us over and whispered "goanna's caught a frog by the pool."  Now, I'm still not completely fluent in Australian and I initially thought he might be referring to a girl named Joanna or quoting a classic Australian rock song.  But his desperation convinced me it was something much much more.  He ushered us into his backyard, either cautioning us to be silent and not get too close or asking me how the flight was.  Using stealth skills honed by years as a parent, I crept as close as I dared and snapped this photo.

Impressed?  The lizard didn't even move.

Thinking that Neil had badly underestimated my stealth capabilities AND that the goanna had badly underestimated my threat level, I went for a closer shot.  When the lizard remained immobile, I realized with a bit of disappointment that our host must have sedated the poor bastard.

By the fourth shot, I realized that the sedated lizard was permanently sedated.  As in, plastic.

We all had a good laugh.  Yep.  I was really laughing.

In any event, I was ready for his second joke which I found in the back yard - a poorly made rubber snake half hidden under a rock.  I motioned him over and pointed out the toy with an eye roll that said, been there, done that.

Neil screamed like a eunuch.  "Run you stupid wankah.  It's a brown snake."

After cleaning up, we all had tea.