It was closing on eleven and we were just contemplating heading back when we heard a rushing sound. We all stood up at once and looked out across the valley to see a wall of falling water heading straight at us. There was a 2 second delay of realisation followed by screams from the girls. We moved as one, sprinting up the trial to avoid getting soaked to the skin, to no avail.
However, as we were running back one of the girls jumped back in surprise. After managing not to collide into them I looked to see what her finger was pointing at. Just in front of use scuttled a large black tarantula. It was great hairy thing with brown hind quarters, about the size of my splayed hand.
It puts some sort of perspective to the so called ‘huge’ spider you find in the bath at home.
