The Good, the Bad… and Both Kinda Ugly

When I found a custard apple at the market, I was thrilled! I’d read about these unique fruits—native to Australia—and didn’t think I’d get the chance to try one since they’re more common farther north. Even the Lawrences had never had one, so I felt like I’d discovered a rare treasure.

We brought it home and cut it open to enjoy with our very Aussie breakfast: fresh eggs from the backyard and toast with a generous swipe of Vegemite (because when in Rome… or Melbourne). The custard apple was dark green, bumpy, and kind of odd-looking. The rind was thick like a squash, and inside, the pale yellow flesh was soft but firm, speckled with big black seeds.

The flavor? Lovely! Mildly sweet, almost like honey or—you guessed it—custard. I’d absolutely eat it again.

Then Came the Spider…

In stark contrast to our lovely breakfast, we had our first real Aussie wildlife sighting. And it was a doozy.

There he was, chilling on the wall: a Huntsman spider. I wasn’t about to place my hand nearby for scale (nope), but I’d guess he was a solid 2–3 inches across—more with those legs stretched out like he owned the place.

I’m told Huntsmans are the “good guys” of the spider world—harmless to humans, great for pest control, and surprisingly polite for something with eight legs. However, if this is the good guy, I do not want to meet whatever spiders count as the bad guys.

So there you have it:

One breakfast fruit that looks like it came from an alien garden… and one spider that absolutely did. Both Australian, both fascinating, both a little gnarly—and only one of them ended up on my plate.