What is it like having arachnophobia and living in Australia?

I am terrified of spiders but I have lived in Melbourne (Australia) for 13 years now and it's never been a problem really. ... It's just like living in any other country that has spiders. ... Once I went up North, Exmouth, Cairns, Darwin, I saw more, but that was because it was hot all year round so the building tend to be very open. read more

Just to give some background to the conversation, here are the worst offenders: The White Tailed spider, found commonly in Brisbane and further North, although it may pop up pretty much anywhere, although unlikely in the South. read more