Sand flies or midges

8 days ago, during our visit to the Sunshine Coast, I sat outside in the sun, just as it was disappearing.   A beautiful early evening and a brilliant sunset.   Except that there were hundreds of little black insects trying to land on my arms.   They were annoying but I did not feel any biting going on.    When I went inside, I was told that they were midges.   It was full moon, and they love new blood.

Well I lived in Brisbane for three years, and returned for visits to the Gold Coast and cannot remember any sand flies/midges.    Apparently, for those people who are fortunate enough to live beside the numerous canals on both coasts, midges are a nightmare.   They live in the sand beside the canals, and come out in full force during full moon.   Mating time?  You learn something new every day.

The thing is I should have recognised the little black insects, they are prolific in parts of NZ and are up in Scotland.   But no, I persistently sat outside and flapped my hands at the little black insects, until in the end I got sick of them.

Consequently, I am now reaping my reward.   Twenty four hours after meeting the midges, I started to itch and found that I had an extremely large number of little red lumps on my arms.    The lumps did not go away, they got itchier and itchier, and then started weeping.    I tried antiseptic cream and anti histamine tablets.   But to no avail.  

Then on Friday the skin on my elbows became inflamed and the redness and hotness grew.   A trip to the doctors became a necessity.    The doctor drew a line around one of red patches and said if it became larger then I must go to the hospital immediately.    Scary.   So I started taking the antibiotics and hoped for the best.   Luckily they worked quickly.    I also became fixated with the line on my arm, until I smeared some cream on the skin and the line disappeared.  

Now the red patches look like a bad case of weeping acne.    But the itching has gone and the bites are rapidly fading.   And the redness is also fading.    Thank goodness for modern medicine.  

I have Vitamin B tablets which are meant to repel midges, plus ultra strong insect repellent.

I do not want a repeat performance!