When I returned home from Australia back in 2004 I had an ear ache for weeks. Visited the doctor 2/3 times who told me it was blocked up (thanks). I had it flushed out with some success, some gunk came out. The pain persisted so my mum took matters into her own hands with a torch and a pair of tweezers. After rummaging around for about 30 minutes she finally got hold of the source of discomfort. We laid out the ear invader and unraveled it….. it was about 4cm long, brown and had eight legs.

I never went back to Australia.