Things that keep me awake at night (3)

Let me introduce you to the New Zealand 'sandfly' (actually a blackfly 2-3 mm in size).

The New Zealanders boast that they have only one poisonous animal, a spider that is so rare you are very unlikely to see one even if you're looking for it. This happy fact is tempered by the existence of their sandflies, noted by Captain Cook in his May 1773 journal:

"The most mischievous animal here is the small black sandfly which are exceeding numerous … wherever they light they cause a swelling and such intolerable itching that it is not possible to refrain from scratching and at last ends in ulcers like the small Pox."

The newcomer to NZ may not even see these creatures until it is far, far too late. During our first week we would happily sit on a beach in shorts, enjoying the warm January air after escaping the British winter. By the time we left nothing would induce me to spend any time stationary on a beach or anywhere within half a mile of water, flowing or not, unless I had 100% coverage of all body parts.

At first you find the odd bite on your ankle at bedtime and think "That's odd. I'd have noticed if an insect had landed". The problem is their size: a mozzie or normal fly you're likely to be aware of and have a chance to swot. These guys excel at covert operations and you don't have a chance to apply ammonia or a piezo-electric pulse until you feel the itch hours later.

At first the bites aren't a problem. But as they multiply so does the irritation. By our third week I was beginning to understand what torture by sleep deprivation is like.

A whole area of, say, your ankle or leg becomes affected.

You drop off to sleep, having kayaked or walked for 3 hours during the day and had an ample meal and perhaps a beer. An hour later you're dragged from your slumbers by the acute diffuse irritation; so diffuse you wouldn't know where to scratch if you allowed your self to.

You find your book and read until you can't keep your eyes open, put the book down and you're away. Only to find yourself awake again a few minutes later with the nerves in your leg once again screaming in anguish. And then you're into the cycle of trying to read again.

This happened night after night. The effects of each bite lasted at least 3 days, much longer than the average mozzie bite.

Antihistamine tablets and creams and steroid cream don't touch it. Someone told me there are steroids stronger than over-the-counter hydrocortisone that can help but we didn't have the luxury of those.

Eventually I tried ibuprofen on the basis that it's an antiinflammatory. It may have helped me get some sleep.

DEET was a comprehensive failure. The sandflies ignored it altogether. I bought a local repellent at great expense in Franz Joseph called "Okaritu sandfly repellent" which consists of citronella and sweet almond oils. I think this helped but as we were near the end of the holiday anyway, and were much more wary by then, I couldn't be sure. And it was very oily!!!