Nests built by the Oak Processionary Moth - which can set off severe allergic reactions and irritate the lungs, eyes and skin, as well as stripping leaves from oak trees - have been found at the Royal Botanical Gardens in west London. But Nigel Taylor, head of horticulture at Kew Gardens, said that there was "absolutely no danger" after existing nests were torched.The moth, which normally lives in southern Europe but has spread northwards - possibly because of climate change - develops from caterpillars covered in hairs that contain toxins capable of causing severe irritation to humans.While people in other parts of Europe are reported to have died from over-reaction to the hairs, Mr Taylor said that descriptions of it as a "killer moth" were exaggerated. We felt very alone.Things got even worse the next day when our guides thought we'd fallen asleep and started going on about all the people they knew in prison. One man, who is now in prison for killing two travellers, had been working for Booner a week before the killings Booner said he'd sacked him for having a "bad attitude". You can say that again.I'm not really one for camping but, out here, we have no choice. I have a phobia of spiders and this is not the place for that neurosis. They have pretty much every type of dangerous creepy-crawly known to man and, every night, I meet them all in my dreams.Yesterday, Booner pointed out one of the ramshackle huts that pass for houses in one of the tiny towns that we passed through.

"You can pick one of those up for about two grand, mate," he said proudly That's about £1,000 and even that looked rather over-priced. I don't think I'll be investing in anything up here that soon.Even the animals are being constantly slaughtered. Mostly, it's on the main highways, which are ankle deep in roadkill. Unlike European films where it's almost compulsory to have a happy ending, this charming chap gets away with it to kill another day. Pete and I spent a very unsettled night in our tiny tents clutching the pathetic little penknives that we'd bought in Milletts before coming out here. We'd picked up a popular local DVD called Wolf Creek back in Darwin, so we slipped it into one of our laptops and had ourselves our very own outdoor cinema. The film was shot close to where we were camping and it was a charming tale of one guy and two girls who are kidnapped by a crazed maniac while travelling across Australia The maniac then proceeds to chop them into little pieces.

We tried to look unconcerned and travel-hardened as we knocked back as much as we could of the lethal Bundaberg Rum that everyone drinks up here. Today, we drove for six hours and didn't see a single person. From where I'm sitting, it's a good 200 miles to the nearest township. Burying a body or two up here is a breeze. Helping us with the filming are two guides: Kevin, a dour young Aussie who looks like he would kill you for a smoke; and Booner, an old Crocodile Dundee figure who carries a 10in knife, two handguns and a chainsaw in the back of his beaten-up old truck.On our first night camping in the bush they both tried to freak us out with tales of fights gone wrong and backpackers being hacked up in campsites by lunatic cattle-station owners. It worked well as an anaesthetic and we were soon flat on our backs looking at the canopy of stars above.Pete suggested that we watch a film - big mistake.

I'm in the Northern Territories, an area that can easily fit Great Britain into it 10 times but has a population of only 200,000 It can be a scary place for the innocent traveller. Joanne Lees, the backpacker whose boyfriend, Peter Falconio, was murdered on the Stuart Highway just near here, has just released a book about the affair, so the Australian newspapers are full of stories of serial killers and people disappearing in the bush You can see how it could happen. But to many in America, Gibson is a spokesperson for the religious right - and they think he has another agenda, using his work as a soapbox for his unpalatable views.Apocalypto is a full-blown epic telling the story of the end of the ancient Maya civilisation. The project has been a huge gamble, starring unknowns who speak in the language of the time. Gibson has always been open about his strong religious beliefs - he belongs to a traditionalist Catholic splinter group - and his version of the Passion aroused a great deal of resentment amongsections of the Jewish community who thought it contained anti-Semitic imagery. He felt this criticism was unjustified and that some reviewers were biased - certainly ordinary members of the public took little notice and the film was a hit.