by bernieq » Mon 13 Jul, 2015 3:17 pm
Hi Jonie,
You have my sympathies for having developed such symptoms.
Sadly, ticks are found throughout Australia (and most, if not all, of the rest of the world) - from east to west, north to south and mountains to coast.
Obviously, they are more prevalent is some areas than others. However, I flicked off a tick (and readjusted it's shape with a rock) on the Traveller Range on a recent bushwalk (just north of Lake St Clair, elevation about 1200m).
Keep in mind that's one tick from many weeks of walking in Tassie. The Tassie NW is a lot better than the NSW SE - but, if you are concerned about anaphylactic reaction to another bite, prevention is your primary option but carry an Epipen and ether-based spray (to freeze the blighter if one attaches).
Lyme-like disease in Australia is a bit of a hot topic - afaik, to date, all testing has been negative for Lyme Disease but, clearly, something is responsible for the building case histories of people like yourself. You'll find quite a bit of information about ticks in Australia and research into Lyme-like disease on the web (from reputable sources). Note that there are many species of tick - not just the paralysis tick.
We are responsible for the health of the planet - not it for ours