'Bill' the Stick Insect

When we planned this holiday in Hong Kong, we chose the Easter school break on the basis that it would avoid the heat, humidity and mosquitos of summer. So it's a bit of an understatement to say the weather has been pretty lousy, with some form of rain forecasted for every day that we stay here. Today was seriously wet and our little boy was also complaining about feeling unwell, so we ended up staying in my parents' house.

The highlight of this otherwise uneventful day was 'Bill the stick insect', which became our children's pet for the day. It appeared in the garden and after getting over the initial surprise of a stick moving about in your hand, really did made a rather well behaved pet. It also made a superb macro subject for a bored photographer stuck inside since its main method of survival involves staying p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y still and, you know, pretend to be a stick. Unfortunately, the head and shoulders portrait shots I took didn't disguise that it's actually a pretty gross looking insect.