yep, we grow em big downunder.  Especially in the old outside dunnies, lots of flies I guess! My mums house always had two there they took up the whole panel of the door and the legs were as thick as your little finger . One day my mum flew in and could only see one....until she got up and there was the other under the lip of the toilet seat....she still checks before going to the loo.

They are not quite as as big as the wolf and bird spiders but one gave me a shock a few months back when one popped out from under the sunvisor of the car while I was driving. It was just as startled as me and scurried back in, hubby evicted when I got home.

Funnily enough my old samoyed thught they were a tasty snack!

But on the serious side, here is a decent website that explains what they are and thier reasons for 'scaring us'. It is a good link and tells you how to evict an unwanted guest from house or car. Now that is handy!

http://www.mdavid.com.au/spiders/huntsmanspiders.html