I arrived in acarology over 25 years ago, thanks to seasickness torpedoing aspirations in marine biology, and a realisation that I knew nothing about insects, except that most were not marine and they were more interesting than seashells. This transitioned to a fascination for mites and the extraordinary things they do in some of the most unusual places. After studying flower-inhabiting mites that ride on bees and birds, the remarkable diversity of mites on passalid beetles, and a dalliance with the Tasmanian mite fauna, I joined the Queensland Museum as a collection manager and acarologist. Much of my research has focused on the species diversity, morphological adaptations and curious relationships between mites and their host insects.