Can anyone identify this guy? arachnophobia warning

[Skyman]

I went for a walk in some local gardens on the public holiday Wednesday and there were literally hundreds of these spiders hanging from the trees. It was a very windy day so this is the sharpest of a bad bunch. You can't tell from this photo but their abdomens are quite large and rounded. The light wasn't playing well so I couldn't get a photo but it looked like a scene from a horror film with all the spiders and webs blowing in the wind.

[Grandpaw]

I don't see it in my Southeastern United States Audubon field guide, Jeff

[Skyman]

I wouldn't expect it to be there. It is probably an Australian native

[Grandpaw]

Skyman, after further investigation I have identified the little guy, his name is Fred Smith and is married to Annabell and they have several hundred kids that are mostly boys. Hope this helps, Jeff

[wfooshee]

Spider, Australia. Who cares what kind it is? RUN!!!!!

They have 'em down there whose venom kills in fractions of a second, and their young devour the bodies.

(Or was that something I saw in a Harry Potter movie? Regardless, they have scary spiders down under!)

[Skyman]

they have scary spiders down under!)

Yes we do, but mostly they aren't aggressive, and so are easily avoided.

Apparently this arachnid goes by the name of Nephila edulis or golden silk orb-weaver. Despite their alarming appearance they are harmless to humans, although the trees were so full of them I seriously thought it was the set of a horror film.