Croc adventures

Sunday, December 21st

We had an extra day in Cairns after the reef, with nothing much planned, so we asked the very helpful manager of the Jack and Newall Apartments in Cairns what some good options were.

We had really wanted to see a platypus in the wild, but were told they were very had to find, and even when they were seen, it was just the flash of their back through the water as they swam.

Although we were a little saturated from animals from all the zoos we had been to, we were assured it was a good drive and a good experience.

We rented a car for a day and drove up the coast on the Captain Cook highway toward Port Douglas to Hartley's Croc Adventures.

The drive was nice and the views were stunning.  There are so many beautiful places to see in Australia, that the seemingly endless coastline of beaches, granite cliffs, and gorgeous forests can be numbing after a while.  But it was very scenic and worth the trip.

Hartley's is a little different from a zoo in one main respect.  It encourages protection for the crocs by acting as a farm for them.  The crocs were nearly wiped out by hunters, so the farm was started as a way to satisfy the demand for products and protecting the wild population.  The message was a little jarring though.  All the other zoos we were at talked of habitat protection, rescue efforts, and dwindling populations.  On the farm tour they talked about how tasty they were (available in the cafe), and what nice products you could make from their scales and skin (all available in the gift shop)

It was a leisurely day, since we had seen all the animals here before, so we took our time and tried to see the presentations, which were quite good.

The snake show brought out the most venomous snake in the world.  One ml of its venom can kill 50000 mice.

We went on a boat tour and saw some crocs in action.  They must be well fed!

We got to feed some roos and wallabies.  One got spooked and jumped right over Trent as he was feeding another.

The Croc attack show was a good exhibit.  Those guys can move fast when they want to, and the noise it makes when their jaws snap shut is like a loud hollow drum.

After the zoo, we drove back down the coast to Trinity beach for a nice dinner by the ocean.  We also wandered down the beach to check out the stinger nets that let people in the water without fear of death from box jellyfish.

It was a nice relaxing day on our Views and Zoos tour.

Dave