What a great day. As well as various fluffy and furry Australian animals, the main focus (of course) was on the scaly members of the animal kingdom. We saw Chopper the 5 metre long saltwater crocodile jumping to catch bits of chicken on a pole while we learned about him and his friends; had a boat trip on the lagoon where we saw lots of male and female crocs sunning themselves, sitting in nests, or lurking menacingly - and then our driver fed Boris the 5.5m crocodile from the boat, right next to Kevin and Jemima - we put a lot of trust in a sheet of glass; and watched a snake show, where the enthusiastic man held up the two deadliest snakes in Australia, one by venom concentration, the other by number of deaths, while reassuring us more people are killed annually by vending machines falling on them than by snakes (he also told us what to do if you see a snake, or get bitten, which was helpful - back off as they won't attack unless they feel threatened; and apply a pressure bandage over the whole area and then go straight to hospital).
The grand finale was "Crocodile Attack", where a surprisingly cheerful man (very carefully) provoked Hagrid, a crocodile with "anger issues", into various forms of attack and death roll, while he was on the bank of, or ankle deep in, Hagrid's pool (scariest moment - showing us how a psychopathic 5m croc was completely invisible in a foot of water).
Plus Jemima stroked a black headed python, a carpet python, a baby crocodile (Lewis), and a kangaroo - but fluffy definitely lost out to scaly this day. She got so enthusiastic she (unprompted) asked questions at two of the shows: how do you hold a snake?; and how do crocodiles drink?. It was so hot and humid we were all dripping with sweat, but it was an unexpectedly interesting, informative and entertaining outing.
Then onwards again, via the beautiful coast road to swanky Port Douglas for the night. We mainly made use of their supermarket, but it was lovely - a stunning mangrove swamp-bordered marina, and a pretty green, spacious town with lots of enticing restaurants and shops. We will have to come back! A cooling swim at the campsite; dinner in the van (thank god for the air conditioning); and bed.
Chopper:
On the boat with Boris:
Furred and feathered things:
Hagrid:
And his snake friends:
Lewis:
And Cuddles the black-headed python:
Ellis Beach to Port Douglas, our most northerly stop:
To put it in context, Port Douglas on a big map; we've got to get to Sydney (ignore the blue dot, I don't know how to get rid of it):
Wow! What an experience! It all sounds and looks very scary. Jemima seems to have no fear. Xx
ReplyDeleteShe was definitely keen on the snakes in particular! It was a fun day. Hope all well there! Xx
Delete