Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

First let me say that yesterday, some of the seasoned snorklers decided not to go out because the water was too rough, so now I’m really proud of myself that I did the snorkling for the first time in not the greatest of conditions!

We woke up this morning to rain, which was predicted for the whole day. Allan and I were well prepared with rain jackets and rain pants from REI. Everyone was impressed that I kept my pocketbook in a jumbo ziplok bag to keep it from getting soaked. We also wore our waterproof shoes so we stayed dry for the tour to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures, which sounded rather hokey, but actually, was a wonderful opportunity to see many of Australia’s wildlife up close and personal.

First stop was a boat ride around Hartley’s lagoon where the captain of the boat dangled chicken carcasses periodically and we watched as the crocodiles came up and out of the water to snatch the chicken off the line. The captain also tapped his long pole on the side of the boat which alerted the crocs to feeding time.

Interestingly, in Queensland in the fishing areas, it is no longer allowed to tap on anything in order to see the crocodiles This law came about after a man who was fishing tapped his pipe on the side of the boat to empty it and a crocodile dove out of the water and over his boat. Fortunately, the fisherman wasn’t harmed.

After seeing the crocs, we walked all around the park seeing cassowaries, wombats, emus, kangaroos, wallabies, and we even had an opportunity to feed the kangaroos and to pet a koala. It was really amazing seeing the animals and birds close up. Some of the animals are dangerous to humans so you have to be very careful and respectful of the fences.

We had lunch at Hemingway’s Brewery which was delicious. Interestingly, it’s very hard to get a nice dark ale anywhere. Australians prefer the lighter beers, so Allan and I opted for a Shiraz instead.

Dinner was a BBQ but it was still a tad rainy so we ate indoors. Nice selection of food and then we bid everyone good night and went back to our rooms. On the way back, we passed the lily pad pond by the pool. Beautiful lilies open up each evening and we can hear the frogs chirping when we went by. I was snow to get a photo of one of the frogs, but on closer inspection…. Well…. You draw your own conclusion from the pic.

Tomorrow we fly to Sydney.