24. – 26. November

Next morning we drove back to Cape Tribulation and were surprised to reach it so quickly – the river crossings were so easy it makes a different if you cross them directly at low tide. We did the boardwalks we missed on our earlier visit. On one side you could do a long and short walk of course we aimed for the long one but couldn’t find the entry (the orange markers were hidden in the trees) so did the short walk before. We had icecream (goji with honey and black sarpet with liquor), looked at two beaches and took the ferry back to Mossman.

In Mossman we looked at the gorge but it was really crowded (several tour busses) and half was closed due to walkway upgrade so we decided to camp close by and go for a swim the next morning. Unfortunately it rained next morning so we looked for something else.

We decided to visit the Hartley’s crocodile adventures a park dedicated to crocodiles. When we arrived we cruised the lagoon first and saw several crocs in their (near) natural environment. It’s unbelievable how hard they’re to spot in the water. You can see them one minute and the next one they’re gone. They feed the crocs during the cruise but it only works if the big male (5m) is not around – otherwise the smaller ones (4m) won’t come out and only the small ones get fed. Of course they have several crocodile enclosures with fresh- and saltwater crocodiles. We probably spent 30 minutes looking at the enclosures and saw more and more crocs. They are so hard to spot especially when only the eyes are out of the water.

We also watched the show “croc’s attack”. It was interesting and again the croc was hard to see in the water. There were two zoo keeper but just one entered the pool and fed the crocodile. But the crocodile hat its own mind and didn’t want to do what the keeper wished for. They performed the dead roll just with some bait. The dead roll is how crocs really kill their prey. Today the croc didn’t want to release the bait and kept it in his mouth so it looked like a dog on a leash. I don’t know when it released the rope but definite not after 15 minutes when we walked past again. I guess the croc thought this was a special lunch treat.

Then we walked through the Cassowaries garden. Luckily one was in  picture mood – he was staying in pose for several minutes. He even talked to us – I guess Stephen Spielberg heard them before he did “Jurassic Park” as the sound was close to the ones from the dinosaurs.

 

At this park they also farm crocodiles – they had to find other ways  to fulfil the demand for crocodile leather. The crocodiles will grow until they’re 1.5m and then they get checked for their skin – if the skin is good (no bite or scratch marks) they get sold for the leather industries otherwise they’ll be used for the farm.

We made some more friends in the park although I doubt that it will  remember us… we fed/gave water to a lizard. It’s easy done especially if you’re two persons. You should start rolling a little leaf so you can pour water in and then go to your knees so you’re nearly on the same level as the lizards eyes. The other person should try to distract the lizard and get him used to some noises close around – a good way is to throw little stones 20cm away from the lizard. The person with the leaf should hold the leaf in front of the lizard and most likely it will come close and lick the water – really cute.