American Spirit II - Day 211; Crocodile Safari; Monday, August 4, 2014

Up at 5:45. Breakfast of scrambled eggs, potato and raisin bread. Plus coffee and tea.

Boarded ferry for Shute Harbor at 7:15 AM. Once there we took a bus to the Crocodile Safari camp, but had to stop 4 times along the way to pick up other passengers.

On the way to the Crocodile Safari camp we drove thru miles and miles of sugar cane, which was in the process of being harvested. Like driving thru the midwest and have unlimited miles of corn fields. Same way here with sugar cane fields. Along the way we also drove by a Subway sandwich shop, which had one distinguishing feature different than one in the US: it had a drive thru lane.

As we arrived at the acreage of the Crocodile Safari camp site we saw a Wallabie mother and child as we entered, moving thru the woods. A Wallabie looks like a Kangaroo but is smaller. Not sure what the differences are other than size.

The high temperature today was 21 degrees Celsius; which translates to roughly 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The formula for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit is multiple by 9, divide by 5 and then add 32. Using 21 degrees Celsius as an example, 21 x 9 = 189 divided by 5 = 37.8 + 32 = 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Because it was very windy and cloudy, it was quite cool out. The forecast for Tuesday is a low of 68 and a high of 70. Today it was 90 degrees in Darwin, so as we head north along the eastern coast of Australia it will only get warmer. Once we get up over the tip of Australia and turn west to Darwin, it will probably be too warm. Oh well. Maybe sweating is better than shivering.

The Safari camp consisted of a large tent about 50 feet x 50 feet with open sides all the way around. The camp had a an outdoor toilet (outhouse), that the proprietor said was ...'where the important paperwork is conducted.' Australian sense of humor. The toilet itself was a 'straight gravity drop,' to who knows where. Above the 'toilet' was a button that you could push that simulated the sound of a real flush toilet. Of course I pushed the button. When exiting the toilet, which had one side open and exposed to the elements, I was greeted with smiles by those waiting in line.

Of the 17 paying customers today, 3 were from Florida; 3 from Arizona; 2 from the UK; 2 from New Zealand; and the rest from Australia.

The first part of the tour consisted of us boarding a river boat with a top to it and a ramp that folded down like an LST that was used for boarding. Once on the boat we headed up river (against the flow). Along the way we saw hatchlings (small baby crocodiles), then individual female and male crocodiles; and one or two 'couples.' Less than 1% of all hatchlings will survive to adulthood. All of the large crocodiles had names, like Lenny and Dorothy. The salt water crocodiles, called 'salties,' are much larger than the fresh water alligators, called 'freshies.' The fresh water crocodiles can grow to 3 meters (10 feet);but the salties grow up to 7 meters (21 feet). The tail of 'estuarine' crocodiles is 49.5% of their length. Small crocodiles fall prey to feral pigs, goannas, turtles, barramundi (fish), sea eagles and other crocodiles. Larger crocodiles eat all of the aforementioned. Pay back is a bit__.

After our river tour we had lunch at the camp, which consisted of sausage, steak, chicken, barramundi fish and salad. Plus some sort of chocolate/coconut dessert.

After lunch we hopped onto a steel cage-like carriage (there were 4 in all) that was towed by a farm tractor by the proprietor around the property, thru the woods and wetlands. Along the way we saw a large kangaroo, which I was able to get a picture of but wasn't quick enough to get the video camera out and capture it hopping away from us. Very fast moving kangaroo. Along the way our host also stopped and showed us various plants, leaves and flowers and what their aboriginal function was. For example, one set of leaves, when put into a water hole with fish, eliminates the oxygen in the water, killing the fish. Easier and safer than using dynamite to gather dinner.

Once back at the camp we had afternoon tea and fire pot cooked bread, some with raisins and some without. After adding honey, jelly or some other topping it was quite good.

The cost of the Crocodile Safari was steep, $199 apiece; but we all felt it was worth it.

The bus delivered us to Airlie Beach, where we boarded the 3:45 PM ferry to Dream Island and then onto Hamilton Island. The trip was quite rough, with water from the waves and bows (2 bows, a catamaran) splashing over the vessel as it drove along at 25 to 30 knots. I was impressed that no passengers got seasick. We arrived back at the marina at 4:45 PM; and after a slight diversion, we arrived back at the boat by 5:30 PM.

Dinner was late, at 8:00 PM, as we'd had a mid-afternoon tea break and were too full for an early dinner. Russ and Laurie from Nexus joined us for company (they'd already eaten dinner); and Russ helped me set up my IPad with a navigation and weather app. The weather app is very cool and appears to be superior to Passage Weather.

At 10:30 PM we watched Fright Night starring Colin Farrell. A very good vampire movie. Jeanine liked it a lot and Joel was so/so. If its not National Geographic or Discovery Channel type material, Joel is hard to please. Right Darlene?

At 12:30 AM we called Mastry Marine and ordered some generator filters. Then lights out.

Brian Fox