Crocodile Conway

Greetings from Brisbane. I can't get back in my hotel, as the fire alarm has gone off (someone burned some sausages) and nobody can find the key to turn it off! Basil Fawlty has emigrated down under it seems!

I last emailed you from Darwin. Darwin is a fairly dull looking city (not surprising really, as it was flattened by a cyclone 30 years ago), but it is a good base for exploring the dramatic scenery around it at the top end of Australia.

After a quiet Sunday (the whole city was feeling lethargic, with lots of people lazing in the sun, or drinking in cafes), the next 2 days were taken up with all day excursions.

The first concentrated on the wildlife. In the morning, I visited the NT wildlife centre, where the highlight was stroking Erica the Wallaroo (a species of kangaroo) under the chin, and in return having my arm licked.

Moving on to less cuddly creatures, next was the crocodile farm, where crocs are bred for their leather (and meat). These crocs are harvested at 3, whereas the lucky ones are the breeding ones, many of which are very old, and very big (5 metres!). The slightly shy creature below starred in Crocodile Dundee! (what ever happened to Paul Hogan?)
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Naturally, I had to try some crocodile while I was there. The croc leg I had was fried in breadcrumbs, and was like an old, tough chicken drumstick.

Continuing the croc theme, we moved on to the Adelaide river, for a cruise down it's croc infested waters, made all the more 'interesting' as the banks had overflown, and we had to wade across to our vessel...happily everyone made it on board, with all limbs intact! The attraction here, is that they dangle meat from a fishing rod into the water, and get the crocs to jump for it! (see below)
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This is normal behaviour for crocs. Yours truly also 'won' the right to do this too, my effort wasn't quite as good as the pros, but my 80+ y/old croc got her feed!

I was very lucky with the weather during this period, which was dry throughout, as Darwin hadn't finished the wet season yet, and the surrounding area was very wet. As a result of this I gave Kakadu a miss, but went to Litchfield instead, another National Park.

Litchfield is full of beautiful waterfalls and wilderness. It also has some enormous termite mounds - the cathedral mound towers above me!
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The last picture features cycads, and ancient fern from the beginning of plant life, and a wild hibiscus. Incidentally, while wallowing in a rock pool, I bumped into a couple from my Ocean Road trip, while I kept bumping into two English guys from the Uluru trip throughout the day - parts of rural Australia are like that, it doesn't matter who you go with, you all end up at the same places!

From Darwin I flew east to Cairns. The flight left at a painful 6am - at 4.15 I was in the airport bus, watching people staggering out of clubs! My contrast to Darwin, the weather here was pretty dreadful, hot and humid, with large amounts of heavy rain.

Cairns is another nothing place, people come here to see the Great Barrier Reef. Before doing that, I took a day trip to Kuranda, a rainforest town high in the hills. This turned out to be a cracker of a day.

First, was the Kuranda scenic railway, a highly enjoyable ride, as we slowly wound our way up the hill, past dramatic waterfalls and lush rainforest. The railway line was built by hand, to serve the gold mines, an impressive feat.
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Kuranda is very touristy, but is a very pleasant place nethertheless (despite the constant showers!). Amongst the attractions are Birdworld, an amazing aviary full of jungle birds darting around, an informative butterfly sanctuary, and the koala gardens. There are plenty more attractions there for another day!

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The silly _expression above, is due to the second bird perched on my arm flying off suddenly, the blur was caused by it landing on my camera instead!

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Cute koala picture!

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Mother kangaroo with giant joey stuffed in her pouch!

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This is the same pair....

The great thing about Kuranda, is that the journey there is part of the day out. Returning to Cairns, I took the Skyrail, a cable car that takes you over the rainforest! The views from above are stunning, you get a wonderful look at the forest canopy. Photos don't do it justice.
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As we rode higher into the sky, the mist closed in on us, giving an eerie feel. Unforgettable, and only slightly scary! There was even the chance to take short walk into the rain forest, where Queensland Kauri trees grow (Aussie cousins of the magnificent Kiwi specimens)
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By contrast, my trip to the Great Barrier Reef was a bit of a let down. Each to their own I guess. It started badly, as I felt a bit seasick on the way, so I took a tablet. This unfortunately made me very drowsy, so while everyone else was ready to rumble, I was ready to slumber! Waking myself up, I put on a wetsuit (sadly no pictures exist!) put on my flippers and snorkel, grabbed a bendy float and slumped into the water, to try a spot of snorkelling. The intention was the gaze down at the coral reef, admiring the fish and sea life. The reality was a lot of floundering around, and swallowing of disgusting sea water, so I soon gave up. In the afternoon, I stuck to the glass bottomed boat, where at least I stayed dry (until it started raining that is).

The finale to the day was a bit better though, as I booked a seat on a helicopter ride back into town. This got me out of the 1.5 hour trip back, but more importantly gave a chance to see the reef from above, a very impressive sight, as you get to see the scale of the reef, and contrast it's shallowness with the deep ocean all around it. I'd certainly recommend some sort of flight over the reef, as it's the only way to see the coral reef as an entity.

I'm now in Brisbane, another of those pleasant cities, without that many sights in town. The attractions are all outside, whether you fancy beaches (the gold and sunshine coast), theme parks (of which there are many) or Forest parks. Today I took a trip out to Lamington national park, and more specifically O'Reilly's a complex which swarms with tourists, but has an interesting and vertigo inducing canopy walk, and a number of longer trails that I didn't have time to do...
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A very hectic few days coming up, culminating in Tim and April's wedding this Saturday in Auckland! No rest for the wicked...

Mike