Day 18 - Tuesday 10th July 2012
It was hot and humid overnight. We didn't sleep well in the camper. That was the last night in the camper.
Today we pack up because we are staying in a motel. We have an early start on Wednesday. We have to have the car at the railway station between 6:30 and 7:00 am to go on The Ghana.
We took our time packing up and gave away the stuff that was left in the fridge.
We drove to the motel we had booked - the Paravista in Parap. We booked that because it wasn't expensive and they said there was room to park the camper.
We we got there we couldn't see where we could park the car and camper still connected so went in to ask. Denis was fantastic. We backed the trailer in the driveway on the opposite side to reception and left it there for the day!
We drove out to the station to see how long it would take and decided to have Macca's for breakfast.
Then we went to Crocodylus Park and Zoo. What a great day that was. We spent 3/4 hour in the crocodile museum and then checked out the snakes. They have a MASSIVE python!!! I have never seen anything like it.
After that we went to the 1 hour croc feeding/tour. The guide told us all about crocs and tried to feed some crocs in a big pool. They mustn't be hungry because it took ages for any to take the chicken. Then we went to the breeding crocs. They have a male and female in each enclosure and they fed the male a small piece of chicken. I haven't worked out if the crocs are not hungry or they take a very long time to make decisions.
The guide lined us up along a walkway so everyone had a good view of one of the enclosures. He gave one person at each enclosure the stick with the chicken so there were 3 being fed at a time. It was great.
We walked past different enclosures with different size/age crocs until we got to a big pond with LOTS of small crocs. They were fun to watch. They walked over the top of each other and then one would decide to snap at the others around him.
We got to hold a small croc, with its mouth taped. Ours got a bit feisty and wriggled - they are strong even at that size.
We had lunch at the park and then went for a walk around the zoo. They had all of the usual Australian animals, some buffalo, ostriches, iguanas, lions, tigers and monkeys. We watched the monkeys for a while. At one cage their food had been left outside the cage. The male had some bark and was trying to pick up the fruit but couldn't. Merv got a piece of stick and when the monkey saw what he had he had his hand out of the cage reaching for the stick. Merv gave it to him and he tried to stab a piece of apple, but couldn't. He did get a piece did tomato but was so excited he dropped the stick on the outside of the cage when he ate the tomato.
Merv found another stick and a pointy end. The monkey watched, reaching out for the stick. When he got it he used the pointy end to pick up a piece of lettuce. He held on to the stick this time.
It was amusing but good to see how their minds work.
We went back to the motel, booked in, hooked the trailer on to the car and covered the broke window with PVC tape. Denis suggested that we go to the Yacht Club for tea. He said the meals are excellent and we could walk there. We thought that was a great idea.
Our room was lovely. We had a shower (it was great to have our own) which was fantastic. The day was humid and a local said it was unusual for this time of the year.
The Yacht Club was fabulous. The dining area is outside overlooking the beach. We watched our last Darwin sunset as we ate. Another beautiful scene.
There were lights on the beach and lots of kids were playing having a fun time.
We walked back to the motel and set the alarm for 5:45am.