Day 31 - Darwin

It was an early start as we were booked into a 9am jumping crocodile cruise with the Quaine family. We chose the Adelaide River Cruise company as we went with them 6 years ago and they are a smaller operator.

On the drive in there was lots of smoke from a fire in the wetlands so we were worried about the visibility but once we got closer to the Adelaide River the smoke cleared up. We also couldn’t believe how many birds were flying around. We learnt that majority of the fires are spread by the Kites as they drop a burning stick mid air and it ignites the dry grass very quickly.

The jumping croc cruise was lots of fun and we spotted lots of crocs swimming around. We were there on high tide so no crocs sunning themselves and also it was a little cold for them too.

Our driver got some of the crocs up on the river bank so we could get a good look at them and the way they eye you off is pretty scary. We got to see 2 big male crocs one being Brutus and the other the Dominator. There were also lots of other smaller crocs too. We also got to see a crocodile nest with an unhatched egg. Watching them jump so close to the boat is amazing.

Some crocodile facts that we learnt:

They have 4 heart chambers - one for each limb
They have 66 teeth which are replaced up to 44 times
They have 3 different eye lids - nocturnal, red vision, goggle to protect from water
They live to about a 100
They weigh up to 1000kg
They grow up to 12 metres
They lay about 50-60 eggs and only one survives
They have eyes on top of their heads
They have 2 ears one for above and one for below the water
The sex of a baby croc depends on the temperature
The scales on their back are there solar panels
They mate for about 2.5 hrs - belly to belly underwater during the night
Their belly acid can dissolve a aluminium can in 2 weeks

We then watched the whistling kites being fed from the boat too.

When we got off the boat the kids tried to feed a jabiru some buffalo but it was scared of all the whistling kites that were hanging around. We also saw a goanna heading towards the river bank.

We then drove to Fogg Dam and saw some water buffalo and lots of brolgas.

We then drove to The Taps on Mitchell to have lunch with the Quaine family so we could try crocodile schnitzel and unfortunately they didn’t have any left. Brendan & I were both very disappointed.

We then went back to the caravan to do some washing and Rog washed the car. It’s looking white again after being covered in red dirt.

We then took the kids to Leanyer Recreation Park so we could check out the waterslides, lagoon pool and splash park. First we started by going on the 3 waterslides. One we sat up, one we laid down and the last one you go down on a double tube and it’s pitch black. Rog & I were happy just to try each slide once but then I had to take Josh down the pitch black one but thankfully he didn’t like it either. Then we cooled off in the lagoon and the kids had fun at the splash park before we left. Rog, Josh & I prefer Palmerston Waterpark but Bronte preferred Leanyer.

We went back to the caravan and had dinner and the Quaine girls played in our van with the kids until bedtime. They all get along so well and have so much fun together.