Crocodile Safari on the Proserpine River

A sacred kingfisher.

A saltwater crocodile otherwise known as a saltie.

Striated heron in hunt mode.

Great egret.

In stealth mode.

Our boat which has to be lifted out of the river after every trip because of the tidal flow.

Spoonbills.

A mudcrab, a favourite seafood for Queenslanders. Their pinchers can crush a popsicle stick.

Saturday, July 9^th

Thinking of John, a friend going through major surgery.

Slept okay in a room of eight. Up early and went to Woolworths to buy somethings for breakfast. Then I went to catch the bus to take me to the Crocodile Safari. I was with a group of about twenty people. We were met by two men who told us about the day's itinerary. First up was a boat tour of the Proserpine River which has more crocs in it than any other river in the area. We saw a number of small crocs from 1 to 3 years old. Most crocs don't reach that age as they have many enemies but when they do they grow fast. We also saw a lot of large crocs. Alan Watson who owns this company gave us lots of interesting information about them and had names for most of them and could recognize them by their markings. We also saw a few birds including the sacred kingfisher.

Then we came back for an excellent bbq lunch: chicken, steak, sausage, and barramundi (fish), served with salads. After lunch we boarded up on a train of sorts which was pulled behind the tractor and Alan's partner Mark took us on a bush and wetlands tour. We saw some agile wallabies and he showed us some aboriginal techniques for making soap from some leaves and how they used the excretions of the green ants, which he claims taste like lemon, for cold medicine. Then we had tea and some damper bread that they had made fresh with sultanas in it. Then we were driven back to Airlie Beach.

I went back to the travel agent at Xpackers and told him that I was very happy with the tour and then booked something to do for tomorrow. After that I went for a walk along the bicentennial boardwalk to Shingles Harbour to enjoy the warmth of the late afternoon sun. I had a beer at one of the posher restaurants at the harbour overlooking the Solway Lass. Then I walked back and had a sushi dinner before going back to the hostel for another night.