By Rob

We will not be asked to reprise the Crocodile Hunter series for the Irwins.

We set out this morning at 8:30 for a “crocodile safari” on the Proserpine River. This outing included a 2 hour crocodile spotting trip on the river, a bbq lunch, and a tractor ride through the wetlands.

We traveled by bus from our AirBnB, along with 20 other participants for this outing. We were brought to a camp on the river from which the crocodile safari operates. This location was a trading dock in the 1800s but fell out of use in the early 20th century with the development of new ways to access goods in the area. It is now the location of a private company offering boat tours on the Proserpine River.

The Proserpine River is a 60 km waterway located about 30 minutes outside of Airlie Beach. The river is brackish water, starting from a freshwater source but tidally influenced by the Coral Sea. This river has sharks and saltwater crocodiles – fun!

We took a 2 hour boat ride in search of crocodiles. I was ready to jump out and wrestle a 12 foot croc as my Crocodile Hunter audition. Alas, I did not have the opportunity since we did not find any large crocs. As a Florida native (and having seen all the Crocodile Dundee movies!), I expected to see crocs lined up along the river bank. However this is not what they do here. When not in the water, they typically climb the river banks and hang out in the brush. We were able to see two smaller females and several babies.

In lieu of big croc pictures, here are a few facts about these “salties” that we learned today:

There are 2 types of crocodiles in Australia – freshwater crocs that live exclusively in fresh water in northern Australia (they are smaller and less aggressive); and saltwater crocodiles (called “salties”) that adapted to live in all water types, are larger, and aggressive.

Crocs can hold their breath and stay under water for up to 6 hours.

They spend the entire night in the water.

Their day is spent regulating body temp in and out of water.

The male salty grows to 5 meters and 500 kg; the female grows to 4 meters and 400 kg.

They have 66 teeth all pointy and designed to puncture.

They live up to 100 years.

In addition to the crocs, we saw many birds including a Striated Heron, Kingfisher, Great Egret, Bush Turkey, and Black Kite.

Lunch on the barbie (BBQ) was made while we explored the river. Mains included sausage, steak, chicken, and fish, accompanied by salad, noodles, and potatoes.

After lunch we hopped on carts pulled by a tractor for a ride through the wetland. Unfortunately, they are coming out of the dry season so it was not wet and there were few animals to observe.

After the tractor ride, we ended with a traditional tea and damper (bread made in an iron “damper”) cooked over camp fires. There were different condiments to put on the bread, including vegemite; I had to try it, but once is enough. Vegemite is a chocolate spread but very salty and not really sweet.

We returned to our AirBnB, enjoyed some air con for a bit, then set out for sunset and dinner in town. We started at the Coral Sea Pavilion next to the marina for appetizers and a great view of the harbor.

We then went back to the main street for pizza and salad. While they do not celebrate traditional Halloween in Australia (with trick or treating), since Airlie Beach is a tourist town and night spot, several of the bars had decorations and some people were in costumes. They were gearing up for Halloween parties in a few spots, but we made it an early night and let the youngens party without us.

Tomorrow, we move on to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, where Jenna and Connor will be joining us!

Thanks for adventuring with us.