Crocodile Cruise

One of our last activities in Far North Queensland was a crocodile cruise on Cooper's Creek. We rode bikes from our hostel, Crocodylus, all the way there. It was hot and humid so the ride seemed much harder than it actually was. Our group assembled on the muddy banks of the creek to wait for the boat to return from the previous cruise. There were little crabs and mud skippers running in the mud which drew us to the waters edge. A khaki-clad tour guide emerged from the bushes and yelled "Oi! Away from the water!" I think it was more a device to get us excited about the possibilty of spotting potentially-man-eating crocodiles than an actual safety precaution.

The boat pulled up and a sad group of tourist got off. They hadn't spotted any crocodiles.

Like yet another clone of Steve Erwin, our boat captain/crocodile tour guide was also wearing all khaki and, incidentally, Crocs®. He told us he was having bad luck that day and maybe we could help him spot some crocodiles. The information he gave as we drifted up the creek had mostly to do with the mangroves. There are something like 150 different kinds of mangrove trees and that provides more than enough factoids to fill an hour long tour. It was begining to look hopeless as more and more various kinds of branches and roots became less and less interesting. Then, very casually, Micaela pointed and said, "There's one." Everyone stood up and got their cameras out and oohed and ahhed at what looked very much like a log. It was actually a crocodile, 2.4 meters long according to the guide. An older woman who seemed slightly confused pointed and said very loudly, "There, there, I see a crocodile!" It was obviously Micaela's sighting.