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| Here I am handling a crocodile at the Billabong Sanctuary!! Will I be the new Crocodile Hunter?? I don't think so!! |
| Glenn's Journal 02-17-03 & 02-18-03 Queensland We start the morning packing up and having to move out of our luxurious accomodation at "The Lakes" in Cairns. After a few troubles with the Visa card again we finally paid our bill and were on our way. Our final destination today is Townsville which should take approximately four hours of drive time. We left Cairns around 10:30 am and, including a lunch stop, arrived into Townsville at 3:00 pm. Our first stop was the Reef HQ which had been recommended as a "must see" place. Erin and I enjoyed the initial tour that took place as we arrived but found the whole experience limited. I think we are spoiled by the establishments (Aquariums and Sea Worlds) that are available in the states. Oh well. We were glad to have seen the Reef HQ but we only spent an hour and a half their. We headed out of town to find accomodation only to find that the caravan park we stayed at last week was full. We stopped into another caravan park recommended by the first and found an ensuite room available. After a quick dip in the pool we cleaned up and snuck out for dinner. Dinner tonight was KFC. Sometimes you just like a little food that reminds you of home, even if it is the greasy stuff. After dinner I worked on journals until Erin and I stopped to watch the television show "24 hrs". We got caught into this show last week so we must watch it again. I went to bed just after the show while Erin remained up to watch "Buffy". She went to bed before "Buffy" was over. 02-18-03 Queensland Tuesday morning and our plans for the day include stopping into the Billbong Sanctuary just south of Townsville before making our way to Airlie Beach, "the gateway to the WhitSunday Islands". We were packed and out the door a little after 9:00 am and found our way to the Billabong Sanctuary by 9:30 am. Our timing was perfect as we entered the sanctuary in time for the "Hold a Wombat" session at 10:00 am. At 10:15 am we stopped in to the "Hold a Koala" session, enjoyed checking out the three deadliest snakes, and many different types of birds. At 11:00 am we stopped in to the Bird Encounters show and then quickly moved to the "Hold a Crocodile" session. Don't worry as we took photos of most of the animals that we held today. This session moved into the "Hold a Python" session. It was a fantastic way to spend a morning. The afternoon started with the feeding of the turtles and eels, which came all the way up on shore to get the food, before moving on to the crocodile feeding. This was very interesting as Dan (our guide) got into the area with the crocodiles and fed them from close range, and I mean close. Erin took a few photos with the crocodile elevating himself as high as Dan to get the food. You could also hear his jaw snap at, what an said was 3.5 tons of pressure. Wow!!! The first few crocodiles were familiar with the feeding process and were no threat to Dan. The last crocodile was very territorial and chased Dan around his area all the while trying to protect his space. By 1:00 pm we had moved on to the Rainforest experience before stopping for the Cassowary feeding at 1:15 pm. We returned on our own to the bird sanctuary before calling it a day. We left around 2:00 pm and thouroughly enjoyed the time spent at the Billabong Sanctuary. Erin and I are both animal lovers and look forward to having animals of our own upon our return to the states. We are now heading to Airlie Beach which took approximately 3 hours. We had not eaten but made time while driving to eat lunch. I, of course, had made PBJ's, and that along with some chips and water we were all set. The only stop we made was in Ayr at the post office to mail a few postcards that Erin had been holding while waiting for me to fill out mine. We arrived into Airlie Beach around 5:00 pm and in time to find the Information shop still open. In the next hour we did some quick research and decided on a day trip to a few of the WhitSunday Islands for tomorrow. We also booked into a caravan park with an ensuite cabin for only $55 AU per night. The cabin had a/c and bathroom/shower so Erin was very happy. We booked in for at least three nights to start with. We stopped into the caravan park and dropped our bags off long enough to change into our swimsuits (bathers) and try out the swimming pool. After the swim we cleaned up before going down the road to Banjo's for dinner and drinks. We returned to our cabin around 9:00 pm where Erin watched television and I worked on journals. Tomorrow we are being picked up at 7:40 am to start our day trip to the islands. |
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| How about a Wombat as a pet? They are quite big but I am not sure how much fun they would be!! |