Crocing Jumpodiles

In the Northern Territory crocodiles are serious business. At every place that land meets water there are signs warning of the likelihood of crocs. Everyday in the newspaper (which, admittedly, is a small town newspaper and talks at length of the frolics of hens nights thinking the police were strippers ) there is an article about a croc stealing a dog or being spotted or something. 

One day we decided to go on a Jumping Crocodile tour (which my brain confused, hence the title). They took us out on a boat into the murky Adelaide River to see crocs in their natural habitat. We saw giant crocs about 6 metres long lazing on the riverside catching the sun. We saw one whose name was Hannibal because he likes to chomp the arms off of other crocs. 

The people running the tour would tie a bit of meat to a string and dangle it over the side of the boat. Sometimes they would smack the water with it to make it seem like a flailing human to attract the croc's attention. 

These animals are so scary. It seems to be the only animal that Australians are afraid of (and they have zillions that can easily kill you!).  Maybe it's the yellow teeth. Maybe it's the death stare they give you or the fact that you can barely see them in the water before they make an attack. Maybe it's because for fun and dominance they like to eat each other. Maybe it's the fact they they haven't really evolved in 60 million years and hung out with dinosaurs and didn't die off when they did. They probably ate all the dinosaurs. 

In nature the crocodiles jump out of the water to get prey. So they are pretty impressive even if they only have 2-3 arms. These are powerful beasts and I wouldn't go swimming in this river for anything. 

I'm pretty certain that this one is thinking "You're next".   This is one time where we fully obeyed the common rule of keeping our hands and arms inside the boat at all times. 

Terrifying. We felt really lucky to be able to see these amazing creatures and not die. 

Litchfield Park

The closer we drove to the top of Australia the hotter it became. By the time we reached Litchfield Park we were so ready to jump into the water. 

There are many spots to stop along the way. We walked along a path and came along these gorgeous rock pools. People were lounging around enjoying the beautiful day. 

There were too many people so we decided to move along to the next place. 

Florence Falls is in the bottom of a valley. We walked down a zillion stairs to reach the bottom. We didn't take any photos of the swimming area because the rocks were slippery and I am clumsy when it comes to cameras and water. It was pretty perfect to be swimming in waterfall fed pool. Some people were climbing up the rocks and jumping off but that seemed both difficult and needlessly dangerous. 

If you look closely you can see some people swimming. Imagine that they are us. 

We then went to Wangi Falls. We swam across this peaceful pond to the waterfalls on the other side. We sat on the rocks beneath the small fall and the water that had collected in the pools and been warmed by the sun was like a hot tub! 

Bobbing around in natural swimming places was the perfect way to end our roadtrip. 

On the road and Daly Waters

We drove the same long road back up to the top of Australia, stopping at little places that caught our interest. 

One place that we were particularly excited to go was to Daly Waters. We had heard that they have a pub there there is a bit strange... and that they serve amazing barramundi. 

Every surface was covered in stuff. License plates, road signs, shirts, business cards, patches, name tags, underwear, bras and even a diaper (eeewww)

Being inside was totally overwhelming. I would hate to have to dust all that stuff. Which is why I'm pretty sure they don't... 

Across the road was a little shack selling outback jewellery made of seeds and berries. And, naturally, there was a helicopter on the roof. 

After a long, hot, dusty day we were happy to stop for a beer and a great barra burger in this tiny town.