The Kronikles of Tony and Ruth
Day 20 - Wednesday 19 July 2006
Strange bird noises filter into our bedroom. No one knows what birds are singing. It’s too windy for the Reef so Darlene drives Ruth and me to the Billabong Nature Park on the Charters Towers road.
After we get over the shock of the admission price ($26 ea.) we wander down to the “holding the croc’ area. Ruth and I take turns in holding a small croc while the cameras flash. The crocodile feels very cold and heavy. The abundant bird life in the park is not the least timid which allows us to get up close to our feathered friends and take some photos so we can identify them and tick them off in our bird-spotting book when we get back to Geelong.
The crocodile feeding takes place at 11AM. The crocks are huge, dozy and little interested in being fed, although when they move they move like a flash.
Some Croc facts:
- in recorded history, of 150 years, these creatures have killed only 40 people.
More people are killed by:
- sharks
- bee stings
- falling coconuts
- a feed of one chook can sustain a croc for a year
- crocks are far more dangerous in the summer, which explains their apathy during our visit
- the most dangerous animal to humankind is: the horse. 25 deaths a year in Oz.
Leaving the park Darlene drops us off at a shopping centre while she gets her nails serviced. We have a light lunch, coffee, then Ruth buys some clothes and I get a new mobile phone. We’re picked up and arrive back at No 41 at 4.30PM
Brad, Laura and Nick go about their concerns while Darlene, Ruth and I hit a cocktail bar on The Strand. Ah, a perfect setting: an orange sun sliding into a blue ocean while balmy breezes waft and alcohol courses through the veins.
Chicken Kiev and lovely reds are consumed for dinner. I attempt to watch the film “Vertigo” but Brad’s offering of Black Label turns the lights out. I wake up at one in the morning to find myself asleep. Stagger off to bed.
Bono Reposo
