Crocodile spotting! Now there's something to get your heart racing when you finally see these beasts swimming towards your boat and sometimes getting so close you almost have the urge to pat them on the head ... I did say almost!!!
We went on a cheap cruise down the Hull river in Mission Beach which started at 4pm during the daylight when we set up crab pots to catch a few mud crabs. We did spot a crocodile which had obviously got a bit cross that we were in his territory and swam directly for us where it lingered until we moved on our way. He was a small one of about three metres!
When we arrived at the ocean, we had a break to watch the sunset and take advantage of the view whilst munching on baguettes and sipping a nice warm cuppa. Once the sun had set, we headed back up the river with a lookout scanning the river from an 11 o'clock to 2 o'clock position in front of the boat. If you are directly behind the spotlight, you will see red eyes appear from nowhere. Even though we had only seen one crocodile on the way downstream, we saw plenty on the way back using this method.
A couple of crocs again swam directly at the boat until we got out of their territory which wasn't as scary as seeing a massive crocodile of about five metres in length suddenly disappear under water ... it wasn't a huge boat after all and they could easily jump over our heads if they so wished!
We had previously visited a crocodile farm where wild crocs were bred for their leather - handbags or shoes for the Italian market mainly. The wild crocs were caught from various surrounding rivers and some of them were so big it was amazing to see these huge beasts up close and personal, but nothing compares to seeing them in the wild.
The farm had a dome tent with several pools for various sizes of crocodiles and it was an amazing sight to see so many crocs in one place ... albeit a bit cruel to keep them in that manner.
Whilst they were feeding one crocodile, I noticed on its name plate showed where it had been caught which turned out to be a friend’s back yard! Needless to say I won't be visiting her for a cuppa in a hurry.
