Jumping crocs & Litchfield National Park

I was collected from the hostel around 0730 for my excursion to feed crocs and thereafter to Litchfield National Park. First stop was a petrol station where they collected the cashed and vouchers, or had the credit card slips signed. There was also enough time for some smokes (yes, at a petrol station).

Crocs on the Adelaide River

After that, we pretty much headed straight out of town to the Crocodile Cruise on Adelaide River some 30 minutes out of town.

The croc place laid on complimentary coffee/tea, bread and spreads. It was a simple and effective touch which I appreciated even though I had downed my standard office breakfast of muesli, yoghurt and fruit … even while away on holiday!

They had some snakes for those who wanted to pose with them; I declined.

During the hour-plus cruise, they dangled frozen meat (not boneless) off rods and attracted several crocodiles (one at a time) to come for their feed. They had to jump for it a little.  The first croc was a bit slow as it was still cool; he had lost three legs in fights but didn’t appear to limit his ability to swim and jump.

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Litchfield National Park

We continued to the Litchfield National Park some 90 minutes away and had a lunch of DIY sandwiches. It was a good spread with lots of salads and cold cuts which had to be chucked at the end as it wasn’t practical to take it back to Darwin with us.

It was a short walk (and down stairs) to get to Florence Falls, a large lovely swimming hole fed by two large waterfalls. This was probably the loveliest spot on the whole outing.

Next, we continued to nearby Buley Rock Hole where it wasn’t quite nice. It was more cascades rather than large falls.

We skipped Wangi Falls as it would have meant a lot more driving and less time at each of the earlier spots. Crocs had been spotted there recently and the driver/guide doesn’t like swimming there and prefers not to put us at risk.

Lastly, on the way back, we stopped by some termite mounds. In some places, there’s a whole plain of them for as far as the eyes can see. They’re all oriented in a north-south fashion for temperature control (keeps it warm I guess).

We saw three different kinds of mounds. Only the small (calf-high) mounds are home to the destructive termites that we know and fear. Mounds are made up of about 20% soil and the rest is termite droppings. To the human touch and knock, it does feel and sound like rock.

Our true-blue Aussie guide was very informative and knowledgeable. Americans and non-native English speakers, may have trouble distinguishing fact from the factoids and crap that he comes out with as a joke. This is his part-time job and he normally does construction work.

We got back to Darwin around 6pm; it was a long but easy day which went very quickly.

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Migrant workers and the boom

I learnt a bit about the Australian labour market (and related matters) on this excursion:

• There is a boom in Western Australia with mining and Northern Territory with gas; there is a strong demand for labour in remote places and people are flown in and out and given exorbitant salaries (eg. it may be fact or just urban myth that a cleaner or traffic lollipop person may get AUD180K annualised).
• As a result, living in WA and NT is expensive as retailers also cash-in on the boom. I’ve been told that eating out, groceries and fresh food in Queensland is cheap compared to WA and NT. Sadly, locals not involved in the boom industries make do with uninflated wages.
• There is a huge influx of labour from other centres or states. Some people hold 2-3 jobs. Kiwis often think that Aussies are lazy; I certainly don’t agree. They’re just motivated by good pay! And they’re not afraid to rough it (both workwise and squeezing into hostels) to get the good dough. Doesn’t seem too different from Myanmar, Bangladeshi and Filipino migrant workers, does it?
• Accommodation ranging from hostels to 3-star hotels seem to be home to many labourers in high-viz gear. No wonder, I had to resort to a hostel in Darwin.