Day 82

Day 82 Darwin

Well we have had a big day today, saw crocs jumping and went to the casino. We started off going out

Dance for your lunch

Lunch on a stick

to the Adelaide River where we joined an early morning cruise at 9am. It was a smaller crowd and in a small boat. They boast that the crocs jump here when they feed them so we were interested to see them. We were the last on and there were 2 seats right at the front so we took them. On the seat in front was a bucket. The guy took us out and straight away two crocs homed in on us and chased us down the river. According to the rules we have to be 200m away from the launching ramp and as soon as we were he stopped and got a pork chop out of the bucket and tied it to a pole and the croc was right beside me. We had been

 

All that to choose from and I get a pork chop

given the warnings about not putting hands and arms out over the edge as the crocs will take them. He held this chop over the water and this croc came from under the water and launched itself out of the water within arms reach of me. We went down the river a little way and he fed another half a dozen big crocs over 4m in length and they are really nasty looking. One of them was approaching the boat and about 30m away went under the water. Now the water is really muddy

Everybody like a back scratch

Checking out the options

and you can only see about 10cm into it. The guy had a chop bouncing on the water and from directly below it this croc came up snapping. Scarred the living daylights of me as well as the guy. We both just about had heart attacks. They can detect items through the vibrations in the water and this guy demonstrated this ability.

On the way back to the ramp, he stopped and fed the kites that had gathered right on queue. They are

 

Right up close

very impressive in the way they swoop down and pick up the scraps off the water surface or out of the air even. One was getting really brave and actually hit the guides hand with his claws trying to get food out of him. Back at the ramp we got off and had a coffee and watched the next tour go. It was full of bus tours and they took a really big boat so they would not get the show we had.

Kites getting some titbits

 

As we were driving back in towards Darwin, we stopped off at Humpty Doo Pub for a drink and a croc burger, slowly eating our way through the wildlife. We then headed back to town. My condition seems to be affecting my sense of balance more and rides inn boats are becoming harder, my brain works overtime trying to deal with all the information coming in and by the end of the boat trip I was exhausted. We

Maureen getting a lift back

Windows on the wetland lookout

got back to Girt and I had a nanny nap for a couple of hours and it seemed to reset the old mind. I also did a bit of research into the unofficial activities of Japanese spies during the war and what happened to those we caught or didn’t catch depending on who you speak to, but I will talk about that more latter.

Just on 6 we decided we would go to the casino – Skycity. As I mentioned the other day, Maureen had joined up and had $10 credit for joining so we thought we would give it a go. When we got there I joined up and as luck would have it members got $5 credit tonight so we each had $15!!! We could only use it on the pokies but that was

Local for lunch

Playing the pokies

fine. We tried to give it a go but really did not understand how it all worked so we went and had dinner instead – seafood buffet. I do not understand what the northerners do to their crab but the blue manner crabs I am sure had been dried and preserved before they cooked them. They were salty and stringy like the mud crabs we had tried, unbelievable. Fortunately they made up with lots of good big prawns. We also got a free drink with tea as well as members. After dinner we tried Keno, but as Maureen and I chose half our numbers the same, we did not score well. I decided to give the pokies a

Maureen struggling with the winnings

Casino - loser (tonight)

whirl whilst Maureen went around the floor checking the action that had grown since we were last there. I asked the lady assistant at the pokies how to access the credit and she showed me how, easy as when you know how. I hit the button twice and won $4 bucks but also 10 free games. I ran those and ended up winning over $50. I cashed it in because you have to use your money first before you can use their credits. Halfway through the machine ran out of $1 coins and I called the girl over again and she went and

Some of the booty

got the tech who filled it up and away I went, every time I won $4 or more, I cashed it, by the end I had over $70! Whoohoo in credit for the night and enough $1 coins to keep Maureen in the laundry for the rest of the trip. Maureen came over and we tried her credit, I spotted her $1 to get her started but she hit the unlucky spot and only won about $5, but still in credit as it cost us nothing. As Kenny Rodgers says “you gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them….”