Flora and Fauna

Today was/is an absolutely spectacular day. I was at Hartley's, they have a crocodile farm, a small zoo, and it's right next to a lagoon full of saltwater crocodiles. 🐨🦂🐍🦎🐢🐊

And besides the usual suspects (koalas, kangaroos, wombats), there are cassowaries, which are large flightless birds with blue heads, many snakes (pythons, taipans, boas, cobras), and countless crocodiles (alligators, freshwater crocodiles, and saltwater crocodiles). The latter are the largest crocodiles in the world and are verified to be over 6.5m long. The largest crocodile at Hartley's is Gregory (4.4m and 500kg!). He's a real giant, you wouldn't want to meet him without a fence between you. The weight grows with the square of the body length, so there are animals weighing over 1 ton... 😱

During the boat ride and the morning feeding, the animals jump out of the water towards the prey, and there is a loud noise when the air is displaced from their mouths. All very impressive!

Back in Cairns, I went to the weekly market, which was also very cool. The most beautiful fruits (especially mountains of mangoes) and various small food stalls. I immediately treated myself to samosas for lunch and a sugarcane juice with pineapple and ginger for dessert (I had never had it before, but it's really tasty). And of course, mangoes from the region 😉 that's luxury, 2 for €0.48. And if they are as good as the samples, no imported mango can compare... 🤗😍

The weather was perfect again today, it only rained when it didn't matter or was just right. Good weather, exciting experiences, and tropical fruits make the travel motivation rise again, and I'm much more active...