At the end of our 9 days in Northern Territory, I was actually quite tired and so was glad we didn't need to travel far from our hotel in the heart of Darwin. In fact,
Crocosaurus Cove is just 15 minutes walk away as it's right smack in the city centre! We spent about 3 hours exploring the whole place.
It is a unique inner city wildlife attraction that allows visitors to witness the iconic Australian crocodiles from 3 months to huge 80 years old in 8 purposely designed displays that can be viewed from all 3 levels. Crocosaurus Cove is also home to the World’s largest display of Australian Reptiles {over 70 species} and Australia’s first and only crocodile dive experience, the
Cage of Death.
There are many things to do at Crocosaurus Cove. We witnessed the
Big Croc Feeding Show {I also got to feed one big crocodile myself heh}, "fished" for the energetic baby crocs by feeding them juicy meat snacks dangled from fishing rods, swim with the crocodiles in the
Cage of Death {
Christina did this!} but my favourite part was holding a live baby croc named Fluffy. Yeah, the irony of its name is not lost on me either haha.
It was my first time holding a crocodile and I was quite surprised that Fluffy wasn't cold.. it was actually quite warm and soft, and pretty amicable :)
Emboldened by my move of holding a baby crocodile, I went to
Reptile Enclosure to get up-close and personal with the Western Bearded Dragon {omg so cuteeee!!} and the Northern Blue-Tongued Lizard :P In Australia, it's ok to keep a reptile as a pet. While there are laws regarding the wile collection of reptiles, they are readily available in reptile societies and pet shops around Australia. In Singapore however, it is illegal to import and keep reptiles as pets :(( Bummer because I really felt like owning one after this.
Anyway all reptiles on display at the enclosure are from the Top End and Kimberley region of Australia. You can even see the world's most venomous snake - the Inland or Western Taipan. They are found in South Western Queensland, North Eastern South Australia, and in the Northern Territory in the extreme South East. A full bite from one of these snakes would be 100% fatal without medical intervention!
Their souvenir shop is definitely one of the best stocked places in NT for crocodile-related goods. There are quality Australian crocodile leather bags, wallets, clutches, belts, hair accessories etc., stuffed crocodile toys, T-shirts, kitchen mittens, towels, cups, bags with crocodile designs, and even crocodile soap {!!!}. I got a pair of enamel mugs with the Crocosaurus Cove logo on it because I like to collect them, but such a let-down because the printed logos washed away after just one use!! *sadness* I suggest you to get anything but that.
P.S. If you'd like win a trip to Northern Territory yourself, join
this contest here and vote for me! ;p It ends on Monday 28 October 2013.
Crocosaurus Cove
58 Mitchell Street, Darwin City {Corner of Mitchell & Peel Street}
Open daily, except Christmas Day.
Admission: Adult A$32, Child {aged 4-15} A$20. Family packages available.
Website:
http://www.crocosauruscove.com/
5 comments:
That's sad that the logo on the enamel mugs didn't last. Perhaps you can find some otherway to personalise them :)
Yup I still like to use it though, just pity about the logo!
NOoo to reptiles for me! *shiver*
You are much braver than I! I don't know if I could have a croc sitting on my shoulder, even if it was a little one!
That's too bad about the mug! You would think they would run quality control on them before selling them to consumers!
That looks like a lot of fun!
I have a friend that has snakes. I went to a convention with him. There we saw snakes, lizards, turtles and I'm not sure if there were gators and crocodiles there or not.
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