Day 6 – Australia/New Zealand Adventure – Crocs!

(Wednesday, March 12, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad

Another delicious breakfast at CC’s this morning. Jim had enjoyed the waffles yesterday, but today there were only pancakes. The waffles had been especially good, because they were liège waffles, a type of Belgian waffle, that has bits of carmelized sugar throughout. They’re made from a yeast dough rather than a batter. 

I tried making liège waffles after we returned home, but we don’t seem to have pearl sugar where we live, so I used a recipe that recommended raw sugar. They were tasty, but I’m going to have to order some of that pearl sugar. . . 

Most of the others in our group were going on an optional excursion, which included going up on a mountain and riding a gondola above and through the rainforest canopy. We opted out of that one, so we had the morning free.

It sounds like we aren’t adventurous or maybe we’re just cheap, because we only did one of the optional excursions offered on this trip. The latter may be true, but this trip cost a pretty penny in the first place. We also love downtime, on vacation and in regular life, so we were happy with our decision. 

It was a perfect morning for the coin laundry around the corner. In my younger days, I spent quite a few hours in laundromats, but it has been a while, so we weren’t sure what to expect, especially in another country. We were delighted that no coins were required, and we could use a credit card. 

With the US dollar strong against the Australian, even though one wash cost $7 Australian, only about $4.50 posted to our credit card.  Contrast this to a Canadian couple in our group, whose exchange was quite the opposite.

This laundromat had tiny washers, but our of clothes all fit in one load. No sorting on vacation. The dryers were disproportionately huge. 

While we waited for our laundry to process, we bought a coffee next door and watched the world go by from a little table and chairs on the sidewalk.  The man working there brought out a large, colored bottle filled with cold water and two glasses. That was so nice of him.

After putting away our laundry, we went on a nice long walk and stopped for ice cream on the way back to the hotel. After freshening up, it was time to join the two other couples, who had also declined the gondola experience, and hop on a coach to meet the others at the wildlife park. 

Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures was much more interesting that we had thought it would be. We were up close with crocodiles that looked like they were waiting for us to make one wrong move. We watched a crocodile handler get too close for my comfort, demonstrating the crocodile’s death roll and head shake! We also boarded a boat for a lagoon ride where the crocodiles jumped up, snapping their jaws onto a bait-laden pole held by the boatman. Interesting that the crocodiles in Australia look much different from the ones in the US, with their pointy jaws.

In addition to the crocodiles, our group had an up-close and personal audience with a trio of koalas. They clung to a tree and enjoyed the cool air from large fans. I would have liked to do the same, because it was so hot. Did you know that koalas’ diet of eucalyptus leaves doesn’t give them much energy, so they sleep most of the time? And you thought sloths moved slowly. . . 

We also saw kangaroos and wombats in addition to snakes and lizards. There were birds who talked and one even that coughed like a human (learned during Covid). 

Regarding the kangaroos, they really weren’t too spectacular. They just laid around and you were allowed to approach them, but why bother them?  Better to say hello and move along.

It was so hot and humid that we were happy when we finally got on the air-conditioned (air-con in Australian) bus to head back to the hotel.

We had dinner at CC’s that night with the group and sat with a Canadian couple and a couple from Carlisle. It was interesting to hear all about their travel adventures. One couple marked their seventh continent on this trip. They had recently completed a 65-day cruise and were headed for one that would be more than a hundred days! Many people in our group have been on multiple Collette Tours (the one that arranged ours), and many of them love Viking Cruises because there are fewer people on the ship and apparently no children. Although we’ve said we never want to cruise, they made it sound so fun, we may just have to try it some time!

Off to Alice Springs tomorrow! Departure from the hotel: 4:15 a.m. . .

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