Territory Wildlife and a Castle
This morning we found that it was still a cool, windy day in Batchelor so we decided to leave the planned trip to the b
utterfly farm until another day since we have to go back that way to Katherine. Instead we headed toward Darwin and on the way dropped into the Territory Wildlife Park. It was a big park designed to show the animals of the Northern Territory and had vehicles called Shuttle Trains to take people from station to station which means from exhibit to exhibit. They have a Nocturnal display which has many of our native animals that are most active at night. It was very effective since we saw most animals moving about, feeding, flying etc. There were little rodents of various kinds, bats – big black ones and the little horse-shoe kind which kept going for a little fly across the cage then hanging on the branch; i
t was so cute. Photos were too difficult through the glass in low light so I didn’t get any but it was great to see all those nocturnal animals that we rarely get a chance to see. There is also a good aquarium display with an overhead type of tank and smaller tanks with various fish, turtles, and sea cucumbers, plants etc as well as the only freshwater stingray and saw fish. I did get photos of them as you can see. We didn’t really spend time looking at many of the other exhibits but decided to move on to the Crocodile farm which was not far up the road. http://www.crocfarm.com.au/
We got to the crocodile farm just before feeding time. We saw the ‘white’ crocodile being fed first; it is not exactly white as you can see but is very pale and it doesn’t have red eyes so is not albino. Next we saw o
ne other crocodile and an alligator being fed also. The alligator was quite a cute little thing compared to the others if you can call a member of the Crocodylus genus like that cute. Finally they showed us the baby crocs which really are cute; they look like toys actually. The ones we saw were 12 and 18 months old. We were told that they farm them for the meat and skin to sell overseas for handbags etc. They have over 14,000 crocodiles at the farm! Overhead, whistling kites were circling and calling waiting to get leftovers from the crocodile meals while they are sleeping.
After we had a look at some of the monster crocs in the farm we headed off to our accommodation in outer Darwin. It is a big resort with lots of onsite cabins and ours is very nice so we will be most comfortable for the three nights we are here. And to top it off we have mobile phone access and Vodafone, if only 2G. Not only that but we get to spend time with Fin’s cousin, Chris and her husband Russ. In fact she has invited us to a home cooked meal tomorrow night which will be lovely for a change!
I forgot to mention that on our way out of Batchelor we stopped to take a photo of the castle that was built by a former resident, Bernie Havlik. He was a Czechoslovakian who spent much of his youth in Yugoslavia. He built it to solve the problem of covering a rocky outcrop in his garden and it took him five years to complete. It is a replica of the Karlstein
Castle in Bohemia. It is in a park called Havlik Park which is maintained by the Coomalie Government Council in memory of Bernie Havlik. Interesting thing to find in the top end of Australia!
utterfly farm until another day since we have to go back that way to Katherine. Instead we headed toward Darwin and on the way dropped into the Territory Wildlife Park. It was a big park designed to show the animals of the Northern Territory and had vehicles called Shuttle Trains to take people from station to station which means from exhibit to exhibit. They have a Nocturnal display which has many of our native animals that are most active at night. It was very effective since we saw most animals moving about, feeding, flying etc. There were little rodents of various kinds, bats – big black ones and the little horse-shoe kind which kept going for a little fly across the cage then hanging on the branch; i
t was so cute. Photos were too difficult through the glass in low light so I didn’t get any but it was great to see all those nocturnal animals that we rarely get a chance to see. There is also a good aquarium display with an overhead type of tank and smaller tanks with various fish, turtles, and sea cucumbers, plants etc as well as the only freshwater stingray and saw fish. I did get photos of them as you can see. We didn’t really spend time looking at many of the other exhibits but decided to move on to the Crocodile farm which was not far up the road. http://www.crocfarm.com.au/We got to the crocodile farm just before feeding time. We saw the ‘white’ crocodile being fed first; it is not exactly white as you can see but is very pale and it doesn’t have red eyes so is not albino. Next we saw o
ne other crocodile and an alligator being fed also. The alligator was quite a cute little thing compared to the others if you can call a member of the Crocodylus genus like that cute. Finally they showed us the baby crocs which really are cute; they look like toys actually. The ones we saw were 12 and 18 months old. We were told that they farm them for the meat and skin to sell overseas for handbags etc. They have over 14,000 crocodiles at the farm! Overhead, whistling kites were circling and calling waiting to get leftovers from the crocodile meals while they are sleeping.After we had a look at some of the monster crocs in the farm we headed off to our accommodation in outer Darwin. It is a big resort with lots of onsite cabins and ours is very nice so we will be most comfortable for the three nights we are here. And to top it off we have mobile phone access and Vodafone, if only 2G. Not only that but we get to spend time with Fin’s cousin, Chris and her husband Russ. In fact she has invited us to a home cooked meal tomorrow night which will be lovely for a change!
I forgot to mention that on our way out of Batchelor we stopped to take a photo of the castle that was built by a former resident, Bernie Havlik. He was a Czechoslovakian who spent much of his youth in Yugoslavia. He built it to solve the problem of covering a rocky outcrop in his garden and it took him five years to complete. It is a replica of the Karlstein
Castle in Bohemia. It is in a park called Havlik Park which is maintained by the Coomalie Government Council in memory of Bernie Havlik. Interesting thing to find in the top end of Australia!
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