BABY AND TODDLER TRAVEL
CAIRNS WITH A TODDLER
ANGELA SAURINE and her three-year-old find lots of fun things to do in the tourist hub of Cairns in Tropical North Queensland SNAP! Boris’s jaws smack together loudly as he leaps out of the water and attempts to catch the chicken being dangled above him. My three-year-old son, Oliver, watches with his mouth agape as the 4m long crocodile and his sharp-toothed mates take turns at the prize, pushing and nudging each other out of the way.
HARTLEY’S CROCODILE ADVENTURES
It’s extraordinary to be this close to a saltwater crocodile, let alone several of them. But Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures is one place in the tropics where you are guaranteed to see these ancient creatures up close. There are around 30 living in the lagoon on which our boat cruises, and 3,000 on the site altogether. That’s because the attraction also encompasses
Oliver in his element at Muddy’s Playground
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a crocodile farm, with the animals raised for their skin and meat. You can take a tour of the farm to learn how it works and how farming crocodiles helps in the conservation of wild populations and their habitats. Fortunately, a glass panel separates us from the crocs, but we are warned not to get too close. “Your palm is like a chicken nugget,” the driver says. The “lagoon” is actually a man-made swamp on a former horse paddock. And despite it being home to saltwater crocodiles, it’s fresh water. They get their name because they secrete salt water on their tongues, we learn. Around 40 minutes’ drive north of Cairns and 25 minutes’ south of Port Douglas, Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures originally opened as a halfway house for travellers in the 1930s. When the owner
saw an ad for a wild crocodile in the local newspaper, The Cairns Post, he thought it would be an added attraction for visitors while they waited for their tea and scones. He was right. They lapped it up, and more and more crocodiles were introduced over the years, along with other animals. There are now over 80 species of birds, including flightless cassowaries, which are only found in tropical regions, on display. We meander along the pram-friendly boardwalks and paths, stopping to watch the kangaroos sleeping in the shade and feed the wallabies. Oliver especially enjoys feeding gum leaves to Beau the koala, patting his soft fur and touching his hand.
CAIRNS AQUARIUM
But for little boys, there’s only one thing more impressive than crocodiles – sharks. We get a decent fix of these creatures of the deep on a visit to Cairns Aquarium. Oliver stands transfixed pointing and reaching out at the glass towards the reef sharks, stingrays and groupers as they loop around the reef in the main oceanarium. Originally, I’d wanted to take him on a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef, enticed by brochures depicting semi-submersible vessels I know Oliver would love. But eventually I resigned myself to the fact a long day on a boat with a toddler who still has a lunchtime nap was probably a bit ambitious. The Aquarium is definitely the next best thing, with colourful coral trout and Nemo-esque clownfish among the creatures on display. The journey through the Aquarium follows a drop of rain as it falls from the sky and joins creeks, streams and rivers, before travelling through the rainforest, across the mangrove flats and coral reef systems and into the Coral Sea. While it may not be as exciting for me as