What to Do - New Zealand | 3 minutes

HARTLEY’S CROCODILE ADVENTURES

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Photo By: John Doe

Your go to place to feel like Crocodile Dundee.

As you can probably tell from a lot of my posts, one of my favourite things about Australia is all of the wildlife. Every time I see a wild roo, wallaby, koala or even the one time a saw an echidna- I get so excited! I grew up in America so all of these animals are so exotic and unique to me. I just can't get enough of the Australia wildlife! There are still so many animals I want to see while I’m here and one of those animals is a crocodile.

City skyline

Photo By: John Doe

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Birthday Sparks

Photo By: John Doe

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I planned a trip to visit northern Australia and we decided to start in Magnetic Island and then drive from Townsville up to Cairns, and then continue on to Port Douglas (find my full itinerary here). This was my first time visiting northern Australia where the crocs live, so I was very excited and albeit a little nervous too.

So, I decided it would be a cool experience to learn more about these crazy animals by visiting the most famous croc sanctuary of them all, Hartley’s. My partner had been to Hartley’s before and had raved about it so I definitely had some high expectations going there.

“Seeing the crocodiles feed during the boat tour was one of the most horrifying yet fascinating experiences I’ve had while in Australia.”

- Lindsey Farrah

We drove about 40 minutes north of Cairns to get there and we used Hartley's as a stopping point between Cairns and Port Douglas. Once we got in, we wandered around the property where you can feed kanagroos and wallabies, check out Koalas, and see the Cassowary which is a stunning bird found in this part of Australia. After some wandering around, we hopped on a boat tour which was one of the highlights of our day.

We boarded a tiny boat with thick plexiglass walls, and took off into the swamp filled with crocodiles. Within minutes the guide put some chicken on the end of a stick and hung it over the edge of the boat. Out of nowhere, a humungous crocodile lunged out of the water and ate the chicken. I had a seat right at the window and it was craxy how close this crocodile was. This continued for about 20 minutes; cruising around the swamp and feeding various crocodiles. It was awesome!

City skyline

Photo By: John Doe

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We were told that we had to check out The Crocodile Attack Show, so we wandered over there to check it out next. This show really blew my mind as a staff member got into the cage with the crocodile to feed him and he really got up close and personal with him. This 30 minute show was the best part of the day and was so entertaining and fun; if you go to Hartley’s you have to check it out.