Only in the Top half of Australia!

[smiley]

Hey guys and especially Nickyw and the other Rosalie.

On Wednesday we had a biology excursion to the beach. We were going to look at rock pools, assess human impact blah blah. As we get off the bus I say to the little cherubs "Now there really is a croc in the creek here, so please don't wander off the path and once we get to the rock pools, stay in sight!" The reponse is "Yeah, yeah. Miss being dramatic again!"

Then yesterday this happens : http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2012/0 ... -news.html

Yep, a 3.5m croc takes a 40kg dog right from under the noses of his adult owners, at the same beach where we'd been the day before! Horrors! As for completing the Risk Assessment of that, well my policy has always been "throw a naughty kid in, and if the croc is hungry, then he's been fed now, and he'll leave us alone. If he's not hungry, then it's all good anyway."

The only thing scarier that this incident was one of our teacher's neighbour's kids, who called their son over with this line: "Come see, we've found baby crocs in the creek." NO! Run! That means that somewhere nearby is a very protective mummy croc!

Hey ho, life in the tropics.

[dime]

Wow that is creepy. I think I will doubly keep my eyes peeled at Christmas when I visit my son in Darwin. Their house backs on to ponds, but I guess they can turn up where they haven't been before. Ewww..

[rosaliemb]

Thanks for the warning reminder.
In the Top End (of NT) it pays to be vigilant and take heed of warning signs.
No crocs in Alice Springs except at the Reptile Park

Rosalie (anotherone)

[Wayne]

Glad I live waaay down south. No crocs down here!

[jodye]

How devastating for the boys to witness that! I was at that beach in March, so glad it was wet & a bit too cool for me to swim!

[nickyw]

OMG!!!! That is scary Smiley....Unfortunately its a way of life up here. I bloody hate crocs almost to the point of crocphobia.

Holy cow I dont think I would be taking a bunch of girls there for a field trip though, that would be enough to frighten me off. We always tell the kids there is a possibility of a croc but never really expect to see one.

RIP Angus poor dog never had a chance.

[smiley]

Actually, we go tomorrow! I'll be sure to log on to Chemtalk on Monday, just to prove I'm alive!

Seriously though, I think life in the big smoke is scarier. I'm city-phobic. About 3 days is my max anywhere that doesn't have more open space than concrete!

[dss8386]

I live just down the road from where that croc took the dog...very scary stuff!!!! I don't go walking around creeks in my area.

Theres crocs everywhere in Cairns, they had one near a drain on Mulgrave road once whcih is right near the city. Their numbers are large and there always stalking the beaches especially near Kewarra Beach.

Im with you smiley, I hate big cities hence why I moved to Cairns nice and green and not a concrete jungle. After 22 years in hideously cold Adelaide, Im glad im in the tropics despite the crocs, snakes, Box jellyfish and cyclones!!!

[DavidPeterson]

I remember the one in the Mulgrave road drain. I was working in the Federation / Muir Street area at the time.

I miss Cairns...I was only there 6 years but I still felt more at home there than anywhere, but my wife hates humidity so here we stay. Having said that, she's from Canada and I'm trying to get her to agree to move back there.

PS dss8386, it was so cold in SA last night there was snow at Mt Lofty and at Hallett (up near Burra). http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2012 ... 608291.htm

[Labbie]

wow you can have the snow.

[Xenon]

A 40kg McAngus?
We get snakes -brownies, red bellies, tigers- but you can keep your crocs.

[dss8386]

Cairns is a beautiful place but a bit backwards, alot of things don't make sense, but it is a tourist town afterall and everyone lets there hair down.

I came to Cairns for a working holiday and after a week, i said there is no way I am going back to Adelaide. I love visiting and seeing family friends but even better coming back to Cairns.

PS DavidPeterson, I remember is snowing there quite a few years ago, I remember how cold it would get and don't miss it. Give me the humidity any day over the cold. I refuse to visit Adelaide in winter now, normally visit Dec-Feb...

[J]

It rarely snows here in Dorrigo, but it is snowing today about 20 minutes west of here. Absolutely freezing, the wind from the west feels like icicles!!
Cairns sounds pretty good, never mind the crocs.
J

[RosalieM]

I'm with you, Julie. It's snowing all around, but not actually here. It is windy and raining, not quite sleet yet I don't think... Would love to be north right now!

[smiley]

Well guys the sun is shining, the birds are singing, another day of near 30 degrees.

Nobody got eaten last Friday when we revisited the same site for our whole day count-all-the-creatures excursion. Interestingly, as well as all the teeny tiny marine life, and no crocs, there was also one echidna, one goanna, evidence of bandicoots, and one swagman who now camps above the high tide mark, on what is essentially private land. He was a wealth of "first-person" evidence for all of us.

We forgot to mention him on our Risk Assessment - too busy worrying about crocodiles! But seriously - a beach excursion in October - wouldn't be South for quids.

[mtg]

Heard the spiders are seriously big up there. Arachnaleptic fit: the dance you do when a spider drops on you.