Exploring Australia - Crocodile River in Darwin

I always have mixed feelings about animal parks. I can see both positive and negative sides to them. Most of these places seem to house animals that have had troubles and can’t be released to the wild, hence living in these sanctuaries, but it can also be a little depressing to see them docile and trapped inside a small area. I think it’s a tricky situation and wherever you stand there are always going to be varying opinions.

While with my friend who lives in Australia we went to visit his family located in Darwin. Darwin is not a city I would of thought about going to, it’s around 5 hours by plane from Melbourne and is very out of the way for a tourist, but after exploring I thought Darwin really encapsulated what my image of Australia was. You have the outback and the climate, you also have the animals! Out of all of my experiences in Australia I think being in Darwin is one of the fondest I will look back on and remember.

This content here is fairly contrasting to my usual art and design posts, but I wanted to showcase a few images from my camera of a river cruise I took with a friend to see some crocodiles. There are quite a few of these boats in Darwin that travel up and down the swampy Adelaide river, here they bait some of the crocodiles so you can see them up-close. It was an interesting experience and I was in awe to see the power of these crocodiles and the overall beauty of them. They have a long slender shape that was quite surprising and were a lot bigger than I expected.

On the flip side, all the crocodiles knew about the boat and seemed to rely on the boat to feed, which I think takes away from their natural habitat. I’m sure they still hunt on the side, and maybe this makes their lives a bit easier, but I can’t work out which side of the fence I’m o. For now I will showcase these images and you can make your own decision. Interesting to hear what you think in the comments below. Enjoy!