In a D.C. Minute: FaLsE sEnSe Of SeCuRiTy

I think Australia's tourism board lulls you into a false sense of security. Everything is cute, everything is wonderful, everyone has barbecues... but if you read the fine print, it's full of the most poisonous snakes, spiders and all around creepy animals possible on one land mass. For illustration purposes, let's take a look at a little adventure Naomi and I went on one day in northern Queensland.

I think of our trip to Hartleys s a microcosm of what Australia has to offer. In the morning we got to actually see a cassowary, which we'd missed in all but sound the day before in the Daintree, and even feed some turtles. Then, we got to walk around and watch sleeping koalas nestled in branches and play with kangaroos. See? Nice... cute... cuddly... just come in for more!

Then, at 10:30am we were scheduled for a boat tour, whereupon I almost peed my pants. The lagoon was literally swimming with crocodiles! Perhaps some alligators too (I did learn the difference: crocs have teeth on the outside and alligators on the inside), but didn't want to get too close to find out. I mean, what am I going to say? "My what big teeth you have!"

The worst, however, was when the boat guide put a little chicken head on a stick and coaxed the crocs out of the water. eep! Yet ever the advocate of crocs, our guide proceeded to tell us stories (complete with photos) to prove that crocs are one of the smartest animals... next to cockroaches and sharks. For example, crocs find areas with easy-pickins' livestock for feeding and farmers will come out to find decapitated cows in the morning. Or, perhaps in an attempt to scare us out of any body of water in Australia, tell us stories of tourists going in for a little swim only to come out in trash bags. I walked off the boat saying, "I love Australia, I'd L-O-V-E to live here... but I don't want the chance my child (or I) could be eaten by that!"

This thought was only reinforced when Naomi would purposely try and run over any snake we came across and was the reason I refused to get out of bed--regardless of how much I needed to use the toilet--at night.

So what wins, cuddly koala or killer croc? I guess only time will tell....