Hartley's Adventure and Crocodile farms

September 11, 2009
It’s our niece MAIA HORNER’s Birthday today and although she is back in Calgary, we thought we would celebrate her day by exploring Hartely’s Adventures and Crocodile Farms. Located just 30 minutes from where we are staying, along the Bruce Highway on the way to Port Douglas ( the place to be in North Queensland) is Hartley’s adventure and Crocodile Farms. This place started out as a small tea house and bed and breakfast for roadweary drivers in the 1950’s. In order to entice people to stop, the owner bought a massive crocodile and put it on display. Over the years and a few owners, floods changed the landscape and a new park was built. . Hartley’s now has several thousand crocodiles, both saltwater and fresh water varieties as well as Koala’s, kangaroos, wallabees, possums, wombats and Cassowarys (Australia’s most unique and prehistoric birds).
After a full day at hartley’s we stopped along the road and swam at Clifton Beach. Stan and I were happy because across the highway was a biker bar where we enjoyed a cold one. The interesting thing about the bar was that it was surrounded by Mango trees, it had live music and its bar menu consisted of full roasted chicken, and pies.