Tag: The Big Crocodile

  • The Craziest Big Crocodiles in Australia!

    Australia is famous for its big crocodiles, but you won’t find any larger than these six! These Big Things are fun to find on road trips and are sure to put a smile on your ‘dile. From the swamps of Darwin to the mountains of northern Sydney, these Big Crocodiles won’t eat you, because they just want to meet you!

    The Big Boxing Crocodile, Humpty Doo, Northern Territory

    The Big Boxing Crocodile, Humpty Doo, Northern Territory

    Weighing in at seven tonnes and standing six metres tall, this croc’s the undisputed leather-weight champion of the world! This Big Thing lives outside the United service station and is perfectly positioned for a photo. Because of this, you could even say he’s a real knockout!

    Read all about the Big Boxing Crocodile!

    The Giant Jumping Crocodile, Wak Wak, Northern Territory

    The Giant Jumping Crocodile, Wak Wak, Northern Territory

    This snappy chappy has long been the mascot of the Original Adelaide River Queen Jumping Crocodile Cruises. He’s 4.5-metres-tall (including his tail), so his size will have you jumping for joy. They say you should never smile at a crocodile, but I challenge you to look at him without croc-ing a grin!

    Read more about the Giant Jumping Crocodile!

    Daryl Somersby the Crocodile, Somersby, New South Wales

    Five-metre-long Daryl is a very shy Big Thing, so he lives inside the front entrance to the Australian Reptile Park. He’s there every day – not just Hey, Hey it’s Saturdays – and can be found just metres from another cold-blooded cutie, Frilly the Lizard.

    Read more about Daryl Somersby!

    George the Big Crocodile, Darwin, Northern Territory

    Gorgeous George isn’t just one of the best-looking Big Crocodiles, he’s also one of the largest. He measures 10 metres from handsome head to tantalising tail, so he’s the apex predator at the Darwin Botanic Gardens. He’s also lots of fun to ride – surf’s up, dude!

    Read more about George the Big Crocodile!

    Keith the Crocodile, Wak Wak, Northern Territory

    Big Crocodiles of Australia

    A short stroll from the Giant Jumping Crocodile is another Big Thing named Keith. And as you can see, Keith has teeth! He’s around 10 metres long, making him the largest croc in Wak Wak, but there is a bigger lizard just down the road…

    Read more about Keith!

    The Crocodile Hotel, Jabiru, Northern Territory

    The Crocodile Hotel, Jabiru, Northern Territory

    At 250 metres long and 30 metres wide, this leviathan has earned a reptile-tation as the most massive Big Crocodile in this sunburnt country. You can even spend the night inside him, or enjoy a crocodile-icious meal at one of the restaurants inside his belly.

    Read more about the Crocodile Hotel!

  • George the Big Crocodile, Darwin, NT

    You don’t need to leave the Land of the Bigs to have a memorable encounter in the African wilderness. Just pop over to the Botanic Gardens in sunny Darwin, where a monstrous metallic maneater meanders through the Madagascan-modelled meadows. Mmmmm… marvellous!

    Surrounded by breathtaking baobabs and bubbling brooks, Gorgeous George delights with his size and looks. The 10-metre-long lizard was cast from steel by local legend Techy Masero, the artiste responsible for Colin the Turtle and the Big Barra, under the watchful eye of world-famous wildlife wizard Tommy Nichols. It truly does take a village to raise a colossal crocodilian.

    After five wonderful years of hard work, George was dipped in a vat of zinc (in a scene I can only assume was reminiscent of the ending of Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and hauled off to his forever home in April 2020. I’ll go out on a limb and say nobody leaves the Gardens jabbering on about the heliconias and orchids anymore – although they are delightful.

    Always smile at this crocodile!

    I’ve had encounters with the most beautiful Bigs ever made, but was reduced to a blubbering mess upon meeting George, so beautiful was he. Thousands of hours went into his intricately-detailed features, and it certainly shows. I was particularly impressed by the oversized barramundi he has tucked between his titillating teeth. Fortunately George didn’t snatch the Wanguri or Katherine barras for his lunch!

    As I struggled to catch my breath, a couple of the Gardens’ friendly horticulturists assisted me to a bench beneath a nearby weeping willow, where I was able to regain my composure before resuming my date with George. He lives in a quiet patch of the park, beneath a huge tree, but of course he attracts a lot of attention. Move over George Clooney and Boy George, we have a bigger celebrity here!

    I strongly urge visitors not to climb upon Bigs they don’t have a strong and trusting relationship with – it’s a hate crime as far as I’m concerned – but George made it clear to me that he’s open to being mounted, so I made the most of the opportunity. Despite hardly being a ‘waxhead’, I a surf on George’s handsome head. Hang 10-metre-long crocodile, dudes!

    There’s no doubt about it, George is a real croc star!

  • Frilly the Lizard, Somersby, NSW

    Frilly the Lizard, Australian Reptile Park, Somersby, Australia

    You might think it’s silly, but I’m in love with a man who’s frilly! For a frill-a-minute encounter with a cold-blooded cutie, head to spectacular Somersby on the scenic Central Coast. Honestly, you’ll be reptiling from ear to ear when you meet this gigantic frilled-neck lizard… but a word of warning, he has a fiery side to him!

    Frilly was painstakingly constructed by the geniuses at Natureworks in 1997, and found a home at the Australian Reptile Park shortly after its relocation from Wyoming. Along with the matriarch of Aussie Big Things, Ploddy the Dinosaur, he lured thousands of visitors to the region, and it was all smiles and crocodiles. Then tragedy struck.

    In the dead of winter, July 17, 2000 – a date no lover of Bigs will ever forget – a ruthless fire ripped through the park, leaving a trail of terror in its wake. A nation celebrated as one when Frilly and Ploddy, the indestructible lizards of Oz, stepped through the hellfire to become beacons of hope for a mourning community.

    There must be something in the water that makes this region’s Bigs imperishable, because the Big Prawn also survived a barbecue attempt. Hopefully Alan Davidson’s Balls and the Big Poppies won’t be next in the firing line!

    Heartbreakingly, hundreds of innocent critters didn’t make it, with only a pig-nosed turtle named Miss Piggy and an alligator snapping turtle named The Terminator surviving. But it was the park’s owners saying, “I’ll be back!”

    They scrambled to rebuild the Aussie Reptile Park, placing Frilly proudly atop at the entrance to welcome visitors. He was soon joined by the dashing Daryl Somersby and the sultry Lizzo to create a true mecca for Big Thing aficionados. With so many large-scale lizards on display, when are goanna visit?

  • Daryl Somersby the Croc, Somersby, NSW

    Daryl Somersby the Crocodile, Somersby, New South Wales

    Never smile at Daryl the Crocodile
    No, don’t get friendly with Daryl the Crocodile
    Don’t be taken in by his games and lark
    Or the fact he lives at the Aussie Reptile Park

    Never smile at Daryl the Crocodile
    Never kiss his handsome head and stop to talk awhile
    Never listen to his hopes and dreams
    Of gobbling up six football teams

    You may very well lose your body
    Just up the road from Frilly and Ploddy
    But there’s always a special time and place
    To look at that rugged, whimsical face
    And say, “I don’t care if he eats me, we just have to kiss!”
    Daryl’s one Big that you just can’t miss!

  • The Crocodile Hotel, Jabiru, NT

    Everyone fantasises about spending a luxurious evening inside a Big Thing. The only place you can do that is in the remote Northern Australian village of Jabiru. Deep in the heart of the mystical Kakadu National Park you’ll find the senses-shattering Crocodile Hotel. At 250 metres long and 30 metres wide, he’s earned a reptile-tation as the most massive Big in this sunburnt country.

    Being the size of a city block means this green machine is difficult to photograph – unless you have a drone, you’ll have to settle for a happy snap of his eye, shoulder or a part of his tail. Despite being a lovely chap and a perfect gentleman whilst entertaining guests, the Croc also likes to put on a bad boy veneer at night, when his eyes glow a spooky red. But don’t be frightened, like a leather jacket-wearing biker in a 50s movie, he has a heart of gold when you get to know him.

    He’s very big Dundee-d

    ‘The Croc’, as the locals imaginatively named him, opened his ginormous jaws for business in 1988, following the worldwide success of the classic Aussie film Crocodile Dundee. Soon his belly was filled by a constant stream of loud-mouthed Americans in even louder Hawaiian shirts, saying, “that’s not a knife” in cockney accents, many of whom proceeded to wander off into the wilderness and get eaten by real-life crocodiles. With international travel temporarily stilted, I was fortunate enough to be offered a complimentary night at the hotel, thanks to my role as Australia’s Big Thing ambassador.

    After a number of delectable crock-tails at the bar, I was treated to a tasting platter of authentic bush tucker, featuring buffalo, kangaroo, possum and, of course, crocodile. A tsunami of shame and guilt washed over me as I nibbled on The Croc’s relatives, but I couldn’t stop – it was just too delicious!

    The rooms are spacious and far more comfortable than spending an evening inside a real reptile, which I imagine would be most unpleasant. I suffer from quite serious night terrors, and I can’t begin to explain how comforting it was to be shaken from a particularly horrifying dreamscape to find myself safely ensconced within the belly of a Big. It was like returning to the womb.

    In a region with more Big Lizards than you can shake a didgeridoo at – including the Big Boxing Crocodile, Keith the Crocodile, George and the Giant Jumping Crocodile, the Croc Hotel beggars belief with his scales… I mean his scale! He makes the perfect base for a once-in-a-lifetime journey through Kakudu but be warned – at the Hotel Crocodilia, you can check out any time you like, but your heart can never leave!