I
t’s not for me to say how my
talk went, but it seemed to be
well received and there was
time for a lot of discussion after-
wards. Among those in attendance
was Mark Dorse, a Queensland
school reptile lecturer who I had
not seen for some years.
The next morning we spent
several enjoyable hours with Peter
Krauss and his lovely lady Milly en
route to Mount Molloy to meet up
with Shane Black and visit a spot
well known for taipans. I had been
to the place before but Michael
and Shane were far more familiar
with it. Personally, I don’t believe
any herper spends more time
looking on this property than
Shane, and although we didn’t
encounter any taipans he was
able to point out numerous
locations where he has seen them
previously. The only reptile we
managed to photograph was a
lovely Major Skink (Bellatorias
frerei) which led us a merry chase
through a rubbish pile until Shane
finally secured it.
That night we had a meal at the
pub and were joined by my old
boss and friend Terry Carmichael
and my old mate Don Groves,
originally from the Sutherland
Shire. Don had a smile on his face
when he handed me a copy of the
Sunday Mail Scene on TV maga-
zine dated April 24, 1988. He said,
“You should have a look at that.”
Flicking through it I was staggered
to find a photo of me in a police
uniform from when I had played a
bit part in a television show.
Ironically the actress pictured with
me was Terry Carmichael’s
cousin!
The next morning was again spent
searching for taipans, but sadly
with no success. With time on our
hands, Michael suggested visiting
Gary Zillfleisch, who was the
owner of Hartley’s Wildlife
Reserve when I first travelled to
Cairns at seventeen years of age.
Gary was the first man I ever saw
do a crocodile show and I ended
up at one time catching snakes for
his collection. Unfortunately there
was no-one home when we got
there. We decided to visit Shane,
who is living for a few months in
the home of Grant Husband,
another long-term herper who is
presently working in the Territory.
Shane has cut down significantly
- With Shane
Black and a
lovely Major
Skink.
- The new
reptile house at
Hartley’s.
- This Komodo
Dragon is a
gentle giant.
- ‘Zack’ gets
some tucker!
‘I got to feed
Zack, a four-and-
a-half-metre
saltie, and handle
a small alligator.’
1.
on his collection but still has
some of the most beautiful
taipans one could ever see.
Thanks to the kindness of
Michael O’Brien, we spent the
next day at Hartley’s Crocodile
Adventures. After a coffee with
Michael, we started with a boat
tour of the naturalistic crocodile
lagoon - I believe this to be one
of the best ways to show tourists
crocodiles in their natural state.
The skipper, Matt Summerville,
gave a very informative commen-
tary, and then to top it off we had
a further boat tour for just the two
of us, thanks to Greg Watson who
has worked at Hartley’s for many
years. Greg also took us on a tour
of the new reptile house, and Bill,
another keeper, arranged for us to
get a close up of the beautiful
Komodo Dragon, a gentle giant
who had no objection to being
handled.
I had been thinking about asking
after my young mate Brodie, who I
met in the Territory, as he had
said he was heading to Hartley’s
for a full-time job, but he came
looking for me having heard I
would be at the park. Brodie took
us behind the scenes and I got to
feed Zack, a four-and-a-half-metre
saltie, and handle a small alligator.
We watched Brodie feed the
alligators and were then given a
tour of the off-display reptile area.
The final part of the day was spent
watching Greg’s snake show
which was informative, humorous
and very entertaining.
Michael had taken many photos
and when we returned to his home
he went through them while I
admired the magnificent tropical
garden that he and Rose have
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