Matt Moran's croc encounter

MATT Moran argues with a mean crocodile and learns to cook it the indigenous way during a visit to the top end.

T-QUAL Matt Moran Escape

CELEBRITY chef Matt Moran is slowly and very carefully explaining to a 670kg crocodile that he doesn't eat crocodile meat and is promising to never serve up croc meat in any of his four restaurants: "I don't eat you buddy, so how about we agree you don't eat me?" he asks.

His pleas do little to fend off big Denzel, who's smelt fresh meat and fear, and is coming in for a closer look. He's the bad boy of Darwin's Crocosaurus Cove reptile park, he's so mean the other crocs stay out of his way, he even had to be removed from the breeding program and put into solitary confinement.

"Crocodile is bland meat," Moran continues to plead his case, though it appears hopeless now. "There's no fat content in croc meat, so I don't like it."

Denzel's probably thinking the same thing about Moran but it's not going to stop him. 

Moran is lowered slowly into Denzel's saltwater tank inside a contraption dubbed the "Cage of Death" a Perspex cage allowing visitors to Crocosaurus Cove a rare opportunity to comprehend the sheer horror of a croc attack.

And while Moran has spent the past 25 years cooking meat with thousands of his own dreamt-up sauces, he'll be served to Denzel au naturel and as rare as meat comes.

Denzel sneaks close to the Perspex, a handler dangles a piece of raw meat beside Moran's head and Denzel snaps his head round brutally, crunching his massive teeth on the flesh a few centimetres from Moran's face. Moran flinches and moves back.

Before the afternoon's over, he'll be dangled and fed to two more crocs these ones even bigger than Denzel. It's not the welcome to the Top End Moran envisaged especially after a 20-year hiatus but maybe next time he'll check the fine print when he signs up to promote tourism. 

Moran is in Darwin as part of a national tour to promote the Federal Government's new national quality assurance program in tourism, known as T-Qual.

Moran became involved with the initiative when he ensured his restaurants fit the T-Qual criteria. Now he's encouraging more companies to get involved. The new system brings all accredited programs together, ensuring tourists can identify quality tourism operators by looking for the Tick. 

Next morning, we set off early for Litchfield National Park with T-Qual assessed tour company Northern Territory Indigenous Tours. Owner and head guide Tess Atie is a Marrathiel Aboriginal woman dedicated to providing career options for local Aborigines within her business, and to offering a rare insight into Aboriginal ways for visitors to the area.

She grew up in what is now Litchfield National Park, hunting wild pigs, turtles, magpie geese and fishing for black bream and there's barely a kilometre of savannah land she doesn't know by heart (she's a former park ranger and wildlife park guide). 

There's been a lot of talk about an approaching cyclone, a big one too, but Atie reckons it's just wishful thinking. Sure enough, we leave Darwin in perfect sunshine, taking the back roads past the Noonamah Pub until the bitumen stops altogether and the road through the flatlands gets bumpy as hell while swollen river crossings threaten to stop us in our tracks in this landscape of eerie black termite mounds that look as if they could serve as our tombstones.

The 1500sq km Litchfield National Park is 130km southwest of Darwin and is one of the Top End's most popular attractions, but Atie knows how to avoid the crowds. 

She loves to show off her homeland, pointing out to Moran places she fished and hunted as a child. She tells us stories of her family her great-uncle and aunt lived in a tiny, rough homestead called Blyth Homestead, while her grandfather built a sawmill camp to eke out a meagre living.

We pass her family land not far from Florence Falls. We stop here and journey down 135 steps to the idyllic waterhole below the gushing falls. The emerald-green water is refreshingly cool even on a 32C day.

Moran is clearly mesmerised. "This is magic," he says. "I've always thought Australians need to see more of their own country. We should see Australia instead of ignoring it and taking off around the world. That's why I like promoting tourism, look at what we've got, get out and see it." 

We stop again at nearby Wangi Falls a place Atie explains is of special significance to Aboriginal women before heading off-road to Atie's family land for lunch at a place called Woolaning Spring.

Atie's grandfather cleared a tiny portion of the land here for a sawmill 60 years ago, now the clearing between the trees provides a forest dining room beside a crystal-clear stream. "Check for freshies (fresh-water crocodiles) first," she says. "Watch out for wild pigs too." 

Atie organises the cooking of local game meat crocodile and kangaroo and fresh-caught barramundi over a fire. While he mightn't serve any in his restaurants, Moran's quite taken with local meat cooked the indigenous way. "You never know, maybe next time you're in Sydney I'll have croc meat on the menu," he says with a laugh to Atie. When lunch is done and we've ventured further into Litchfield, a helicopter lands in a clearing and takes us to the heavens for a half-hour journey over wetlands and twisting rivers back to Darwin in time for sunset cocktails at the Skycity Hotel. 

Moran's set to see the entire country over the next six months to promote the T-Qual program you can follow his journey as he blogs his way around every state and territory.

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DARWIN

- Staying there 

Catch Darwin's best sunsets in a tropical beachside setting at Darwin's premium 5-star boutique  accommodation, Skycity Hotel. You'll also find Darwin's best dining here at Evoo Restaurant. See skycitydarwin.com.au or ph 1800 891 118.

- Doing there

Get close to a giant croc in the Cage of Death for $120 a person or $80 a person for two, or check out Crocosaurus Cove's huge collection of wild Australian animals for $49 (adults), $30 (children).
See crocosauruscove.com

For Tess Atie's personalised Aboriginal guided small-group day tours into Litchfield National Park, see ntindigenoustours.com or ph 1300 921 188.
 
- More

For information on the T-Qual program, go to tourism.australia.com

 To follow Matt Moran's T-Qual journey go to t-qual.tumblr.com