Cane Toad Racing
Friday evening, after our trip back into the Daintree Forest, Al organized an informal group activity at Chilly’s pizza parlor. Friday nights are Cane Toad racing nights. Admission is $6 and for the ticket you are treated to two races. The first is a demonstration of sorts and the second is for prizes. In the first race, jockeys are selected “at random” from the audience. The frogs are piled on a table and a whistle blows. The jockeys are to encourage their frogs to jump by using “whips.” The whips are those party favors that unfurl when you blow. Once the frog is off the table, the jockey can pick him up and put him gently in the bucket at the finish line.
Al, bribed the emcee to select someone from our group and he got double for his money because two of us were selected, John (a fellow traveler) and me.
Before the race, all jockeys had to hold and kiss their toads. (Thanks, Paulette, for the video!)
After the whistle blew everyone leaned in hard to encourage their frogs who didn’t seem to need much encouragement to jump. I stepped around another jockey and lost sight of my toad, “Donald Jump”. I couldn’t see him anywhere, and was trying really hard not to step on any of the racers already on the floor. A commotion in the audience gave Donald Jump away and eventually someone picked him up and held him until I could reach him. Donald came in last place.
After our demonstration run, the emcee auctioned off jockey seats to the crowd full of children, many of whom were bidding with permission from their parents. Bids started at around $5, but quickly ran up to over $50. I think most jockeys paid over $70 to race. The top 4 places got tickets to local attractions and all jockeys were rewarded with a beer. It was a fun evening, although I do feel a little sorry for the frogs.
Today we traveled to Sydney and are staying right on the edge of Chinatown and there’s some sort of festival going on. We grabbed a bite at a pop-up street vendor as an appetizer before dinner at Kowloon Cafe, a little dive full of young families and some groups of young adults.
Street vendors cooking skewers with squid, chicken, lamb, etc.
The scene at Kowloon Cafe while we waited for a seat.