25,695 kms, 41 degrees C
Once again, when we thought we had seen it all, the next spot is right up there with the best. Kangaroo Island is 2 hours South of Adelaide, off the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. We were surprised by how big it is – Australia’s third largest island and seven times the size of Singapore. It is a short, but expensive, ferry ride across a narrow throat of water stuffed full of dolphins. It was amusing, if smug, to watch the “tourists” waste lots of digi shots and video footage. Experience tells us not to bother, they are too difficult to capture at a distance.
As we had limited time on the island we headed straight for Flinders Chase, at the South Western corner. On the way we popped into Seal Bay to see the Australian sealions, which Nicky refers to as fur seals incorrectly on the video. You just cant get the quality journos these days!
The mercury hit 41 degrees as we got to Seal Bay. We had to get the thongs and singlets (wife beaters) out of the bag after getting the colder weather clothes for the SW of WA. As it was hot, the sealions were scattered not too far from the beach. Wise move. The beach was littered with them – we did a guided walk where we managed to get within 10m of theses huge, amiable looking creatures. But they were less than friendly with one another – the males were getting “toey” as it is coming up to the mating season, and they were fighting for the best bit of beach to attract the girls. Boys will be boys!!
Next stop was Flinders Chase. We woke to wallabies in the camp site – even after 5 months of roos and wallabies we do not tire of them. The NZ fur seal colony at Admiralty Rocks kept us amused for over and hour. They are smaller, darker and more
active than the sealions but their behaviour was similar – boys fighting for the best “real estate”. Remarkable Rocks were aptly named. Then we found a koala colony, our first of the trip. Koalas were introduced to Kangaroo Island to help dwindling numbers. Due to the lack of (mostly introduced) predators like snakes and foxes, they are thriving, so much so that they are being caught and relocated on the mainland. They are very cute, if a bit dozy.
We then took a tour off the island’s emu and eucalyptus oil factory. Several reader of this blog might recognise this paragraph when they open their Xmas pressies! The emu oil is made from fat of the said bird, the eucalypt oil is distilled from leaves.
And there are wineries on the island. OMG – Stuart nearly fainted, as we are sooo short of wine. Not!
KI is stunning in just about every way.
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