The Island
After 5 weeks in Australia, we had only seen two ‘roo’s in the wild. This was about to change with a visit to Kangaroo Island. Getting to KI is pretty interesting itself. It’s a 2 hour drive south from Adelaide and then the car goes onto the ferry for a 45 minute ride to island. KI is over 150 km long, so having a car is a must in order to see even a fraction of it.
We set out on the first day to Flinders Chase National Park. The walk to Admirals Arch has a fantastic payoff with a view of New Zealand fur seals basking in the shadow of a cave. The next stop was something called the Remarkable Rocks, which are huge rocks that are, well, remarkable. Hard to describe, but check out the photo gallery link to the right.
Next we attempted a hike to Snake Lagoon, but were defeated by hundreds of flies swarming around us. As silly as it may seems, they were just incredibly annoying to the brink of insanity. Dejected, we headed back to the car for the long drive to the hotel on the other side of the island. We still had not seen any Wallabies, Koalas, or Kangaroos that were supposedly so plentiful on the island. Well, not live ones anyway. The road sides are littered with dead ones that didn’t make it, so we knew they must be there somewhere.
Dusk is the perfect time for wildlife as the lazy marsupials begin to wake up from their naps during the hot part of the day. I spotted a Wallaby munching away on some grass along the road. And then another. And another. When Eric finally pulled over to take a picture, we noticed something else just behind it. Two huge Kangaroos in a field. They were the first of many of the island’s namesake and of much more wildlife to be seen. Next up were Koalas hanging in the trees and Little Penguins on the beach at night.
The next morning we headed to the Lathami Conservation Park for a short walk with more Wallabies and a unique spiky animal called an Echidna. After lunch, Seal Bay showed off it’s namesake in the form of huge Australian Sea Lions lounging on the sand. Finally after dodging Goanas on the road, we visited a honey farm, home to a strain of Ligurian bees from Italy that only survive in this place today.
Kangaroo Island is fascinating and an incredible place to see all the wildlife that Oz is famous for in one microcosm.
This may be the last blog from down under for a while. We’re starting a long journey back to the US for our friends’ wedding, starting with the Overland train from Adelaide to Melbrourne, then catching a flight to Cali. We’ll be back next week, but until then, G’day.
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