A couple of weeks after we got back from the Whitsundays, I had a long weekend planned so that Clarice could get away from work and relax a bit. I had wanted to go to Fiji or one of those islands, but it would take too long to fly there to warrant the expense, so instead we were headed to Kangaroo Island south of Adelaide in South Australia.
Friday evening we flew in to Adelaide, got our hire car and found our way to our hotel for the evening. Nothing fancy, just a place to sleep before our early wake up to make the 8:00 AM car ferry to Kangaroo Island. Neither of us slept especially well though due to the loud party people in the streets outside. The drive from Adelaide to the ferry was supposed to take 2 hours (we were told) but we made it in 1.5.
After loading the car, we enjoyed a nice 45 minute ferry ride over to Penneshaw. Since we only had a day, our plan was to get over to the west side right away (since the biggest national park - Flinders Chade NP - is over there) and take our time seeing the sights on the way back east to Kingscote.
While KI is not very large, it took another 1.5 hours to get over to Flinder's Chase National Park. We stopped in the Visitor's Centre, then drove the winding road out to Cape Du Couedic to see the lighthouse and the Admiral's Arch. (Note: Why is it when someone sees a rock arch along a shoreling they immediately name it "Admiral's Arch"? Who is this admiral everyone is sucking up to?)
Long and close ups of The Arch
Admiral's Arch, beside being an impressive rock formation, is also a protected breeding environment for New Zealand fur seals. They were everywhere and there were plenty of pups barking around - an unexpected bonus!
Next was something Clarice had heard about called "The Remarkable Rocks". They were, well, remarkable. We climbed all over them and took a ton of photos. Most had an orange lichen growing on them and that, combined with the blue ocean and green vegetation, made for some marvelous photos.
The next stop was the Koala Walk where we modified a game car game the Williams family plays called "spot-o" into a koala hunting game. The walk was a nice tree-lined affair, very similar to the stereotypical tree-lined drive at southern plantation houses in the deep south. The walk was self service, having only an "honor jar" to donate money for the protection of koalas. We had a very enjoyable half hour calling out, "spot-o!" every time we found one of them sleeping in the crook of a tree.
From there we went to the Seal Bay and took a guided tour along the beach, a protected area for Australian sea lions. Like the fur seals, there were plenty of pups who were curious enough to come right up to us, though we were careful to give them plenty of distance and not harass them at all. Let me tell you from firsthand experience - sea lion poop smells downright awful!
Last stop for the day, after checking in to our hotel and grabbing dinner at a local pizza place (natch) was to take a nature walk to see the Little (Fairy) Penguins. We were introduced to these little guys in Tasmania and could not pass up an opportunity to see them again. They are only about a foot tall (if that) and are so cute as they make their way up the beach and rocks to the chicks waiting in the nest calling out for mommy and daddy.
Clarice took this one JUST at the same time another lady did a naughty - used her flash! Shame!
Another early (7:30 AM) ferry ride had us driving back to Adelaide the next morning. We spent the day shopping, looking at architecture and stopping at William Ayers house. Ayers was an explorer, rancher and statesman who became very wealthy. His home sits in the middle of downtown Adelaide and is now open for tours where a variety of his (and other's) Victorian Era antiques are on display. It was pretty interesting learning a bit more Aussie history.
That evening we flew home to Sydney. Short "long weekend" but we saw more of Australia and really enjoyed all of the wildlife we got to see in its natural habitats.
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