The drive from Robe to Kangaroo Island (KI) was probably the least exciting one so far as we travelled further inland away from the coast, and didn’t do too many stops as were worried we wouldn’t make it to the ferry on time! We did make one lovely stop in Strathhalben which had a great organic healthfood café and shop. It’s very easy to eat healthily over here (as well as easy to eat complete crap as well!) so we have hit our 5 a day so far!
Along the journey the map didn’t show that in the middle of no where we hit a river but there was no bridge! So as well as getting the big car ferry across the ‘Backstairs Passage’ (honestly that’s what it’s called!) to KI, we found ourselves on a little mini ferry to cross the river! Another little driving challenge is that none of the railway level crossings have barriers on them – just a really helpful sign saying ‘Give way to trains’ – argh! We assume that trains go once a week as haven’t seen any yet but it’s a bit scary.
So we drove to Cape Jervis which was a bit like the end of the world as the road just stops in the sea! The ferry really reminded me of getting the ferry to the Isle of Wight when I was little – except that the Isle of Wight doesn’t have Fairy penguins, koalas and kangaroos running around! We are staying at the Seafront Resort in Penneshaw in a little chalet which is gorgeous surrounded by tropical plants and flowers.
There is so much to do in KI we really needed a few more days (common theme throughout this holiday!) so we even packed some wildlife watching David Attenborough style into our first night. It was a really clear sky and there are very few lights on the island so we wandered down to the beach and sat and looked at the stars (including some shooting ones) which was absolutely magical; but then joined a group to watch the Fairy Penguins come in from the sea onto the rocks and into their burrows. We had a torch with a red light in it so we could see them but it wouldn’t affect their eyes and it was really amazing to see the little things hop out of the sea and make their way slowly up the rocks. It was the end of the breeding season so there were still some chicks around that were very cute – was a really special thing to do.
KI is only 155km long but fascinating fact – it’s 7 times as big as Singapore – wow! Day 2 was all about trying to see as much wildlife as possible. Unfortunately 3 months ago the island was hit by 13 bushfires in 1 day which really devastated a lot of the vegetation (and some of the animals) in the Flinders National park area – the smell of burning was everywhere and was a bit upsetting. Because of the massive fire risk the walk to the river with the platypus in it was closed which was a shame as we wanted to see them in the wild after seeing them in the aquarium in Sydney.
But there was still a whole lot of things to see and there is a huge Australian Fur Seal community down at Admirals Arch which is an astounding natural arch in the rocks caused by thousands of years of waves.
It was pup season as well as we watched this tiny little thing shuffling around the rocks calling for it’s mum, and when she came out of the water they had a good cuddle – tears to the eye for sure! We also took a walk amongst eucalyptus trees and saw loads of koala bears in the trees – they were just waking up as it was getting to the late afternoon and made these huge snoring type noises that we thought was a lion or camel or something!! Feel very lucky to have see these in the wild. At the end of the koala walk Steve spotted a young wallaby eating under a bush so we watched that for a while too. Finally we climbed up Prospect Hill which was the first point that the English Captain that discovered KI came to – amazing view of the island and we saw some kangaroo and echinus tracks – as well as a kangaroo by the side of the road but not the real thing.
So after a fab evening sitting by the tea with a beer and pizza we are heading off to Adelaide for the last bit of Steve’s journey. It’s 41 degrees there today so I’m preparing for the sweaty top lip and frizzy hair scenario again!