Day One

The bus picked me up at 6.20am then it was a 2 hour drive to Cape Jervis to catch the Ferry across to Kangaroo Island. Arrived at about 10am found my bus and guide, Jeff, and met the 3 other people on my tour for the next 2 days.

Our first stop was to the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Oil Distillery. The oil is produced from the islands Narrow-leaf Mallee trees. The make it by putting the leaves into like a huge steamer that extracted the oil from the leaves. It is then put through a refiner that cleanses it of any bad stuff. We then looked around the shop and it was amazing to see all the different products you could get from eucalyptus oil..

It was then back on the bus to the Vivonne Bay Bistro for lunch. Very nice.... After lunch we headed around the corner to watch a free flight presentation of Australian birds of prey which included a kestrel, a pair of Kookaburras, a barn owl and a Wedged Tail Eagle. We were actually quite up close and personal with the birds, the barn owl made a visit to everyone sitting on the front row!!!

From there it was off to Seal Bay. This is the home to the Australian Sealion and it is the third largest breeding colony in Australia. The sealions basically are out at sea for 3 days and then they come to the Bay to sleep for the next 3 days. We got to walk on the beach with them. But even before we got to the beach when we were walking down the pathway one just appeared out of the bushes. They were everywhere and alot of the young ones were calling out for there mothers. We couldn't get too close only about 10 metres away as they can feel threatened and then could get aggressive.

After spending some time there it was back onto the bus and off to Parndana Wildlife Park. We got to meet some Kangaroo Island Kangaroos (they are slightly different to the Eastern Grey Kangaroos, a bit darker in colour and a furrier coat) and feed them. They also had a large aray of birds including Cassowaries which the owner of the park was able to hand feed!!!

We then went to our final place on the itinerary, Island Pure Sheep Dairy. Yes a Sheep Dairy!!! It was bizarre to see sheep being milked. We then got to taste some of the cheeses and they were yummy, just a shame I couldn't have brought any back.

Finally dropped at my accomodation for the evening, where I relaxed and watched TV. Had an early night ready for the next action packed day.