Day 12 & 13: Kangaroo Island
What a busy, but great couple of days.
The day started very early Wednesday morning with the family having to be up and ready to leave by 7.30am. We arranged to leave our van on site at Port Elliot for the night, and drove the 1 hour drive to Cape Jervis to catch the 9am ferry to Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island.
The ferry trip is approximately 20km and took about 45 minutes.
We took the car on the ferry so Darren got it out whilst the kids and I disembarked and met up with him. We immediately drove to the western side of the island. Kangaroo island is much bigger than a lot of people realise. The drive to the western side of the island took about 2 hours, and we were expecting than but it is still hard to appreciate the size until you experience it.
Our first destination was Flinders Chase national park where Darren had planned a number of walks for us to do. Like most national parks, we had to pay a fee to enter. The cost was per person which I'm sure the Royal National park charges by the car, but anyway, we paid the $27 to enter and headed for Remarkable Rocks.
I've realised that all one needs to entertain a family for the day is rocks! It helps if the rocks are granite and slowly erode to funny shapes and sit precariously on the edge of a cliff, but none the less rocks are heaps of fun. We spent ages climbing the rocks, taking photos and making out shapes the rocks have made. We were making fun of the name but once we got there we realised the rocks really are remarkable!
We left remarkable rocks and made our way to Admirals Arch. We had been advised by the visitors centre that there were a lot of New Zealand Fur Seals there at the moment which made Brandon increasingly anxious to get there. After having a picnic lunch that we had taken with us, Brandon's patience was well rewarded. New Zealand fur seals spend months out at sea looking for food then come back and rest for a while. Kangaroo island is one of the places they choose to rest. We learnt that this species of seal has fur which enables them to stay at sea longer and not get too cold. When they return to rest on the rocks, they often have to get back in the water to Cool down. The ease in which they climb the rock face is amazing.
We yet again spent ages looking at the seals, until the smell got a bit too much to bear.
The next walk Darren had planned was nice and close, around the Cape du Couedic lighthouse area. We checked out the lighthouse then walked the track to a look out that illustrated Lisbon reef that can be seen by the white wash just visible on the horizon. Brandon and I took the walk easy with Brandon eager to read all the literature that is placed along the path. He absorbs so much when he sees it so I encouraged his diligence.
On the return route of this walk, Darren and Ethan were leading the pack with Brandon and I a metre or so behind and Micaela immediately following, when Darren started doing what appeared to be some sort of a hop skip dance step. I immediately grabbed Brandon and stopped still not knowing what on earth was up with Darren. When he's just looked at me and said "snake". Ethan, who was more bewildered than me as to what was going on with his father, was standing still right next to it. Darren and I, both unable to articulate any legible sentence at this point, managed to instruct Ethan to walk slowly towards Darren. We later found out that the island has 2 species of snake, the tiger snake and the Pygmy copperhead. Both are venomous and rarely seen in winter. I guess we were lucky. We all had a good laugh at Darren's reaction to the snake but, just quietly, I'm glad he was at the front of the pack because I think my reaction would have been a lot worse!
Our next walk was back near the visitor information centre. We enquired about doing the 1 1/2 hour walk to Platypus Waterholes. We were advised that it is a lovely walk but we had no chance of seeing a platypus this time of year. We decided to start the walk and see how far we got before we had to turn back as it was getting quite late and we didn't want to get caught in the bush in the dark. The first part of the walk encompasses what is called the "discovery" walk. About 3 metres in Darren spotted a Koala crawling along the ground. Once it saw us it scampered half way up a tree then stopped to keep an eye on us. We just stood there looking at it and taking photos until it must have decided we were harmless and climbed back down again to go about his business. We continued further down the path until we got to a clearing that was filled with native geese and their goslings. Further down the path it was my turn to be surprised. I was leading the pack this time, looking out for snakes, when I noticed heaps of Kangaroo poo on the ground. This had just become a conscious thought when this big kangaroo stood up from behind a bush right beside me and hopped away from me. My heart was in my throat, with Darren calling out, "photo, Michelle why aren't you taking a photo?". Karma! Guess I shouldn't have laughed at him with the snake!
We walked for a bit longer, saw some beautiful plants, but it was getting late and the kids (especially the boys) were getting tired so we turned around and embarked on our journey to find our accommodation.
Our adventures for the day were far from over. During the day we had seen plenty of road kill, and yes Darren continued his count, so we were very conscious of the possibility of animals running unexpectedly onto the road. We were vigilant in keeping our eyes open for Roos and the like when what do I notice waiting at the side of the road to cross, but a cow! It was the funniest thing, I yelled at Darren to slow down when he brought the car to a halt not far from where the cow was waiting to cross. We just sat there looking at the beast, whilst it stood there looking at us. It was like we were both waiting for the other to move, when it turned around, walked back into the bush and watched us drive past. We continued on having a little giggle to ourselves. Both boys had given in to fatigue by this stage but Micaela was a little spooked (not by the cow but the sudden stop).
We made it to our accommodation, focifolia lodge, by about 5pm then headed to the local pub for an early dinner.
The following morning we were up early and at it again.
First port of call for today was Seal Bay. This is what I was most looking forward to and is my favourite activity that we did.
Seal Bay is populated by the Australian Sealion. The conservation park is trying to protect the species primarily through education. We had a guided tour and were the only ones booked in for that time slot so we had the guide all to ourselves.
We were able to walk within metres of the sealions which was absolutely incredible. A couple of the pups were curious about us and so came quite close to check us out. It was tempting to bend down and pat one but contact is strictly prohibited. They want the animals to remain wild. We also had one of the juvenile males come close to check us out, this was quite intimidating as Naomi, our guide, had just finished telling us how aggressive they are towards each other. We had no problem standing still until he was a bit further away. I got some great photos of him though.
Next we headed to Raptor Domain. The receptionist gave us a brochure for it when we checked in for the ferry but I was initially a little apprehensive about going there. I didn't come to natures paradise to see caged animals, but everyone kept telling us how good it is and how much the kids will love it. The locals are really good at promoting other businesses on the island.
We decided to check it out and I have to admit it was much better than I expected. We stayed for both the "birds of prey" and the "reptile" shows. There was 1/2 hour between the end of the first show and the start of the second so they had a sausage sizzle for us to purchase for lunch.
Both shows were again premised on protection through education. It was really interactive. Micaela and Brandon got the opportunity to hold a bird each. Ethan unexpectedly had the barn owl land on his lap which made him jump. It landed on my lap too, but I was expecting it so it stayed long enough for us to pat it.
When we got to the reptile show Darren, Brandon and I were fine with the lizards but we were not so keen to hold the snakes, Micaela and Ethan do not share our apprehensions.
We left Raptor Domain and headed for Cape Willoughby but detoured to Cliffords honey farm. Apparently Masterchef were there earlier this year, not being regular viewers we didn't see that episode. The honey farm is a small family business that started as a hobby, now both daughters and their husbands are all involved in this successful business. Their hives are the last pure strain of Ligurian bees left in the world!
We bought a few things here (have to help the little man!) including a packet of honey comb that Micaela, Darren and I devoured before we were even 20 metres away. Knew I should have bought 2 packets!
After the honey farm we decided to do the walk to Tadpole Cove. It was a very short walk and we were rewarded with seeing a wallaby but the drive there was along unsealed, bumpy roads. We then continued onto Cape Willoughby.
We had another detour on our journey, Prospect Hill lookout. In order to get to this lookout we had to climb about 500 stairs. Micaela and Ethan endeavored to count the steps both on the way up and on the way down, but they got a different number each time. All four numbers started with a 5 though! The view was spectacular. But of course, what comes up must come down so we trekked back down the stairs again and once again headed to Cape Willoughby.
We finally made it to Cape Willoughby right on dusk but every thing was shut. We did see the lighthouse though and took some photos to prove we had been there.
It was now time to make our way back to Penneshaw to catch the 7.30pm ferry. The road back was along more unsealed, bumpy, scrub lined roads so we took it nice and slow. Driving at night was a whole new experience, we got to see so much more wild life including kangaroos and wallabies, but also bandicoots.
We absolutely loved Kangaroo Island and would go again in a heart beat if it wasn't so expensive. Two days was nowhere near enough time but we still saw a fair bit. If I could do it again, I would allocate at least 3 days over there, a week would be better!