Letho's Blog

Jan 24, 2011

Despite our aversion against those company-organized, multi-tourist trips we made an exception this time: we booked a one-day trip to Kangaroo Island. At least we would be getting to Kangaroo Island at all after having missed it the last time we were in Adelaide – something I always regretted.

We would therefore be touring on Kangaroo Island in a bus full with other tourists. It would have been much more expensive to take the LandCruiser with us since the only transportation facility is the SeaLink ferry. And they rip you off as they hold the monopoly getting people, cars and goods to and from Kangaroo Island…

Yet we decided to drive down to Cape Jervis on our own (cheaper! ) and get on the ferry there. The ferry left early at 7:30am, hence we arrived at Rapid Bay the night earlier and made camp just a few kilometers away from Cape Jervis.

 

 

The next morning we rushed to Cape Jervis and boarded the ferry. The ride to Kangaroo Island took about 1.5 hours and the weather was not yet too enlightening when we arrived at Penneshaw Harbour.

Here we entered the bus, driven by an old, rusty, but very amusing local tour guide.

First stop on our itinerary was Seal Bay.

A colony of Australian Sealions has been living here for a very long time. Actually long enough to luckily survive the slaughtering of all other colonies on the island by British and French settlers in the early 19th century. What a shame – look how incredibly cute these furry fellows are…

Get a better grasp:

We could have watched these animals for much longer, but our tight and strict schedule allowed only for 20 or so minutes. And we demanded to be feeded at Vivonne Bay – actually the lunch was excellent!

We headed on to the “Birds of Prey” show by Raptor Domain where a presentation of raptors and birds of prey was held. Much to our surprise this was truly amazing, the birds shown were so beautiful while flying and showing their skills that time basically flew by…

In flight this Australian Kestrel is an amazing beauty to look at ..

There were more birds, e.g. an amazing Barn Owl and a pair of Laughing Kookaburras. We have made a very special experience with this kind already near Apollo Bay when one of these birds stole my cheese bread out of nowhere!

Ok, you see I made friends with them again ..

Now one of the main attractions on Kangaroo Island was waiting for us: the Remarkable Rocks. Even from far the view was very promising…

 

 

These rock formations made of granite boulders are definitely impressive. You wonder how over time something like this emerges from the forces of wind and water .. and stays in place balanced as it is.

It was not easy taking pictures without someone stepping into the scenery all the time. This is a very crowded place at all times, which again made us feel sorry not to have come here alone to enjoy the site. We don’t look too unhappy, though – or do we?

Now, rush on, tourists, we don’t have much time! We need to get to Cape du Couedic! *wrooom*

There we are:

From there you can directly see the Casuarines just off-shore:

At Cape du Couedic lives a colony of New Zealand Fur Seals – what a life, all day fishing, lying in the sun and laughing at tourists!

But let’s not forget what we primarily came here for – the Admirals Arch, an awesome natural rock arch:

From Cape du Couedic we could actually see the Remarkable Rocks again in the distance:

Guess what – suddenly we had enough time to make another stop at an additional place called Hanson Bay .. after rushing all day. Here we spotted some cute koalas and the Kangaroo Island kangaroo, a subspecies that has evolved in the enclosed ecosystem of the island.

After that our bus took us back to Penneshaw for our return ferry. Back at Cape Jervis we assisted two fellow travelers whose car had broken down. Well, it was a LandRover – what did they expect from British machinery?

We made camp again at Rapid Bay. The next morning was filled with an enjoyable ride throughout the Fleurieu Peninsula and the McLaren Vale ..

.. back to Adelaide.