This morning we headed back to the Dudley Peninsula at the eastern end of KI to visit the Cape Willoughby Lighthouse. Yes, another lighthouse! This lighthouse also has a tour available so we timed our arrival to coincide with the 11.30am tour. Although this is not a REAL lighthouse (according to Mick) it is taller than the Cape Borda Lighthouse and more traditional in stature, being tall and circular rather than short and square. Ranger, Megan, explained that lighthouses were built having regard to the local terrain and materials. Her lighthouse is tall and round and built from granite because Cape Willoughby is a granite outcrop that is not as elevated at Cape Borda therefore granite is the building material that is available and it has to be tall so that the light projects far enough ... read more

This morning we headed off to the south coast of the island with our main aim being to see the Australian Sea-lion colony at Seal Bay. We took the guided beach tour with parks ranger, Lauren. Almost as soon as we moved away from the visitor centre we saw a Tamar Wallaby and before going much further we were seeing sea-lions in the sand dunes. Lauren told us that sea-lions move up from the beach overnight into the sand dunes to stay warm because they have hair like us rather than fur, so they are not as well insulated from the cold as fur seals. The other main differences between fur seals and sea-lions is that sea-lions have external ears and they have bone in their front flippers. Having bone in their front flippers makes them ... read more

We had an early start this morning because we were booked on the 9.00am ferry from Cape Jervis, at the very end of the Fleurieu Peninsula, across to Penneshaw on the Dudley Peninsula (eastern end) of Kangaroo Island. We needed to be checked-in by 8.30am so departed Victor Harbour just after 7.00am to be sure of a timely arrival. We had a good run to Cape Jervis - no farmer out with a combine harvester or a flock of sheep to hold us up - and arrived before they unlocked the doors to the check-in office! Much better to be early than late though. Only drivers are allowed to be in the vehicles as they are loaded onto the KI Ferry. The reason for this soon became obvious - they pack the vehicles in tight! Bernie ... read more

This morning we showered with a view from our bathroom window of the Western Highway! After a self-catered breakfast in our room we hit the road about 9.30am. We stopped at another silo painted by Guido van Helten this morning, this one across the border at Coonalpyn. This artwork features five school children from the local community at play. We did see this artwork as we drove back from Adelaide last year, but its scale still impresses on a second viewing. Since our last journey a new artwork has been completed - a beautiful mosaic screen in front of the public toilets which really brightens things up. Onwards to Tailem Bend where we stopped for another break and ventured down to the bank of the Murray River. We’ve driven past this spot on a number of ... read more

We woke this morning to a very wet and dreary day so we decided on an indoor activity - a visit to the World of WearableArt (WOW) Museum which is co-located with a motor museum. That's convenient, something for me and something for Bernie! The WOW museum houses a selection of costumes that have appeared in the annual WOW shows. The idea for an exhibition of art that could be worn originated with an artist in Nelson and originally the shows were staged annually in Nelson. The concept proved so popular that the shows outgrew their original home in Nelson and now they are held each year in September/October in Wellington. We went through the WOW Museum first and found the costumes quite astonishing. Artists from all over the world enter costumes in a range of ... read more