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Published: November 5th 2008
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Kangaroo Island, Victor Harbor
November 3, 2008
Joe pulled me out of bed at six so we could climb on the Remarkable Rocks in Flinders Chase NP on Kangaroo Island. We were so early that we were the only ones there the entire two hours, a good idea since as we were leaving we met a tour bus. The Remarkable Rocks were….well, remarkable! We marveled at their existence. It was cool and somewhat cloudy, but no rain as was predicted.
A few miles from the rocks in Flinders Chase was a nice boardwalk down to the ocean to Admirals Arch where there were dozens of New Zealand Fur Seals. Most of them were fighting, looked like it could have been mating season. We wanted to stay in both of these places longer but had to make it back to Penneshaw for the 1:30 ferry to Cape Jervis.
On the road we encountered two echidnas, an improbable animal. I chased one across the road trying to get a photo. They move faster than one would expect and if you miss them on the road that’s the end of the photo session. Once they get to the edge of the
road they curl themselves into a ball and burrow into the ground. There’s no way to nudge or scare them out of the ball. We were just happy to get to see them.
Back on the mainland we immediately headed east and drove through more beautiful green hills and meadows stopping just an hour later in the small town of Victor Harbor. It’s a pretty place and is a popular summer retreat for the South Australians.
Small Granite Island is connected to Victor Harbor by a pedestrian causeway that is also serviced by a horse-drawn trolley. Tonight we walked across to take a night tour to see the Fairy Penguins coming back to their babies after a long day of fishing. The correct name for these birds is “Little Penguin” but there’s probably more money to be made marketing a fairy than something “little”. These penguins can be seen in several places in Southern Australia, and we didn’t want to miss them. Since the tour was at night, we were at the mercy of the guide’s red torch (what we call a flashlight). She did do a pretty good job of spotting them for us. We saw
little babies cheeping in their nests, moms and pops trying to climb up the rocks to get home, and several walked across the path in front of us. We loved seeing the penguins, but were amazed that they still survive in this area with tours coming through shining lights at them. We visited before and after the tour with a couple from the Netherlands that we enjoyed. They rented out their home and shipped their large RV to Australia and are traveling here for 8 months. After that they’ll ship it to the U.S. and travel 8 months more. There are a lot of people doing some brave and interesting things in the world and we’ve met many on this trip.
Since we had three nights in luxury accommodations, tonight we are in a cabin in a caravan park that is inexpensive, but sleeps six. It has a huge kitchen and a little living room. We are happy in these cabins because we can pull the car right up to the door to load and unload and we can wake up to the outdoors. We are near a river, so may be some birds in the morning to see.
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