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Published: March 8th 2005
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Tasmania was beautiful but Kangaroo Island is a unique place. I loved it! Kangaroo Island, otherwise know as KI is the third largest island off the Australia mainland. It was uninhabited when it was discovered in 1802 by an English explorer named Matthew Flinders. The Australian Sea Lion and the New Zealand Fur Seals have breeding colonies all along the South Coast. Little Penguins are also found around most coastlines. The only thing I have to whinge about is the drinking water-it was yucky!
Day 1-
I had an early Saturday morning (5:45 am) walk down to the bus terminal in the city. The bus ride to the ferry was almost 2 hours and I had no idea it would take so long. Anyhow, the ferry ride wasn’t too bad. The weather was a little nasty so I took some motion sickness medication to help me make it through the waves. I made it through without getting sea sick only to feel extremely drowsy for most of the morning. As we traveled to Stokes Bay I noted several living and dead kangaroos along the roadside. Most of KI is made of dirt roads and farmland so our Sealink Coach Bus
didn’t handle the roads to well. Maybe it’s just me, but I am not sure that buses like that should handle dirt roads. I found out that our tour guide had to be replaced on Saturday because he had been involved in a bus fire the day before. Sure enough, the story was true and I saw the charcoal bus frame on the side of the road.
Stokes bay was a beauty nestled away behind a group of limestone boulders. The sound of the sea was calming. A farm nearby provided a two course lunch for our group. The highlights of my meal were the fresh fruits in honey yogurt and kangaroo. I gave the kangaroo meat a go and I never swallowed. The taste was not pleasant.
Parndana Wildlife Park was a memorable stop because I saw my first wombat! Yea!
However, Seal Bay was one of my favorite stops. The weather was gorgeous and the Australian Sea lions were incredible. Sea lions feed for three days, rest for three days and then return to sea to repeat the pattern. So, in a sense, we were entering into the sea lions bedroom. I saw them enter into the water
and exit. Those that were coming from sea were quite humorous. Many of them couldn’t even make it out of the water onto dry sand before plopping down for a snooze. I also noted several young male sea lions shuffle up to others who were sleeping trying to entice them to play.
I didn’t take any photos at Clifford’s Honey farm but I did take home a bottle of Sparkling Honey Nectar and honey vanilla ice cream. It was the best ice cream I have had since leaving Blue Bell behind. The honey produced on KI comes from the Ligurian bee that originated in Italy. The farm produces over 10,000 kg of honey each year and gives tourists an opportunity to taste test their products.
Day one ended with an aquarium tour and a nocturnal penguin tour in Kingscote. I spotted penguins all along the coastline and never knew they had such loud calling rituals. I guess the glass wall in the zoo does drown a lot of the noise out.
Day 2- Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Oil Distillery produces a multi-use substance from Narrow-leaf Mallee trees. There were lots of wallabies and kangaroos wandering about this stop. Kelly Hill Caves
was short stop. The cave system that is open to the public was pretty small so it didn’t take long to view what it had to offer. Beckwiths farm provided lunch for day 2 and it was a lovely Australian country style lunch. I also had some time to spot a wild koala nearby. There is a koala debate in KI over the large number of koalas roaming the land. Apparently, there are too many koalas and not enough trees. Many koalas and trees are dying as a result but there has not been any course of action due to negative media coverage.
Flinders Chase National Park was one of my favorite spots as well since it held Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch. Remarkable Rocks is a very apt name for the granite boulders sculpted by weather and ocean spray over the course of 4-5 billion years. Admirals Arch was also formed by the pounding sea and is a breeding ground for New Zealand fur Seals. I truly felt like I was walking into a Discovery Channel special. Seals were all over the place!
My last stop was the Island Pure Sheep Dairy where I sampled several cheeses and yogurts-all
very yummy and a reminder of my trip to Wisconsin. I ended my KI journey late Sunday evening. A weekend was just enough time to hit the highlights of the island but I would love to return.
Word Bank:
Whinger-complainer
Whinge-cry or whine
Hard Yakker-to work hard
Daggy-dumb, unclear
Dag-silly
Narky-annoyed
Easy-okay
Mickey Mouse- not finished or properly made
Furphy-rumor, something thought to be true but is not
(Just a note about these words-sometimes I hear them for the first time during conversation and make a note of them and other times my supervisor makes a point of bringing up a new word for me during supervision meetings.)
Culture Shock 101:
Most shops close by 5:30 on the weekday. The only exception is Friday. Fridays are late shopping nights and shops do not close until 9 p.m. However, there are a few 24 hour convenience stores which have a wide selection of items in the area.
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anonymous
non-member comment
WOW!!!
Tanya- I love how descriptive you are when you are trying to give everyone a picture of things that you see. You make everything sound so great! I have learned so much about Australia now and it makes me want to get out and see the world. Have fun and be careful.---Amanda - Amanda R.