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Published: March 27th 2009
Galloping
Dennis is on the run !
DAY 139
The nights are definitely getting warmer, it feels great after being so cold at night and struggling to keep warm.
We are up relatively early and off to the camp kitchen for tea and toast. We forgot to get some butter when we went shopping so we are just about to run out, thankfully we have enough for toast this morning.
We sort out the walls for the awnings to make sure that they are all dry so that they can be folded and put away properly. The last month has not been easy getting anything dry, but I mustn’t grumble.
It seems that the few people left on the campsite this morning are all doing their washing, except for me, I did mine a few days ago. The washing lines are already full.
Dennis seems to have moved trees, however we now find that we have an additional Koala in our midst, just hanging around in the tree munching on the eucalypt.
A bit of excitement seems to be mustering around a tree, we find that Dennis is now moving trees again, he slowly shimmies down the branch, however because everyone
Coming Down
Dennis Decends his tree is now crowding around him, he won’t move but he is sat nicely looking at everyone while they take their photos.
We all move away from the tree, I walk back to the truck, Andy shouts “he’s getting off the tree” I walk back a little way and squat down to take a picture just as Dennis bounds, and I do mean bound, straight for me only to slow up and saunter past me as if I was going to tell him off for running. Wow, for the first time yesterday I saw a Koala walk across the ground and today, we actually see one running. Amazing. Well Dennis got to his new tree and shimmied up, the next thing we know he is lying on his back on a very thin branch enjoying his late breakfast. In his daily act of defiance he wee’s whilst eating his breakfast, obviously hoping someone will be underneath, but we are wise to his game.
It amazes me how they know that the branch will hold their weight. I believe they do fall out of trees from time to time but hopefully not that often, it is said that koalas get
“drunk” on the eucalypt but some experts say that is not true.
We decide to go to the North of Kangaroo Island for a look around; soon after leaving the campsite we are on a corrugated road heading North. The dust is kicking up behind us as we go. If you maintain a higher speed you can limit the impact of the corrugations, but you do have to adhere to speed limits still and of course looking out for wildlife and other road users.
In the distance we see a truck pull out of a side turning, he hurtles towards us with the dust kicking out from all sides, we slow down, he passes and we pick up speed again. We find the turning that he pulled out of and find a gateway into a field, there appears to be nothing there we have no idea what he had on board and where he would have been to collect or drop of his load.
Shortly after getting back onto a bitumen road we stop off at Roo Lagoon Gallery, the tourist information brochure tells us that the gallery has wooden artefacts made out of the local wood,
Heading Back
Safe in his new tree Red Gum. The setting is beautiful and the workshop is set next to a lovely traditional looking Australian cottage. No sooner than we jumped out of the car a little Jack Russell ran up to greet us then as quickly as she arrived she ran off to greet the next person.
We hear loud music and walk into the workshop, the music is louder than ever and we find a man turning wood, clearly enjoying his work. We find some beautiful wooden bowls in deep red colours of the red gum. This chap tells us that he works with the flaws and natural look of the wood so nearly every piece is different. However mainly there are just salt and pepper mills and bowls. The wood turner tells us how he makes his salt and pepper mills. We are not in the market to buy anything as we cannot start buying souvenirs as it would be extra “gear” to carry.
Back on the bitumen road for 2 minutes and then we turn off back onto another corrugated road to continue our short journey North. We are looking for Western River, there is a campground there and we decide
Iooking Up
I may be a bit old, but not bad looking for my age to check it out. We have driven up and down some steep roads and then all of a sudden the hills open up to reveal the blue ocean and as we drive down we see the most amazing views of the river, the sea and the cliff face.
Driving further down a steep hill at the bottom there is a very tight corner, we can understand why caravans should not come down here, but we think we should be ok with the trailer. There is a motorhome, a fair sized one but by all accounts not the largest; but the council suggested to him that he should not entertain driving down there, but we spoke to him and he said it was no problem at all. In fact he had camped there for 12 days.
We jump out and cross the small bridge across the river and head down toward the beach, we say G’day to a guy who is just getting his fishing rod out of his car along with the rest of his gear.
We had no idea what to expect but soon after reaching the end of the river, we are suddenly on one
of the most beautiful beaches, the sand is white and the sea is turquoise. The sun is shining, it is warm there are very few people around and we think again we are in paradise. There is a guy swimming in the sea, and his girl friend is just drying off. About half a dozen people are fishing, and we briefly talk to a chap who has his collie dog with him, we say that is one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen and he agrees with us.
We walk back over to where the truck is parked, we are leaving our camp site tomorrow, so may decide to spend a night here on Friday Night. Heading back up the steep track we discuss our options, if we come down, we may have to have it in 4WD going back up with the trailer on, it would definitely be a “No chance” with a Caravan in tow.
At the top of a steep slope, we see a Heath Goanna just basking in the middle of the road, we pull the truck up about 5 meters away and he does not budge, even when we’re only 1
meter away he is quite happy to just lie there having his picture taken. When we get back into the truck and start up he wanders over to the side of the track for safety.
Another ½ K along the road, Caroline spots an Echidna, with Blond Quills, we get out to have a look at this little creature, but as soon as we are with him he pulls his quill jacket over his head, tucks his snout in and just hopes everyone goes away. We try to fool him standing there absolutely still for about 20 minutes, he is absolutely motionless, we have got to get going so jump in the truck and start the engine. We watch him as he tries to dig himself in under the leaves and twigs even deeper for safety.
The day is fantastic; Kangaroo Island is great when it is hot and sunny. As we are following the coast our next stop just for a peek is Snellings Beach Lookout, it is on hell of a view from the mountain track, but we are not sure if you can get on to the beach.
Driving on we finally reach Stokes Bay,
I’m sure our teeth have been loosened with this constant vibration in the truck from the corrugated roads. Everyone has said that Stokes Bay is gorgeous, and you have to walk through the rocks to the beach, we are on a recon mission only, we decide that Stokes Bay Beach will wait until tomorrow or the day after. We grab an Ice cream and sit in the truck to eat it, then we swap over and Caroline takes the driving position.
We are still on the corrugated road, and probably within a stretch of 2 Kilometres we see 12 dead Possums in total ,which are fresh road kill, hence the name of today’s Blog.
We drive back through Parndarna, I’m navigating, (God Help us!) we pull in to the town centre and we see an IGA supermarket, we need a few things so use the opportunity. Our fuel is down to ½ a tank plus the sub tank, plus a 25 Litre Jerry can that we keep with us, we decided to fill it up but the garage in Pandarna looks like something out of the Beverly Hill Billies. We drive on to Vivonne Bay where we replace
the ½ tank of Diesel, ($1.53 per litre) I was glad it was only ½ a tank.
We get back around 4.00pm, Caroline has her shower, and we sit and drink our tea, and enjoy the fact that Dennis is still asleep in his tree. We decide to have an early-ish tea so get our stuff ready and hit the camp kitchen. Caroline wanted thinly sliced potatoes, steak onions and tomatoes and with the excellent BBQ’s they provide, it is done in no time at all.
Through out the evening we are engaged in loads of conversation, Cliff and Sue from (WA) Western Australia are telling us all about their adventures and Cliff told us that he had recently driven 1700 Kilometres in a day starting at 4.00am in the morning and finishing at 11.00 pm on the night across the Nullarbor from Perth. He is an Electrician based offshore on a gas rig, so obviously our conversation goes to electrical engineering, and me eventually looking for work. Someone was saying that he had been talking to a forestry Ranger and they will not Bitumen any more roads on Kangaroo Island as the animal death toll is already
out of control and by resurfacing more roads, speeds would go up and so would the death toll.
Again the social impact of the camp kitchen takes hold, we have a comfortable evening in the warm meeting people and having good conversation.
We played Go Scrabble last night with Cathy and Sue (Denning and Bryan) so they asked us if we would play cards with them, what a hoot it didn’t finish till late and it was such a giggle.
We retire to bed tired, as our day has been full (they always are - we hope to relax a bit on the beach tomorrow).
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vicki & norm
non-member comment
loving the blog,remembering our trip following yours.