Advertisement
Published: April 28th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Proof that roos can't read
Other than roadkill, these were the only kangaroos that we saw in 3 days ... they were the greeters at the Flinders Chase Visitors Centre Our first school holiday of the year and we decided to head further south. We flew into Adelaide on Easter Sunday and settled ourselves into the Hilton for our first few nights (we can't really afford the Hilton - but you can find really good deals on the net!).
Since it was Easter Sunday, everything was really quiet. And the inactivity continued into Easter Monday. No one seems to live in downtown Adelaide, and everything was closed... and then it started to rain. What a wonderful way to spend the day! We did get a nice walk in along the river and through North Adelaide before heading into the museum to spend the afternoon in a dry environment.
The following morning, we headed for Cape Jervis and our ferry to Kangaroo Island. Once again, the weather was uncooperative - rain and wind. The ferry ride to the island was NOT FUN. Huge sea swells and a bad cross wind meant for rocking both forward to back and side to side. Sarah lasted about 10 minutes before retiring to the bathroom for the remainder of the trip. Luckily, we found our hotel quickly in Penneshaw just after getting off the
ferry. A short nap and Sarah was feeling much better. A short drive that afternoon revealed how big the distances across Kangaroo Island actually are. We were staying at the far east end of the island, and the most interesting sights are at the western end - a good hour and a half to two hour drive away.
On our first full day on the island, we headed straight west. Driving through wind and rain, our ideas of a couple of good bushwalks went out the window. Unfortunately, because of the poor weather, most of the wildlife appeared to be hiding. We saw many dead kangaroos along the side of the road... in fact, the carcasses aren't cleaned up, so there were kangaroos in all states of decomposition from recently hit to piles of bones. Not the best impression of the wildlife on the island!
We first found our way to Remarkable Rocks - a set of huge salt- and wind-carved boulders perched atop a cliff overlooking the Southern Ocean. It was cold and we braved 80 km/h winds to explore this cool formation.
Next... Admiral's Arch... another interesting formation. A cave-like structure with the ocean pouring
Adelaide at sunrise
OK, it wasn't sunrise but still a pretty morning scene. This was one of the very few sunny moments we had on our vacation. through from both sides. The more interesting thing about this site was the colony of New Zealand Fur Seals that lived on the rocks below the arch. Most were lazing around the rocks, but some were frolicking in the waves - it looked like they were having a lot of fun while we sheltered ourselves from the wind and rain!
We also went for a quick bushwalk while the rain let up for a bit, hoping to find something wild. We did see several geese and a couple of kangaroos, but no koalas or possums 😞 Since our car rental agreement states that we can't drive after dark on KI, we had to head back around 4:00. We got into Penneshaw just as the sun was setting.
In the evening, we headed out to the Penguin Centre... time to observe the Little Penguins as they have come home to roost for the evening! Penguins... in the wild! WOW! They are only 20-30cm tall and nest in burrows in the side of a hill. They are out fishing all day, and come in once the sun sets. By 7:30 in the evening, all the penguins were "home" and we
could see them coming and going from their burrows. We watched them from a walkway where the penguins roosted both above and below. It was tough to see in the dark but after a full hour, we became quite accustomed to the light. We even tracked a few penguins further up the path. Somehow they had come up from the ocean, but decided to take the pedestrian path rather than their own path through the sand! It was a really fun evening!
On our last full day on the island (again - cold, windy and rainy) we headed to Seal Bay to observe a colony of Australian Sea Lions. We went for the full beach tour and had the opportunity to see the sea lions close up! Sea Lions will go out to sea for several days to fish, and then return to land to sleep. Some were fast asleep and we didn't bother them at all! Some pups were up and about and wanting to play with each other and their parents. We even had one sea lion follow us up the path - and he just wanted to play! We headed back to the Penguin Centre late
Adelaide Autumn colours
Some maple leaves changing colour among the palm trees. in the afternoon to see if would could see the penguins coming home for the evening. Our patience paid off. One it got fully dark, we saw two separate "parades" of penguins coming back from the sea. The first bunch had between 20 and 30 all marching across the beach and up into the area of the burrows. Some proceeded directly to their burrows while others decided to preen themselves a little before heading home 😉 A second batch of 15-20 penguins marched up a little later. We had a reservation for dinner at the hotel, so we had to head out - otherwise, we might have stayed all night!
Our trip back to the mainland on the ferry the following morning was much more successful. The water was calm (sure... no wind on the day we need to leave!) and (doped up on Gravol this time), Sarah managed to make the crossing in her seat rather than in the bathroom!
Next few days... South Australian coast.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.156s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 14; qc: 23; dbt: 0.1233s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kath
non-member comment
Amazing
Totally amazing - penguins, seals and roo's. I especially like the pic of the sleeping seal - looks like he's having a good dream. Sounds like you had a blast despite the weather.