Kangaroo Island

On Monday, June 11th, I woke up bright and early to be picked up by my tour bus that would take me to Kangaroo Island at 6:15am. The bus left the station at 6:30am and headed toward the Fleurieu Peninsula. The driver talked a lot during the trip, giving lots of interesting background information about the places we drove past. Unfortunately I think most of the bus would rather have been sleeping. The landscape we drove through was mostly beautiful rolling hills - much of which was used for agriculture. One highlight for me was when we came around a bend and the driver pointed out a water reservoir that had a beautiful layer of fog above it. After another bend, a great canopy of trees enveloped the road and the sun was just shining through a little bit. I was also quite surprised when we drove through the small town of Myponga and there was a bit of frost on the ground.

We arrived at the Ferry dock at around 8:30am and had lots of time before it left for its 45 minute journey over to Kangaroo Island (KI). The water was fairly smooth so I managed not to get sea-sick. We met our cheerful tour guide, Kate, at the docks on KI in the small town of Penneshaw. Our first stop was a local farm to watch a sheep shearing demonstration. I thought it was really cool to watch the dogs round up the sheep and I was quite surprised at the amount of wool that came off the sheep! Shortly after, we stopped at a lookout point and got our first look at the beautiful coastline of Kangaroo Island.

Coastline of Kangaroo Island.

For lunch, we stopped at a Eucalyptus oil company and got a chance to see how the company was run and buy any of the merchandise before we ate some simple but delicious sandwiches. I was quite surprised to see that they also sold mouthwash and toothpaste.

Our next stop was the famous Seal Bay Conservation Park where we got to see the seals in their natural habitat and observe them from as close as 8-10 meters away. This part of the tour was really interesting because I got to see baby seals playing, suckling milk from their mothers, two males fighting on the beach, and a baby seal surfing the waves. I thought the baby seals were the cutest, of course. I'm also a bit jealous of them - lounging around on the beach in the sun and surfing the waves every day seems like a pretty good lifestyle to me. Plus, they have some awesome scenery!

Two male seals.

Baby seal calling for his mom.

So close! Well not really, but still pretty cool.

Some of the awesome scenery. 

How cute are they!?

Finally, the time came for what I was the most excited for: sand-boarding at Little Sahara! There were two kinds of boards - large, wide ones that you sat on (or could fit two people on) and skinny ones that you  stood up on. Starting off small, I sat down on one of the boards and went down the hill just to see how fast I'd go. My second try was more successful. Although the dunes looked pretty steep, I got up the courage on my third try to stand up on the skinnier boards. It was much more fun (and difficult) so I tried a few more times. I was only partly successful, but I still had a blast.

Super stoked!

First try.

Courageous!

Yeeaah!

Before arriving at our hostel for the night (which was quite nice), we stopped at another lookout point that overlooked Vivone Bay. We relaxed at the hostel for a couple hours and had some great barbeque for dinner before heading out after dark for a walk to see some penguins. We saw quite a few but unfortunately my pictures aren't too clear because we weren't allowed to use the flash on our cameras as it can negatively affect the penguins eyesight. No worries though, it gives you all a reason to go to Australia in the future.

Vivone Bay.

Penguin!

We got a bit of a sleep in on our second day before heading off to a nearby koala sanctuary where I saw more koalas, kangaroos, cockatoos, and even a wallaby. We continued driving to Flinders Chase National Park, home to the Remarkable Rocks - which were quite impressive - and Admirals Arch - even more impressive - where I spotted both New Zealand and Australian Fur Seals as well as whales in the bay!

Big yawn!

Classic! Rock on!

First view of the Remarkable Rocks.

Pretty cool!

I felt like I was on top of the world.

Admirals Arch.

Next was a long drive to the North coast of Kangaroo Island where the landscape changes to beautiful green rolling hills, beautiful beaches, and more impressive coasts. We stopped quickly at a Snellings beach before heading to our final destination of Stokes Bay. Stokes Bay was really cool as we had to walk through a rock cave to get to the beach, parts of which were a little bit claustrophobic. Nevertheless, I made it through the cave to the beach, which was lined with tall cliffs. I rolled up my jeans a bit and walked through the cold sea water along the beach. It would have been a great end to a trip. Unfortunately, I still had to make it back to the mainland before a two hour drive back into Adelaide.

Rolling Hills on the North Coast.

Path to Stokes Bay.

Chilly water.

New friends.

Rocks at Stokes Bay.

Another ferry ride. No worries, right? Wrong. The wind had been blowing quite strongly all day and I didn't think much of it until we arrived back in Penneshaw and Kate mentioned that it might be a rough trip back. All would have been well and good, but I get seasick. Thinking that I'd be brave, I lasted a total of about 8 minutes before taking a travel sickness tablet that my friend happened to have. Let's just say that the 45 minute trip went by VERY slowly and was not enjoyable at all. I barely made it through the ferry ride. Ah well, not everything can go smoothly. It was still an awesome trip and I'm glad I got to go!

Here's a bonus for all of you:

Next stop: Alice Springs and the Australian Outback!