A Weekend on Kangaroo Island

I spent this past weekend on Kangaroo Island, Australia's third largest island located just off the coast of Cape Jervis and Adelaide.  I've been waiting to go there since I first started planning this trip, so it was pretty exciting when the time came to go!  I booked a tour through one of the major island tour groups -- I'm not saying this was a bad idea, but it probably wasn't the best.  I was on the old people's tour.  I figured that I should book a tour with a reputable company, since I don't know the area at all and don't want any mishaps; and I didn't want anything too crazy (although I would have loved to spend a week adventuring around the island), but figured a quiet weekend would be best.  I didn't realize that "quiet weekend" meant being on a bus with 3 couples all three times my age.  

On the ferry ride over, looking back to the mainland

I really can't complain though -- it was quite the weekend!  The ferry ride over was the perfect opportunity for me to reflect on my time here so far Down Under -- this weekend marked the half-way point for my fellowship (I'll be home in three weeks!), and what a time it's been!  Standing on my little corner of the upper deck, feeling the wind blowing over my face and looking back to the mainland while the ferry approached the island was a really refreshing time.  Once we got to the island, I boarded the little tour bus and embarked on a Kangaroo Island adventure.  Within five minutes of driving, we saw a pack of kangaroos hopping along in the fields, and there were plenty of Kangaroo Crossing signs.  The island is really beautiful -- more than 1/3 of it is natural old-growth vegetation, and the rest is open farmland and bushland, with a few small towns around the coast.  

 Our first stop was a beach on the south coast of the island.  It looked out on the open ocean, all the way to Antarctica -- I really felt like I was looking out to the edge of the world! (I couldn't see Aslan's Country though...).  After that, we visited a local Eucalyptus Distillery and sheep farm.  The eucalyptus was really cool, but I'm not exactly a fan of sheep's milk.  We went to a local wildlife park, too -- it wasn't quite as nice as Cleland from a couple weeks ago, but I did get to pet a couple snoozing koalas and hold a baby kangaroo! 

He even licked my nose!

Next stop -- the South Pole!

From there, we went to Seal Bay, where we came within feet of colony of rare sea lions spread out on the beach.  We checked out a few more scenic beach spots, and then headed to Kingscote, the town where we spent the night.  My hotel was far from luxury, but it suited well enough.  I got to take a Little Penguins Tour that night near the town's harbor, where I saw over 30 of the world's smallest penguins in their natural habitat!  They were just coming in from a day at the sea and enjoying the cool, clear night (we even saw two of them mating...they might have been enjoying the night a little too much).  I got my first full look of the Australian night sky too -- so different from the Northern Hemisphere!

Also called the "Fairy Penguin"

Right after a rainstorm on the coast

On Sunday morning, I was overjoyed to see a pot of coffee in the hotel dining room -- real coffee!  It was the first real coffee I'd had in weeks, and tasted all the better for it (it probably wasn't actually that great).  The day's tour headed out just before 9:00.  After a quick cave tour (where I had to pin my hands to my sides to keep from touching all the cool stuff hanging from the ceiling -- the guide threatened us beforehand), we went off to the west coast.  This was probably one of the coolest areas I have ever seen -- it was like the like the kind of place that you see on TV but never actually get to go to.  The first of these was the Remarkable Rocks, a granite rock formation on a cliff overlooking the sea.  The wind was howling and the waves were crashing into the rocks far below -- it was so cool!  I clung to the rocks a bit for fear of falling off, but enjoyed every second of it.  The next stop was Admirals Arch, about half a mile further up the coast.  The wind and waves were even stronger here, and the cliffs were  higher.  This time, though, we walked down the cliffs and got to see the arch that is formed there.  It was really an amazing site!

Standing around by the Remarkable Rocks

They really are 'remarkable'!

Looking out on the cliffs by Admirals Arch

Admirals Arch

The tour started to wind down a bit after that.  We stopped off at the National Park visitor center -- the old people sat inside and drank coffee, while I went out and explored the trails.  Unfortunately, we only got a half hour there, and as much as I tried to hurry, the driver still had to come looking for me when I didn't get back to the bus on time (I was only 5 minutes late, though, and didn't get lost -- I just didn't want to leave!).  We went back to Kingscote afterwards and watched a really neat pelican feeding session.  They're some pretty weird birds, but really entertaining to watch!  It was a great way to end the weekend on the Island.

There were over 50 pelicans there, all waiting for Steve to show up and feed them

Now that I'm over the half-way mark of my trip, I'm sure time will be flying by -- it certainly has been so far!