Sept 21, Friday

Sept 21, Friday

I leave the motel at 9 am and drive out of Kingscote, heading west.  Although I was planning to follow the northern road named Playford Hwy (well actually the one that cuts across the centre, but it is the one that is the northern most) but the longer I drove, the less I saw of the things that were indicated on my map.  Turns out that I missed a turn somewhere, very soon after leaving Kingscote, and I’m actually driving along the South Coast Road. Oh well, it’s a tourist detour I’m not undoing because time is limited today and I want to see as much as I can of the island.  The only thing I’ll miss is the “Finders Chase northern area.  

 The route west on Kangaroo Island

changes every few miles

I make one stop along the way at a place called Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.  They have two large areas with huge eucalyptus trees forming a long corridor.  I took my time walking through, looking up into the trees to try to find some koalas.  Sure enough, there they were.  Only 1 on the tree usually and with a good distance between them; they must be loners…. Like me !   Best way to spot them was to look for a dark clump through the leaves;  chances were good it would be a sleeping koala.

I spotted 6 in all, not sure how many they have in total (no brochure). There was another couple of tourists walking around as well and we would take turns pointing out the koalas we each spotted. I spent about 50 minutes walking around and trying to get pictures of the koalas;

They have a large property with kangaroos in a huge paddock; the kangaroos were a lot easier to find.

“In the early 1920s, 18 koalas were released into Flinders Chase; their population has since exploded, feasting on their favourite eucalypts along Kangaroo Island’s river systems.  They are rapidly eating themselves out of house and home.  In 1997, National Parks & Wildlife implemented a management program to protect the most threatened riverine vegetation.  In these areas koalas have been sterilized and some relocated to southeast Australia, where koalas occurred naturally prior to European Settlement.”

The road from the Park entrance down to Admiral's Arch

I got back in the car and drove on to the entrance to Flinders Chase National Park, where I need to buy a day pass in order to get to Cape du Couedic and Admiral’s Arch.  The car I’ve rented cannot be driven on dirt roads, so I am limited to staying to paved surfaces, which is fine by me.  At the park information counter I’m given detailed instructions on what to do, and what not to do, in case of a forest fire ! ! !

The Cape Lighthouse “The loss of 71 lives from three major shipwrecks in the late 1800s led to the construction of this lighthouse in 1909.”  

 Beautiful sand flowers everywhere

 A look along the south coast of Kangaroo Island, from Admiral's Arch

 I only go to one of the three look outs.  You can see the lower area in this shot; from paths to staircases.

 Looking out to Remarkable Rocks, on the other side of the bay

 I had walked along one of the paths to a different look out point when I spotted people taking pictures of the rocks below us. Took me a while to spot them, but there were New Zealand fur seals.  Much easier to see with the zoom lens.  According to a poster near the lookout, over 700 fur seals live and breed around Cape du Couedic; this part of Kangaroo Island.

Great views of the islands at the end of the cape

I got back in the car, retracing my route to the middle portion of the southern coastline of Kangaroo Island.  I had one more planned stop at Seal Bay, it took about one hour to drive there.  I arrived in the parking lot at the same time as a tour bus so I decided to ask the driver how long a drive I had from here back to Penneshaw, since I needed to be there at 4:00 to take the 4:30 ferry.  He told me it would be about an hour’s drive so that gave me one hour to explore Seal Bay.

From the parking lot I went through the entrance building to buy my entrance ticket and was given the option of joining a 45 minute tour, or going out on my own with an information sheet.  Although being with a guide is nice at times, I've found that I can't wander around as much as I would like to when you are with a group, so I opted for the plastic info sheet and went out the back door, to follow the path to the beach area.  The group took a different path.   Mine lead to an overlook point right above the beach, where you could watch the sea-lions without disturbing them.

“Seal Bay is a Conservation Park and home to a colony of about 1,000 wild Australian Sea-lions. They usually spend 3 days at sea, hunting and feeding without sleeping and 3 days on shore at Seal Bay resting and renewing energy levels, ready for their next hunting trip.”

They are just lying around, taking it easy, sleeping in the sun.  Only a few of them bother to raise their heads.

 Mom is keeping an eye on junior, while it explores the beach.

 “Pups are born with a dark brown coat, which moults to silver and cream at 4 -6 months of age. Average birth weight is 7 kgs. Females grow up to 2 metres long and weigh between 60 – 100 kgs and retain their silver and cream colouring; A fully mature male will be black in colour, weighing up to 350 kgs and up to a length of 2.5 metres.”

 I spot the group down on the beach. They may be closer to the sea lions, but they aren't getting the vista.   Check out the sea lion at the bottom of this picture.  It has found a bit of shade near the shrubs. 

There is a guided group down on the beach, but I’m glad I opted to come out on my own with the notes since we get a better view of the beach from this lookout point. As I am making my way back up the staircase, I notice other tourists on a higher path leading to a different lookout and decide that I have time to do the same thing. It was a long walk up and out again over the bay, but the spectacular view was definitely worth it.

 The view from the higher look-out.  You can see the lower level where I was standing just a few minutes ago.   It is built on a dune. 

On the other side of the dune, there is a "Young humpback whale skeleton, found in 1984.  This whale measured only 10 meters and they can grow to reach 18 meters."

I get back  in the car and drive for about another hour until I reach Penneshaw.  I got to the ferry about 20 minutes to spare before the 4 pm loading and the 4:30 departure.  And I’m VERY thankful that there is no wind today and the seas are calm. 

I needed to get gas for the car but decided to wait until I got to the mainland since it is quite expensive on the Island.   Unfortunately, I don’t see a gas station along the road after I get off the ferry and I drive on to Victor Harbour which is only about 60km away. I’m half way there when the red light comes on indicating that I'm low on fuel, and although I should be able to make it, it seems to take forever to get to that town.  I keep waiting for the car to stop running;  I'm out in the middle of nowhere and although there is occasional traffic, the sun will be setting soon and I'm definitely worried.   The car is running on fumes and I actually use the downward hills to coast and try to save fuel.  Finally I arrive in Victor Harbour and it takes a few minutes to locate a gas station on the main road.  IT’S CLOSED !   I stop anyway because I need to ask for directions so that I don’t waste any more gas than I have to.  I can see someone inside so I decide to knock on the glass door and luckily the gentleman inside comes out to see what I want.  I must really be looking desperate.  I explain my problem and he points me in the direction of another station less than ½ a km away.  I followed his directions, and just as I make the turn to go to the gas station I spot a Comfort Inn further down the road.  After filling up the car I return to the Comfort Inn and it seems my guardian angels are still looking out for me because I was able to get a room for the night.  I find out that it is the beginning of a two-week school holiday period; I’m lucky to find a room, and that’s why I was having such a hard time renting a camper van!  

I settle in to the room and decide to go in search of a restaurant.  I’m really not feeling well and I want to get to bed as soon as possible.  It is quite chilly outside and I’ve got my hoody zipped all the way up and am actually wearing the hood !   What a change from months and months of heat.   I find a nice restaurant just around the corner “Nino’s Café” and go in for a nice pizza:

lamb, feta cheese, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese and a glass of wine to go with it since the car is safely parked and I’m only a short walk away from the Inn.  They have the door to the restaurant open the entire time I’m there and I’m glad I got a table in the far corner because I’m still cold.