I also decided I would stay longer at least 3 days, which is the advised amount of time you need to see all the island has to offer.
Upon arrival it was in the afternoon so I decided to find a site for the night and ended up staying at Duck lagoon. A very basic campsite, just the typical gas BBQ and some toilets. I was the only one there. It used to be a eucalyptus distilery and there were still some old rusted barrels to illustrate that.
Next morning after a shilly night (apparently I fel asleep with both the side and the back door open), I drove to the largest town on the island, Kingscote the Islands capital, to find a mechanic who could replace the fuel filter. I found one, but he found there was another filter underneath that also needed to be replaced and he only had time 5 days from then to do the work. Seeing I was planning on staying for a min of three days I made that a minimum of five and made an appointment.
Until then I was going to explore as much as I could. Starting with Seal Bay.
It is situated on the south part and is the third largest colony of Australian sea lions in the world. There are no enclosures or cages at Seal Bay, you can take a 45 mins guided tour into the heart of the colony and get a unique insight into how the endangered animals fish, surf, rest, interact with their pups and protect their territory.*
From November till January it's mating season so many of the bulls were trying to impress the ladies. A very impressive thing to witness, well for us not so much for the female seals apparently.
There were also a few pregnant seals, their pregnancy lasts for 18 months. While they are pregnant they most of the time still have a toddler who needs feeding (they drink milk up to the age of 17 months) and mum also has to go catch fish during al this. How about that ladies?
Most adults are enjoying a well earned rest on the beach after having been out fishing for days.
The skeleton of a juvenile humpback whale.
The next day I visited Kelly Hill Caves. It is one of the few dry limestone caves in Australia*. With the Kangeroo Island national park pass, I did not need to pay the $10 entry fee for the guided tour.
The cave was named after the horse that fell in it and was never found again. For those of you who have never been in a cave it might be worthwhile, for those like me who have it was a disapointment. The guide was a very enthusiastic cave explorer but had to admit their might me a whole lot more to discover but no means or backing to do so.
Just a few kms further is the Koala Walk, where for $6 you can enter a zone where wild koala's somethimes with little joey's could be spotted in one of eucalyptus trees. This is money well spent. I spotted several ones some with a joey.
Next stop was the visited centre at the entrance of Flinders Chase National Park where I received a map and some information about worthwhile places to visit. The lady at the info desk was very friendly and when I was asked where I was form she mentioned she had lived in "Bruxelles" for a while. I booked a night at the Snake Lagoon campsite (yup that's right) and she told me about the two trails next to it that lead to beautiful beaches.
The only snakes I encountered were two road kills.
Flinders Chase National Park is home to two iconic lamdmarks. Remarkable Rocks's surreal beauty has been sculpted by the elements over 500 million years and just a 10 mins drive from there the Admirals Arch where New Zealand fur seals are basking on a rocky shoreline*. It is amazing to witness these creatures in the wild.
The only. If difference between the New Zealand seals and the Australian ones is that the NZ ones have fur. It makes them darker and smellier. These ones loved laying on the rocks.
The only animals I encountered at The Snake Lagoon camping site was lucky for me, were all sorts of beautiful birds and some kangaroos eating on the dry lagoon in the middle of the campsite. Next morning it was time to go swimming!!! You see I have a skin condition called psoriasis and the only thing that has seemed to help is swimming in salt water. It had been a while and it was reappearing on my face.
After a hike that was categorised as easy, I almost broke an ankle and tore the Achilles' tendon on my other foot, I arrived at a beach not wider than a couple of hundred meters. The whole beach all to myself! So I decided to go skinny dipping and get a bit of an all over body tan... I found myself a nice niche between some rocks and after a dip in the freezing Ocean laid down and relaxed. It is very calm around Kangeroo Island at the end of November, beginning December, because it is just before the school holidays. After a while of bottoms up I felt the need to check if my bum wasn't turning red, while turning I noticed a man walking towards the watering in his swimming shorts.... I never in my life grabbed my shorts and put them on that fast! I checked out the rest of the beach and his wife was, thank god, wandering around on the other end... So far for my own little nudist beach...
Took a 45 min hike into a sort of gorge to get there, seeing there weren't many tourists around I thought it was safe to go the full monty...
Before heading to my next campsite on the North of the Island I stopped for a stroll to the Platypus waterholes. platypus are very shy so if you are very quite and lucky you will see one.... You probly guessed it already...no Platypus was seen.
When the lady at the visitor centre told me about the Cape Borda Lightstation she mentioned the keeper was "a bit of a character" and she wasn't lying. Every day at exactly 13hrs to uphold a tradition he fires a fog signal cannon, this used to be so ships could reset their clocks.
This man Mick, has been there for 8 years, for 365 days a year and runs the guided tours, the souvenir and snack shop and the guest houses and still guides you, even if you are the only one on the tour as was the case, with humour, pride and enthusiasm. I thanked Mick seeing he had made me enjoy a visit to something I do not really have an interest in.
This is the shortest lighthouse (only 61 meters high) in the world according to Mick, no need for a higher one seeing the night of that point on the island. And square shaped instead of round, which is cheaper to build.
It has four lightbolds each a 1000 watt and flashes 4 times every 20 seconds so every ship knows it is Cape Bora lighttower. The rest of the towers on the Island, Mick was happy to point out, only have a tiny led light that blinks once.
Only the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has acces to the top of the tower, and comes around twice a year to perform maintenance.
The history of the Cape Bora lighthouse. From hand pumps to keep the kerosine on the right level to keep the lights going to gas powered systems. Today luckily it runs on electricity and has a backup generator.
About in the middle of Kangaroo Island there is a town called Parndana, it has the only free campsite on the island and a Kangaroo wildlife park. Entrance is $15 and for $2 you get a back of food for the kangaroos. When I arrived it was feeding time for the koalas so you could go in to their enclosure and see meet them upclose. There was one joey, and he sure stole the show.
The baby joey, isn't he cute!
There are days I feel the same...
This man is the oldest of the bunch. He suddenly had enough of waiting and got out of his tree to see if anything was on offer.
Look at the awesome feet. They have two thumbs to help them hold on to the trees.
Little joey wants to play..
Aaaaaaauuuwwwwwhhhhh....
A white peacock strutting his stuff!
The quokka.
Look at those eyes!
My friend Roo.
Roo took a selfie...
Hello there, we came to talk to you about Jezus...
No it's not a poodle...
Every day at 5 pm in Kingston you can watch this guy feeding the pelicans. He pays for it out of his own pocket so asks for $5 a person. And try and get out of there without paying...
Before my ferry back to the mainland left I had a couple of hours to kill in Penneshaw.
So I drove to to the Frenchman's Rock. While getting a picture of it I suddenly noticed a group of dolphins swimming very close to the beach. It was the best way of saying goodbeye to Kangaroo Island.
Frenchman's Rock, the spot in Hog Bay where French explorer Capitain Nicolas Baudin anchored in 1803.
Goodbeye Kangaroo Island!
* excerpts copied from the Kangeroo Island visitor guide
Costs:
Sealink ferry to and from KI with a vehicle is $274 if you book online ($12 discount)
kangeroo Island pass $68 valid for one year
Gives you acces to:
Seal bay guided tour as many times as you like
The Kelly Hill Caves
All guided light tower tours
Entrance to Flinders National park
Koala walk $8
Wildlife park $15
Pelican feeding per adult $5 kids $3
Most of the campsites that are owned by the council work with a self registration system, you fill in an envelope and place $15 in it per person per night and drop that envelope in a slot. The rangers check regularly. But when I was there, low season, just before school holidays, I never saw a ranger.
The pass is personal and your licence plate number is connected to it. But they never checked me, so you can add it as a plus when selling your van at the end of your trip.
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