Category: Australia

Days 49 & 50: Cairns – Learning to Scuba

When planning this trip, we decided that the only way to see the Great Barrier Reef properly was to learn to scuba dive. We looked into getting certified in the USA or doing the course material prior, but honestly if was far more affordable to book a 5-Day Learn to Scuba course in Cairns, which included 2 days classroom & pool training, and 3 days living aboard a boat in the Reef (USD$700pp), rather than pay half in the USA and still have to shell out for rentals / excursion fees in Australia.

So our first two days in Cairns were spent at the Pro Dive learning facility (they picked us up from our hotel each morning, and gave us the option to buy or bring lunch), in a class of 11 students for the coursework, and 7 students for the pool session. We went over the exercises at a comfortable pace, and were feeling pretty confident about jumping into the ocean.

 

2 days of pool exercises & classroom quizzes – we are ready for the reef!

The first night of the course, we followed the recommendation to attend a presentation by Reef Teach, were Gareth, a real marine biologist, took us through a very entertaining slide show on how to identify coral & fish, and where to look in increase our chance of seeing turtles and sharks. We are really d we did it – not only was Gareth very funny, his advice for how to identify fish (forget color! Describe shape, size & behavior to narrow it down) helped us get a lot more out of our diving experience. Basically, it’s all about sex – coral and fish have lots of sex, and if they are not eating they are trying to have sex. If there are no members of the opposite gender around? No problem – many will give themselves a sex change (*cough*clownfishfromFindingNemo*cough*). Others, like the flatworm, will sword-fight with their willies, and the looser has to be the girl. #penisfencing

We were too engrossed in the presentation to take pictures! But we highly recommend the evening talk at Reef Teach before a scuba/snorkel to the Great Barrier Reef

The night before our trip to the reef, we had to take it easy, as we had a 5AM wake-up call in the morning. But we did get a chance to wander around downtown, enjoy the sunset on the boardwalk & the hordes of flying foxes that live in the area – land & sea, this place is bursting with animals!

Sunset in Cairns after a long day of learning! Heading to the esplanade for a wee walk before finding some dinner

Cairns Esplanade

 

A colony of Flying Foxes live in the trees outside the Cairns Library, and at sunset you can see hundreds flying through the sky! Like a scene from a horror movie!

Day 48: Return to Alice Springs

Today was a travel day, as we had almost 500KM / 5hrs between us and the Alice Springs Airport. We left the campground nice and early so we could have time to stop along the way – the road to/from Alice Springs & Uluru surprising has a lot of attractions, evenly spaced out, so the drive was rather pleasant.

 

First stop was the Mt. Ebenezer Roadhouse, where Lindsay was reminded that she hadn’t seen any camels yet. But there was a cool art gallery with some really good paintings by Aboriginal artists (even Igor said they were good, and being a painter himself he’s a tough critic).

 

Igor set a price limit on refreshments – Lindsay was so excited to find an iced coffee on discount!

An hour down the road we stopped at our second roadhouse, which had a flock of emus

Normally they sell feed to tourists for $2/bag and were all for it, but they were sold out! Igor apologized to the birds since he had nothing to give them.

 

Another hour down the road, Lindsay pulled over at Stuart’s Well WHICH HAS A CAMEL FARM! They race their camels at the Alice Springs Camel Cup every year, and they trophy display proves they know what they are doing. Too bad we’ll miss it.

Igor just wants to feed animals! He gave our last clementine to a camel

Poor Sparky just wanted some grass, so Lindsay gave her a little treat

We decided to feed Bruce – the big breeding male – some grass as well

 

So glad got to see some camels before we left the Outback!

When we got to Alice Springs, we made a quick stop at the K-Mart to see if we could return the small tent (yes! AUD$19 back in the budget!), then boarded our flight to Cairns off into the sunset.

 

Hi/Bye Alice Springs! Wish we had a little more time to explore

A full dinner on a 3hr flight? I feel like we’re back in the 1990s! Delicious frittata & cake, Qantas!

Day 47: Uluru

So, Lindsay has wanted to see Ayer’s Rock ever since she was a little girl – one of her favorite cartoon video tapes was called Noozles, about two magical koalas who claimed there was a magical portal at Ayer’s Rock between our world and Koalawalla Land. Not that she was expecting any flying magical koalas or talking kangaroos or thing, but it’s still place that’s had a certain allure in her mind for a few decades.

Childhood influences – you never now where they will send you as an adult

We set the alarm for 5:30AM, so we could drive into the park and claim a good spot at the sunrise viewing area before dawn. Once again, we were not the only ones interested in seeing a rock at sunrise (Moeraki Boulders, anyone?) – there were about 4 tour buses, and a parking lot full of cars who beat us there. Rather than fight for a spot on the raised platform, we decided to endure a few trees in our pictures in order to enjoy the sunrise in peace on the lower path.

Snapping Instagram pics during sunrise at Uluru

After the sunrise, we headed straight for the Base Walk so that we could enjoy every side of Uluru.

 

Our walk around the base started in Uluru’s shadow – we were so glad to turn the corner and get into the morning sun

 

Artsy photos of the many faces of Uluru

 

There are many parts of Uluru that are sacred – which the Aboriginal people believe should only be viewed in person, never as a replica (picture) – Igor resisted taking photos of those sites. All rock art was fair game though!

Taking a short breather hade to admire the rock art 

The Aboriginal people can read stories from the face of Uluru, almost like it were a book. This cave tells the story of three old men who were killed in a fire from a hostile neighboring tribe – their images still haunt the cave as a reminder.

Uluru in the full morning sun

Once we were done walking around Uluru, the issue of whether or not to climb *up* it came up. The Aboriginal people indigenous to the Uluru area consider climbing Uluru to be a sacred rite of passage, and they find it offensive when tourists climb up it. Also, it is incredibly steep and dangerous, so both the Aboriginals and Australian park rangers don’t like it when people get hurt / die / need to be rescued from the climb. Lindsay decided not to climb the rock, out of respect for the Aboriginal people’s request. Igor believes, however, that no culture can “own” a natural wonder and decided that since the rock was technically open for climbers it was fair game. We have agreed to disagree on recommending the climb to others. However, we were informed by a park ranger the climb will be officially banned as of 2019, per the will of the Uluru council members (66% Aboriginal controlled), so keep that in mind.

 

Steep climb to the top, where a compass points to all the sights

There’s rainwater atop the rock! Igor could see The Olgas in the distance

 

Only one pair of boots on the top of Uluru

Beautiful texture of the rock

Panorama from the top

 

It’s a perilous climb down – Lindsay was watching Igor nervously from the parking lot. Many tourists slip and fall, which is the main reason for closing the walk.

We took a long break from the sun, heat & flies in the middle of the afternoon, and checked out the Aboriginal Culture Center, which had a lot of information about the history of Uluru (both geological & political), as well as conservation concerns and wildlife in the area. (No pictures allowed though, as it was another sensitive area)

We still had over an hour until sunset, we so decided to return to Kata Tjunta and hike the last walk that we missed the day before – the Gorge Walk.

 

The Gorge Walk at Kata Tjuta

 

Beautiful, late afternoon walk in the park

We returned to Uluru with plenty of time to catch all the variations of the rock during sunset and dusk. The parking lot cleared out once it got dark, so we had Uluru to ourselves for a final starry photo-shoot. It may be a big rock in the middle of nowhere, but this is seriously worth the trip.

The four final faces of Uluru

Day 44: The Outback – Day 3, Kings Canyon / Kata Tjuta

So sleeping in the back of the SUV was ridiculously comfortable! We actually slept in later than we planned, as we figured an alarm wouldn’t be necessary. We were a little worried as the King’s Canyon walking info recommended anyone planning to do the Rim Walk finish no later than 11AM. As we were starting the 3.5hr walk at 8:15AM, we were pushing it a bit. But onward, and upward!

 

Pathway to the North Rim of King’s Canyon

So, King’s Canyon has been called “Australia’s Grand Canyon”. As someone who has actually been to the Grand Canyon (check my FB cover photo) and walked the South Rim down and back up, I can tell you this is NOT anything like the Grand Canyon. First of all, it’s not a canyon it’s a gorge – you don’t walk down into it, you walk up and around it. And the 3.5hr time estimate? Very generous. We were done with the Rim Walk in 2hrs, and we were keeping pace with older tourists and families with kids.

 

Cake walk. Emergency phones not needed (granted, it’s winter right now)

Comparisons aside, it was a very nice morning walk, if a bit crowded (as everyone is starting the hike at the same time, per the park’s recommendations). The full Rim Walk starts from the North Rim, and the entrance is shut down at 9AM to prevent tourists from attempting the walk in the hottest part of the day. The South Rim is open an additional 2 hours, but there is a gate halfway through the walk that only opens from the North side, making it a half-walk. Due to this, the South Rim emptied out by the time we reached it, giving us some nice vistas to ourselves (well, we had to share the views with the bush flies, who started to get really active as we were coming off the canyon).

Starting off the morning with a walk around the canyon

 

View from the canyon edge

The Garden of Eden – a pretty little oasis in the canyon

Checking out the view of “The Lost City” – beehive-shaped domes

 

The crowd of tourists on the South Rim – they all had to turn back halfway through the walk, so the cliff was empty by the time we got there

 

View from the South Rim – done with the walk in record time!

Once we were done with King’s Canyon, we started heading for the Big One – Uluru, AKA Ayers Rock. We stopped along the road at Curtain Springs – a wayside inn where we picked up a lovely hat net for Lindsay (comfort over fashion – I have no shame in looking like a dork).

I’ll wear ANYTHING to keep the flies away! They don’t bite, they just love to fly in your ears

A brief stop in Curtain Springs – a little oasis in the deadly desert

We arrived at the park a few hours before sunset, and realized we had time for a short walk. We decided to leave the grandeur of Uluru for tomorrow, and instead visited Kata Tjuta (AKA, The Olgas) where we hiked the Valley of the Winds walk up to the second vista point, and then drove over to the sunset viewing area for a spectacular view.

 

Exploring the trails of Kata Tjuta, respectfully

 

Gotta stay hydrated while hiking Kata Tjuta

 

Thwarting the bushflies – go humans!

 

Refusing to let the flies ruin another sunset

Kata Tjuta AKA The Olgas at sunset

The sun has fallen from the horizon

Fully satisfied with our day in the Outback, we headed to Yulara – a corporate owned village whose sole purpose is to support tourism to Uluru – to check-in to the campgrounds and buy some snacks & wine for dinner. As it was a Saturday, the campground was completely booked, they offered us the overflow parking lot for only AUD$10. As we were planning to sleep in the car again, we were keen for the surprise discount, and felt better about shelling out AUD$30 for a bottle of sparkling wine (at least is was good quality).

Car picnic! Keeping it classy in the Outback

Day 45: The Outback – Day 2, West MacDonnell Ranges & Mereenie Loop

We woke up pretty tired, as we have a bit of a rough night camping. First of all, Lindsay insisted on buying the 2-person tent the day before, rather than spending an extra AUD$15 for a 3-person tent: big mistake. While the dimensions on the box were accurate in the sense that the air mattress fit while deflated, once inflated our heads and feet didn’t fit inside the tent without hitting the sides of the tent without getting soaked in condensation. Oops. There also seemed to be a movie marathon going on in the staff quarters, which made it hard to fall asleep at the early hour of 8:30PM.

Oh well, it’s a new day, with more things to see! The rest of the Red Center Way drive through the MacDonnell Ranges had recommended stops about every 30min, which kept us very busy all morning.

Driving into the Red Center – unforgiving terrain, as we saw from the multitude of broken & rusting vehicles on the side of the road. We brought 5 gallons of water as a precaution.

 

First stop of the day: Ellery Creek Big Hole. A great spot for swimming in the heat of the day, but the desert was still freezing when we stopped by, so no dip for us.

 

Next stop: Serpentine Gorge. A steep climb lead to a view of a few puddles at the bottom of a deep gorge – guess you can’t be picky about your water sources in the desert.

 

View from the top of Serpentine Gorge

Igor found another dead tree at the top of the gorge to admire

Further down the road, our next attraction is the Ochre Pits – multicolored rock walls that the Aboriginal people used to create body paint for traditional ceremonies

 

Exploring the Ochre Pits for a few minutes until the bush flies chased us away

A water-filled oasis at Ormiston Gorge

 

The day was heating up fast! The water is actually freezing, but will look pretty tempting by the afternoon.

Running out of gas is really dangerous in the Outback, so we were adamant that we would fill up every opportunity possible. We made an obligatory stop at the Glen Helen Resort, which had one circa 1970s gas pump (the last for 200+KM), and purchased our permit for the Mereenie Loop road, which crosses Aboriginal land.

The lone gas pump at Glen Helen

 

Heading out into the wilderness – nothing but snakes waiting for us!

 

Last rest stop on paved road – the Gosses Bluff Crater, created by an asteroid impact 150 million years ago

For anyone interested in driving the Mereenie Loop to Kings Canyon, 4WD is a MUST – the majority of the is not paved, and the “gravel” road is not maintained at all. We literally passed a muffler on the of the road, which must have fallen out of someone’s car due to the extreme rattling. There is only one rest stop along the entire 100KM track, which we couldn’t enjoy due toll the bush flies. If we could do it again, we wouldn’t bother going out of our way for the Mereenie Loop. The only wildlife we saw were horses, a well-endowed donkey, and a few kipara (bush turkeys).

Igor made me pull over to take a picture of the donkey’s schlong. That’s what I get for travelling with a boy.

 

The Mereenie Loop: 100KM of bumpy dirt road – 4×4 is a must

So happy to reach the end of the loop, and paved roads at King’s Canyon

We also had a very upsetting experience once we got off the Mereenie Loop back on to paved road. After hours of zero wildlife, and gleeful that we could once again drive at 110KMPH, we relaxed a bit too much and didn’t notice two kipara eating some bush melons on the side of the road. One of the startled kipara flew into the road as we drove by and got clipped by our rear view mirror – our first (and hopefully last) roadkill. Luckily the bird was too small to damage the car, but it left Lindsay shaken up, and drove poor animal-loving Igor into a sad depression.

 

The delicious bush-melon & our Rav4 – the downfall of the poor bush-turkey

Once we got to Kings Canyon, we checked-in to the camp ground and decided to simply inflate our mattress in the back of the SUV and sleep in the car. Good thing too, because dingos and wild dogs were roaming all over the campground (We can totally see how the infamous case of Azaria Chamberlain happened – who in their right mind would leave a baby laying around when wild dogs are bold enough to steal food out of the back hatch of people’s car? Common sense, people). We tried to enjoy the sunset over King’s Canyon, but once again the bushflies chased us away.

Wild dogs & dingos in the area! Lock up your food & babies!

 

A large gathering for the King’s Canyon sunset – but Lindsay couldn’t handle the flies

 

We snapped a picture as quickly as we could, and ran away from the flies

For dinner, we found out the resort next door had just reopened their restaurant, Carmichaels, which had kangaroos & camel on the menu. Unfortunately, the opening wasn’t running that smoothly yet, and the camel was unavailable (probably a good thing) – still tasty food though. We raised a somber glass to the passing of the poor kipara (who we have now named “Dodo”).

 

A wake for Dodo – the Australian Bustard (AKA bush-turkey)

Before heading to bed, we returned to the sunset viewing platform (now bushfly-free), to enjoy the starry sky in solitude.

 

Finding peace in the Outback

Day 44: The Outback – Day 1, West MacDonnell Ranges

The Outback: the quintessential Aussie frontier, where you can drive for days without seeing another soul, a desert so massive and empty that one could set off an atomic bomb and no one would notice for years. We’ve been looking forward to our exploration of the Real Australia for weeks! We flew into Alice Springs and picked up our 4WD rental car and planned our route. While we were originally planning to copy the itinerary of the various camping tours in the area, Igor convinced Lindsay we had enough time to explore the MacDonnell Ranges and get to Kings Canyon via the Mereenie Loop if we left Alice Springs that afternoon. After inquiring about rental camping gear at the Alice Springs Info Center without any luck, one tour operator suggested we buy something cheap at K-Mart – brilliant idea! AUD$90 later we were fully equipped for our Outback Adventure.

Cheapy, cheap – that’s how we roll, baby! Igor even sprang for two $1 plastic wine glasses.

First stop along the route was Simpson Gap – a short walk to a pretty gorge.

Walk to Simpson’s Gap

Very picturesque in the afternoon light – there was even a group of art students painting the scenery

The sun was starting to set, so we decided to make camp at the next stop – Standley Chasm, which is aboriginal owned and operated. Admission to the chasm is around AUD$10pp, and camping is AUD$18.50pp, so it made sense to just stay the night sine we wanted to see the chasm anyways. After setting up our tent & mattress, we hit the trail to check out the chasm before it got dark.

Standley Chasm is one of the many scenic stops along the 12-20 day Larapinta Trail

Our view was very shady – the best time to view the chasm is at midday when the sun is shining directly down the chasm – it makes the walls glow!

We had a sober picnic dinner in the camp dining area as we had forgotten to buy wine in Alice Springs, and we learned that the majority of the Outback is dry! Tip to anyone making the trip: stock up in Alice, as the only places to buy booze will be resorts and wayside inns (which will charge a premium) – although even if we had remembered to buy wine, it would have been disrespectful to drink it on Aboriginal land, so it all worked out for the best that night.

A meal without wine?! The hardship of the desert!

Once the sun went down, we had our first real glimpse of the unpolluted night sky! We had a waxing half-moon, but the Milky Way was still incredibly vibrant. We started experimenting with our camera settings and discovered that if we set it on the ground with a 10sec timer, the shutter would stay open long enough to capture amazing shots of the starry sky! Desert MAGIC.

All the stars are just for us.

Day 43: Chateau Tanunda, Barossa Valley

After a good night’s rest, Lindsay woke up refreshed and ready for some wine! We headed up to the Barossa Valley to visit one winery – a winery that Lindsay was very familiar with from her former job at Banfi – Chateau Tanunda!

Reading the brochures, watching the PowerPoint & videos, even tasting a fair number of the wines, cannot compare with visiting the Chateau in person. The property is absolutely gorgeous – at one time the largest building in South Australia! – with perfect, manicured gardens (apparently they do weddings) and large cricket pitch. Crazy to think at one point, the Chateau was in danger of being torn down before the Geber Family purchased it in the 1980s – it’s truly a regional landmark.

 

The Chateau!

But enough about the building – we really came here to taste some stellar Australian wines! Sadly, the sparkling wines from Chateau Tanunda are not imported to the USA (blame our silly taxation laws – it prevents a lot of beautiful bubbles from being imported), so Lindsay & Igor were super excited to get a glass each to sip during our VIP tour of the winery.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! I’ll take all the bubbles please.

After the tour, Lindsay & Igor continued tasting through every open bottle of wine that has yet to make it stateside. (In addition to the classic Barossa Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon & Riesling available in the USA, Chateau Tanunda has some lovely small production reds and whites from more esoteric varietals: Old Vine Semillon, a “Three Graces” Rhone-style blend of Viognier, Marsanne & Roussanne, plus “the good stuff” including their Everest range which is the pinnacle of their collection.) Once again remembering smart tasting practices, we ordered a cheese plate to accompany our wine tasting.

Touring the winery with bubbles in hand – checking out the former cement tanks which have been converted into tasting rooms

 

So many delicious wines to taste – a bit of cheese gives us the strength to taste more!

By a stroke of luck, Michelle Geber happened to be in town when we were at the Chateau, so we were able to catch up during her wee lunch break (as the General Manager for the company, she is a busy lady!). We had so much to catch up on, the time just flew by – we wish we had another night in the area, maybe we would have remembered to take a group photo.

After a full afternoon at the winery, we headed up to Adelaide for the night. We had time for one last sight-seeing stop – the “Whispering Wall” – a curved dam at the Barossa Reservoir with acoustics so amazing, you can literally hear what someone is whispering from 140m away. Igor was convinced they were just using speakers.

Cloudy view of the Barossa from Mengler Hill & Igor walking 140m to the other side of the Whispering Wall

Once we got into the city, we checked into our hotel and wandered the streets for take away to enjoy with a bottle of Chateau Tanunda bubbly – cheers!

Mexican? Chinese? Everything pairs with bubbles!

Day 42: Escape from Kangaroo Island / Fleurieu Peninsula

While the weather wasn’t perfect, it was good enough for our ferry to run. Since we had most of the morning free before we had to head off, we drove around in an attempt to explore the other conservation parks on Kangaroo Island. Unfortunately, the two closest to Penneshaw didn’t appear to have any walking trails, so we returned to town for some warn scones and muffin as a consolation.

 

A promising sunrise! Enjoying a warm muffin with cream, recommended by Inna from her stay in KI!

 

Scones & jam – a delightful brekky!

We boarded the packed ferry (bypassing a long line of cars, hoping for a no-show spot to open up!), and enjoyed a very rocky trip back to the mainland. Since our accommodations for the night were south of Adelaide, we decided to take it easy, and explore the Fleurieu Peninsula. The only park on the map was Deep Creek Conservation Park, so we decided to check it out. The signposts in the park pointed toward “Blowhole Beach”, which sounded promising, so we drove out, only to find the final 3KM of the road was 4WD only. We calculated that a 3KM walk should only take about 30 minutes, so we parked the car on the side of the road and continued on foot.

Back on mainland Australia – where there are still plenty of kangaroos

Igor has a bit of a fetish for dead trees – there were lots for him to photograph in Deep Cove

I”t’s only 3KM to the beach, let’s walk it!,” says Lindsay

OMG it’s so steep – bad idea bear to walk

 

There’s the beach – but no blowhole! I want to lodge a complaint!!

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at the Port Willunga RV Park to check into our “wooden tent”, Lindsay was feeling really ill due to some belated sea-sickness from the ferry. Poor Igor had to enjoy the sunset by himself. Too bad, because the wooden tent was actually a really cool little “hotel room”!

Getting late, time to head for our hotel for the night

Sunset from our wooden tent

Day 41: Kangaroo Island – Part II

The morning was rainy, rainy, rainy. We asked for a late check-out, as the weather was too stormy to go sight-seeing anyways. The manager at reception said there was no problem with a late check-out, and by the way, did I know that ALL THE FERRIES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED? We got on the phone with the ferry to rebook for the next day – while the 5:30AM was available, the agent warned us there was a good chance that one would be cancelled too if the winds didn’t dip below 40KM/H, 11AM had two spots left so we decided to play it safe. The ferry operator also found us a new hotel for the night (the YHA Hostel in Penneshaw – 50% discount off their ensuite family room – score!), and our accommodations on the mainland had no problem rescheduling our reservation by one day without charge, so all-in-all the whole thing was a minor inconvenience. Luckily we had a buffer day scheduled in Adelaide (on purpose this time!), so we still had time for visiting the Barossa before our flight to the Red Centre.

So much rain. Why even get out of bed?

We spent the rest of our second afternoon on Kangaroo Island driving around, hoping for a break in the rain. We drove out to Stokes Bay to try and visit a rare-breed animal farm, but the downpour and ginormous waves chased us away.

 

Driving up to Stokes Bay – look at those waves! That’s one walking trail we will definitely skip. 

As we got closer to Penneshaw, the clouds started to lift, so we braved the dirt roads to visit Clifford’s Honey Farm and the Emu Hills Eucalyptus Distillery, where we picked up a bottle of KI bubbles for dinner.

Weather starting to clear up as we head inland

Some interesting sights made us pull off the road: an echidna and a really odd art installation in an empty field

 

A herd of baby llamas grazing just outside Clifford’s Honey Farm

This place got us really interested in bee-keeping when we get back to the US – the farmers here move their bee houses around the island when differ flowers are blooming in order to get different flavors of honey. The hives in KI are the last “pure” breeds of Ligurian Bees in the world, since the wilds bees in Italy have been cross-breeding with other types of bees.

 

Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery (with a resident emu!) – if you want to see the place in production, you have to come in the summer. We still got to watch an informational video, tho.

While the weather still looked to be clearing up as we headed for Penneshaw, we passed warning signs for a storm surge. We arrived at our hostel just before sunset, and grabbed some groceries before running down to the shore to join a nighttime penguin tour. Our tour guide informed us that it wasn’t the best time of year, type of tide, or type of weather to see Little Penguins, but we would go on the “hunt” nonetheless. After walking quietly in the dark for about an hour, we finally saw one penguin standing outside his nest! Our tour guide was so excited to finally see one, she offered to take the group out again to try and find some more – and we did glimpse about 4 more, but they were too quick for a picture.

 

“Hunting” for the Little Penguin – he finally made an appearance just before we gave up!

Feeling satisfied with our unplanned evening in Kangaroos Island, we headed back to the hostel to cook up some homemade Indian food, and enjoy a bottle of bubbles and quality Aussie TV.

Igor raising a glass to Lindsay’s mad cooking skillz in a hostel kitchen

Kicking back in front of the telly with a glass of bubbles – this show had us in stitches: imagine a televised version of NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” – hilarious!

Day 40: Kangaroo Island – Part I, Finders Chase National Park

We tip-toed out of the hostel as quietly as we could at 7AM in order to make our 9AM ferry at Cape Jervis. Once we were safely checked in to the ferry queue, we had a quick brekky in the car and then boarded the ferry to Kangaroo Island. As we checked in, however, we were warned that a storm was expected the next day, and there was a good chance our return ferry would be cancelled. We decided to risk it – surely they were just being overly cautious, right?

Wise advice from SA safety as we board the ferry to KI

The weather was a bit rainy and windy, but the crossing along the “Backstairs Passage” was relatively gentle. When we landed in Kangaroo Island, the rain was coming down pretty hard, but the forecast promised a break in the weather in the afternoon, so we made our way to the opposite end of the island, to Finder’s Chase National Park. The timing couldn’t be better – the weather cleared up just as we reached Admirals Arch and the Remarkable Rocks.

 

Flinder’s Chase National Park – first stop: the Remarkable Rocks!

These rocks are REMARKABLE

Lindsay has dragged Igor to a lot of rocks on this trip, but even he admits these are cool!

We were like little kids, running around and climbing the rocks! Really fun, and really beautiful spot – it totally lived up to the name.

Admiral’s Arch – where a colony of New Zealand Fur Seals lives

We took advantage of the sunny spell to in get some short hikes as well – first a walk along the Weirs Cove Hike from the Cape Du Couedic Lighthouse to the old store house ruins for a bit of KI history, then we went hunting for wildlife along the platypus path. Unfortunately, the platypuses (platypi?) were not in a social mood, but we did see some more Cape Barren Geese, lazy koalas and grazing kangaroos.

A dramatic view of the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse

Igor admires the lighthouse, and checks to see if it is open (nope)

Hiking along the Weirs Cove Path

Ruins of the old store house for the families who maintained the lighthouse  

Three families lived here to keep the lighthouse running – there was no road to the lighthouse until 1940 – talk about remote!

The weather turning for the better in the park – time to look for some animals!

Searching for the platypus, without any luck. Boo.

At least we found more koalas and Cape Barren Geese

And kangaroos – never a shortage of Kangaroos here!

We headed back to Kingscote (ah hour & a half drive) just before sunset, and suddenly realized we had made two terrible mistakes: first is that it is incredibly dangerous to drive on Kangaroo Island after dark. The name of the island is quite appropriate, as the place is teeming with rather large kangaroos and wallabies – who all seem to decide that dusk is the best time of day to hop across the street! We counted 17 kangaroos/wallabies jump in front of our tiny Toyota Camry (plus 16 possums). We drove 20KM/H below the speed limit, in an attempt to give ourselves braking time. The second terrible mistake we made was not realizing our car rental agreement specifically forbade us from taking our car to Kangaroo island (for reasons obvious to us now)! I share this with you all, now that we have safely returned the car to Avis, without a scratch. Anyone visiting Kangaroo Island – be forewarned and double check your rental agreement!