3 days on Kangaroo Island, South Australia

After 2 nights in Adelaide (which is a sweet city), we rolled down the Fleurieu Peninsula to Cape Jervis to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island.

Stopped by the Myponga reservior dam. Real nice country.

The Fleurieu (floor-e-o) is pasture land, hay fields, tree farms, all hilly. Kangaroos, cockatoos, parrots, Australian magpies, sheep, cows, horses, more sheep.

While waiting for the ferry, we went out to a point next to the Cape and found a cache in a neat spot above the water. It was the "Kangaroo View" cache; the island is about 10 miles away.

We got in the standby line, and caught a ferry earlier than scheduled. Had to back the camper on, and back into a slot between posts. Watching the ferry guys load a bunch of trailer rigs was fun. The owners let the experts back their rigs.

Another ferry passes by on the way over.

We were talking with a local on the ferry ride, asked her what was a not-to-be-missed spot on the island, and she told us about Western River Cove. It was several hours of driving toward the west end of the island, but what a little piece of paradise it was. A great place to park the rig, with bathrooms, no one else around, sweet beach, great sunset over the hills, a perfect spot.

You know we saved a bit of sand for the collection from this spot.

A SPOT link to Google maps:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-35.67823,136.97181&ll=-35.67823,136.97181&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Supper was surf-and-turf; with local prawns, steak medallions, and fresh veggies.

Sue is brave with those fingers. These guys were hot and itchy; they seem overdue for a shearing.

The bed of pain. That eroded sandstone is sharp. Great shapes and features.

This plant grows into a squat palm-like tree, and sends up a giant bloom stalk, sometimes over 12 feet high.

At the western end of the island, near the Cape Borda lighthouse, Sue enjoyed the view and the breeze....

Harold recovered her hat...

Near the Harvey's Return Cemetery, we found another little geocache.

Great rocks and veg colors near Admiral's Arch, a great spot to watch New Zealand fur seals hauled out on the best napping rocks a sea mammal ever found.

We kept a little flower collection going for nearly a week. It of course finally dumped at a bump somewhere.

Harold could not resist making this shot, and Sue is a good sport.

The Remarkable Rocks. Highly eroded granite dome remnants. They are incredible, hardly believeable, fantastic, intense, unique, remarkable...

She was barely able to make it tip.

Well, she tried.

I want this one in my yard.

It was a fun move in sandals.

A Cape Barrens Goose (supposed to be rare).

That evening, they were common near our camp.

We also spotted our first koala, and were in the thick of wallabies. Going out in the night with a flashlight to "check the tires", it was strange to see those little guys bopping around in all directions.

Sue made the mistake of throwing these guys some cereal. They wanted to move in.

Great rocks near another cache in Vivonne Bay.

Sue found this guy on the other side of a "convenient bush".

He's a Heath Goanna, nearly 3 feet long.

A sweet orphan joey at the eucalyptus refinery.

Emu, also at the refinery.

Our last morning on the island, at Antechamber Beach. Again, we had the whole place to ourselves. This beach faces the mainland, across the Backstairs Passage.

Cute little roo near the Cape Willoughby lighthouse, on the eastern tip.

The kangaroos on the island have evolved separately, with longer and darker hair than those on the mainland.

Nice pasture scene near the Cape.

Yes, penquins ahead. There are small "fairy" penquins living near Penneshaw, the ferry landing. They come out at night and make a noise which can be described as sounding between the yapping of a dog and the quacking of a duck.

We again managed to get an earlier ferry in the "stand-by" lane but still didn't get away until almost noon our last day. We made it to our goal of the border between South Australia and Victoria near a place called Nelson. We indulged in pizza and beer for dinner in Mt. Gambier to save time, but ended up doing a little more sightseeing there as well. They have a great crater lake called Blue Lake. More on that part of the trip later.

After a blast down the coast, including the fantastic Great Ocean Road (think Highway 1 down the California coast), we stopped here in Aireys Inlet. The camp includes free wireless in the fee, so that's how this monster post was accomplished. The lightning storm last night kicked the router offline, or else I would have been up well past midnight. With gale force winds predicted for the entire coast today, we imagine the ferry ride tomorrow across the Bass Strait to Tasmania will be quite the adventure...

We would love to hear more comments. Put away the snow shovel, take off your mittens, make some cocoa, check the pics, and let us know what you think!