Today is a tour day. We have booked to go to Kangaroo island which is Australia’s 3rd biggest after Tasmania and some place called Melville no one has heard of. The problem is it is a 16hr tour so we were up at 5:30am and after a 15min walk to the central bus station we boarded a 6:30 coach for a 1:30+ ride to the port. We were running late as 2 tourists could not follow instructions as 1 had crept on the coach somehow and another was waiting across the road. This led to us being 30mins behind schedule and probably why the driver drove like a nutter - not that Mark noticed as he slept.
We caught a 45min ferry to the island, on which we had breakfast, and were transferred to another coach with a lovely tour driver called Hamish.
First up was a visit to a seal sanctuary for the Australian sea lions who are being protected from extinction. There were many seals raising pups and teaching them what they need to know in order to survive - the number one skill seemed to be sunbathing but that is just Mark’s opinion. These could definitely win cutest seal species awards.
Then it was around 12:30 so we headed off to lunch which was a lovely warm chicken salad followed by cheesecake. There were 48 of us on the tour so things were organised and served very quickly. Lunch was on the other side of the island. This part was badly affected by the 2020 bush fires which at one stage they thought would cover the whole island due to the wind changes. The amount of plant and animal life lost (including 43000 koalas) was enormous and so sad to hear about. However, as Hamish said, nature has a way of resetting itself and after 3 years new life has sprung up all around the burnt, ashen trees and some of these plants were only germinated by the heat of the fires.
We then went to see a natural rock formation called the Remarkable Rocks. This reminded us very much of the domes in Uluru. We walked to the base and Mark went up in amongst them as well. Pam stayed back from the climb to enjoy the amazing views.
A short distance away is another natural feature on Kangaroo Island, called Admiral Arch. Years of waves crashing against limestone walls first created a crater then the back wall collapsed to create the arch.The view from the arch was worth the steps and bridges to get there. Also around here were another type of seal but this lot were doing quite well at improving their numbers and are generally being left to their own devices. This seem to include sunbathing and nose stands and tail waving in the water. These were long nosed fur seals.
Our final stop, on this highlights tour, was a wildlife sanctuary where we saw the standard grey kangaroos but then the local variation called the Kangaroo Island Kangaroo - a case of name it as you see it. These are red and fluffier and love holding you hand especially when food is involved - when food is not involved I think they are trying to frisk you so food is probably always the cause and they unlikely to want to get involved in a waltz or anything.
There were also enormous pelicans and echidnas (never hear of them before) and Pygmy penguins - these wanted to hide more than anything.
Finally, it was the koalas who were just lazing around in trees and we were allowed to stroke. Always end on a fluffy koala to allow punters to leave happy eh.
On the way back to the ferry we picked up some dinner and saw a beautiful sunset as we sailed from the island. It was a long way to come but the local people are so proud of their island and there is such a community spirit evident that it was such a pleasure to be part of it for the day. The bush fires, and then covid, has greatly impacted them and hopefully tourists like us will continue to help fund their recovery.
We had another 1.5 hr coach ride back to Adelaide, during which Pam slept and Mark witnessed nutty driving. Then, just on the outskirts of central Adelaide, the coach broke down. At 10:30 at night we opted to walk 35mins instead of the planned 15mins back to hotel. We needed the comfy bed tonight!
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