Getting to Kangaroo Island
The time difference (Auckland vs Adelaide) worked in our favour when it came to waking up early for our 0620 pickup. We were collected by bus for the drive to Cape Jervis, a journey of nearly 2h, where we would connect to the ferry to Kangaroo Island, the self-proclaimed Galapagos of Australia. En route, we learnt that the area had suffered a very bad and extended drought during which it hadn’t rained for years.
The ferry left at 0900 for the 45 min crossing to Penneshaw, where we would stay tonight. As there is no public transport on the island and no rental cars for the period of our travel, we had to … eeeks … join a bus tour! That was the only way for us to see Kangaroo Island this Easter.
It would have been better in a rental car with lots of long stops, spread across two days rather than compressing it into one. On the other hand, the guides and the commentaries were good. The combination of the ferry, connecting bus and tours were good value.
Vivonne Bay
The tour took us around the different sights around the island starting with Vivonne Bay where we learnt about birds at the Birds of Prey centre. My favourite part was when the man put a kookaburra on his arm and swayed his arm. The bird kept it’s head relatively still. That’s how they keep their gaze and focus while on swaying branches.
The eagle was also impressive. Beautiful, evil and vicious all at the same time.
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- Kookaburra, the laughing bird.
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- Bus tours aren’t really us it was the best solution.
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- Cute. No arguments about it.
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- Beautiful or evil vicious looking?
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- Beautiful or evil vicious looking?
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- Big mother of a bird.
Remarkable Rocks
We continued west to Remarkable Rocks. This is a park by the sea with rock formations that have been formed from weathering and erosion.
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- Rocky coastline.
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- Rocky coastline.
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- Rocky coastline.
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- Road to Remarkable Rocks.
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- Remarkable Rocks. That’s actually the name.
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- Remarkable Rocks. That’s actually the name.
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- At Remarkable Rocks.
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- At Remarkable Rocks.
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- Remarkable Rocks.
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- Remarkable Rocks.
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- At Remarkable Rocks.
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- Remarkable Rocks.
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- Looks like this could be a hydroslide 🙂
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- At Remarkable Rocks.
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- Remarkable Rocks.
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- Remarkable Rocks.
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- At Remarkable Rocks.
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- A dingo was here?
Admiral’s Arch
We went even further west to Admiral’s Arch, a cave with an impressive arch with the sea coming into it. This was a good place for observing fur seals swimming in the pools and resting on the rocks.
We were confused about seals vs sea lions. And then there were Australian fur seals vs New Zealand fur seals. Fortunately there was a sign explaining that seal lions are lighter in colour. [Edit: information elsewhere suggests that sea lions use their front flippers to walk while seals’ front flippers are too small for that purpose.] Australian fur seals have a brown tinge to them and making deep honking and barking sounds. New Zealand fur seals can be grey or brown but their call is a high-pitch squeal.
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- Near Admiral’s Arch where we observed seals.
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- New Zealand fur seal.
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- New Zealand fur seal.
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- New Zealand fur seal … in Australia.
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- Admirals’ Arch.
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- More seals.
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- Dozey seals.
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- Interesting rock formations.
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- Seals swimming.
Seal Bay
We backtracked to the east to Seal Bay where we saw sea lions, not seals. It was a sandy sunny spot and we saw plenty of them. Seeing a fight between two sea lions was a good reminder that we should keep our distance at all times, something the guide does make clear to us.
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- Seal Bay, where we observed sea lions!
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- Sea lion.
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- Fighting.
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- Onlooker cheering on the fight.
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- Sea lion.
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- Seal Bay, where we observed sea lions!
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- Cute sea lion cub.
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- Sea lions in the sand.
At the end of the afternoon, we were taken back to Penneshaw in the north-east where we settled into the YHA Youth Hostel until our evening programme.