KANGAROO ISLAND

WE HAD DECIDED BEFORE LEAVING HOME THAT WE WOULD HAVE A FEW DAYS ON THE ISLAND OR KI AS EVERYONE CALLS IT,  SO:-



Kangaroo Island Map with our route in yellow



Monday 5.3.2012:     

We had lunch at Cape Jervis and watched the vehicle ferry come in. We were booked on the 3.30pm ferry to Kangaroo Island, and as we were almost last to drive on the ferry we were one of the first to leave the ferry on arrival.   The trip was quite smooth as the wind had died down, it can be very rough although it only takes about 45 minutes to do the crossing. We drove on up the hill at Penneshaw with lots of cars following, we drove on to Kingscote about 65 kilometers away and checked into the Tourist Park that we had prebooked for the night .



Penneshaw from ferry





Tall Mallee trees form a canopy over the road



Tuesday 6.3.2012.  17 degrees - mid 20’s - sun and wind.   Looked around the small town of Kingscote then drove to Reeve Point and read up on the history of the area where they decided to settle way back in the 1800’s.   They abandoned the idea of a settlement when the water ran out, but there remains some old trees such as a Mulberry tree which the settlers planted, a lovely big tree and it looks quite healthy.   Drove out to Emu Bay nice little village by the sea but nothing else so as it was very windy we drove back to Kingscote. 

Kingscote Jetty



Emu Bay



As we left Kingscote we called in to the Island Beehive which is a facility that makes honey from Ligurian bees which were bought out from Italy in the 1884 and  today the honey is sold as pure and organic. These bees are unique in the world. Next we called in to a sheep dairy where they milk the sheep for their milk which they make into cheese and yogurt, it is very tasty although it contains a lot more fat than milk from a cow.



Milking Sheep



We drove west along the middle of the island to Parndana and stayed in the overnight park at the hotel and had a lovely meal at the pub, cooked using the herbs grown on the island, possibly the natural herbs introduced to them by the aboriginal people, it was a very tasty meal.

Wednesday 7.3.2012  17 degrees to 27 degrees - sunny day.   Drove north to Stokes Bay to see the beach and found it by squeezing through a tunnel in the cliff. Walked along the beach which was long and flat no surf. 



Stokes Bay





Access to beach through a tunnel



We then drove back to the middle of the island to check out a marron farm which turned out to be like our yabbies and Tasmanian crayfish, the marron has more flesh on it.   We enjoyed a lovely platter for two with lovely hot and cold marron, Tasmanian scallops and tiger prawns with dipping sauces which are a specialty of the island, another very tasty meal.  We need more exercise to work off the meals.

Our next stop was Flinders Chase Conservation Park, we went on a three kilometer hike to see platypus, we saw lots of kangaroos, wallabies, and geese, but the platypus are very shy, Lloyd did manage to see one diving down in the water.

Thursday 8.3.2012:   11 degrees - 27 degrees - sunny.   Went to the lighthouse at Cape Du Couedic and walked a kilometer or so down to Admirals Arch where we saw lots of seals sprawled out on the rocks sunbaking, when they get too hot, they just roll into the water or drag themselves down the rocks to the waters edge and dive in.



Admirals Arch



Drove further on to Remarkable Rocks an unusual formation of granite amongst the limestone, these rocks have been eroding for millions of years the wind and rain creating some unusual sculptured shapes.

Remarkable Rocks

Kelly Hill Caves was our next stop they were interesting limestone caves which they are still exploring, they just don’t know how far they extend, they just keep finding more caves. Since the countryside is very dry there has not been much water in the cave system and the formations are not that spectacular.

Spent the night at Vivonne Bay a self registration Van Park, very nicely laid out and we found we had a koala in the tree beside us, Lloyd also saw a wallaby and a goanna.  Met a couple from the central coast in NSW who told us Vivonne Bay is supposed to be one of the best surfing beaches in Australia, but we both agreed we thought NSW had far better surfing beaches.



Vivionne Beach




Sleepy Koala



Friday 9.3.2012:  9 degrees - 25 degrees - sunny.   Last day on the island.  On our way to Penneshaw we checked out Seal Bay and saw lots of seals on the beach also saw a mother and baby seal very close to us on the boardwalk. 



Seal Bay boardwalk



 

We visited a Lavender Farm and had to try lavender scones, then we saw over a Eucalyptus Oil Farm and saw how they make eucalyptus oil, the final tourist attraction for the day was walking up Prospect Hill our legs and knees were very sore after the five hundred steps going straight up, thankfully the view was worthwhile.  It is at the narrowest part of the island so you can see the water on both sides.  We were so leg sore that we decided against going looking for penguins at night coming up the beach near the Van park we were staying in.



Emu at the eucalyptus factory



American River and Pelican bay



Panorama looking east from top of Prospect Hill




approx 540 steps up to get this shot



Saturday 10.3.2012;  Another cold night but warmed up to a nice day. We were booked on the 11:30 ferry back to the mainland so took our time packing up, fueled up and emptied the waste tanks. Looked around Penneshaw and lined up to board the ferry. Not many vehicles going over as this is a longweekend in SA and most of the traffic was to the island.



Penneshaw Beach



From here its over to the mainland then to Victor Harbour and Goolwa, we will then decide where to go next.

BAROSSA VALLEY - ADELAIDE -FLEURIEU PENINSULA

Monday 27.2.2012:  mid 20’s - mid 30’s hot - sun and cloud.  We are now in Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley and rang Andrew and Yvonne Amos, friends from St Pauls at Terrey Hills who had moved to  Kapunda, about 20 minutes drive away and arranged to meet them for lunch.  We had a lovely catch up and couldn’t believe they have been in Kapunda for 4 ½ years, they took us on a cooks tour of Kapunda and showed  us their lovely home, very spacious and lovely, they have quite a few fruit trees and a large vegetable garden and hens, it is on top of the highest hill in the middle of a big valley, so the views are lovely looking out over pasture lands, wheat fields, cows, farm houses, part of the town and the hospital where Yvonne works when she is not at the other hospital or at the practice, she is a very dedicated doctor.


Andrew and Yvonne's house is on top of the highest hill



Kapunda Township

It was lovely to catch up with them and spend time learning about the town how the people have successfully blocked Woolworths from building a large supermarket and how the people all grow their own vegetables and fruit and share all their produce, I had thought all the places were quaint but I could understand how they have all retained their old ways of working and sharing what they have with each other.

We were invited by Andrew and Yvonne to a Rotary BBQ in the local park for dinner, so it was a treat to meet more locals and get to know them.

Tuesday 28.2.2012:  23 degrees - 25 degrees - cloud.   Spent the day driving around the Tourist Scenic Drive, stopped in Tanunda for lunch, it is a lovely old style town with lots of German flavour around, with five Lutheran Churches in the main street, all beautifully maintained. 

We ended the tour at Sepeltsfield Winery which is really big and has an avenue of large Palm trees  for over a kilometer before you reach the cellar door, it is quite spectacular, there is even a mausoleum for  the original family among the avenue of palms with lots of steps leading up to it, very regal.

Seppeltsfield Winery - check this website

Checked the prices on Para Port - a 375ml bottle of 100 year old Para is $975.00 and a 100 ml bottle of 1944 vintage Para is only $275.00 - needless to say Lloyd didnt buy any this time.

We had thought of doing a tour of the winery, but unfortunately we were the only ones interested in the grand tour and they needed four, so they told us to come back tomorrow morning and they could sort out a tour then, all the other visitors were only interested in wine tasting.

Wednesday 29/2/2012:  19 degrees to mid 20’s - rain.  Rang Sepeltsfield Winery to cancel the tour of the winery as it was far too wet, then we  left Nurioootpa and traveled to Adelaide on the A20 Motorway then took the southern freeway to Bedford Park which is south of Adelaide and booked into the Marion Tourist Park for three nights.  We were glad to park the bus and forget about the city traffic, it gets a bit nerve racking after being on country roads with not much traffic around.  There were lots of people staying in the Park who were going to the Clipsal V8 Car Racing in Adelaide.

Thursday 1/3/2012:  18 degrees to 28’ degrees - sunny.    Woke to sunny weather, so we picked up bus timetables from the reception and caught the bus into Adelaide, the trip took one hour but we saw Flinders University and lots of houses on the way. A lot of the older homes are built of stone with brick door and window surrounds. In Adelaide it is Festival time. We walked along Rundle Mall and saw lots of buskers playing musical instruments such as a guitar, a violin, a concert flute (this guy was a tatoo’d bikey type -not your usual flute player, but played beautiful classical music) , a balalaka as well as people performing for the Adelaide Fringe Festival.  We then walked down to the river past the tents set up for the writers festival, along the park on the river edge then up through the Adelaide University where the noise from the V8 supercar racing was very loud and back to Rundle Mall and found the right bus back to the Tourist Park.



Rundle Mall



St Peters Cathedral



Scotts Church



Friday 2/3/2012:   18 degrees  -  23 degrees  - sun, cloud & wind.   We drove up into the Adelaide hills and went to the Mt. Lofty Lookout , it was very cold and the view was a bit misty, but a good view of the way Adelaide is laid out with parkland all around the city.  

We then drove on to Hahndorf which is a lovely quaint German style village with quite a few shops, we had lunch and checked out all the shops, then headed  back down the Princess Highway to Bedford Park.

Barvarian Humour?

Saturday 3/3/2012:  18 degrees - 25’s.   Sun, cloud, strong winds and showers.  Drove to Glenelg which is on the waters edge and saw the marina and waterfront apartments and trams going down the main street, had coffee at the marina then continued on south along the coast checking out all the towns, we booked into Normanville Tourist Park for two nights.



Glenelg tramway





Glenelg Marina - nothing small here




HMS Buffalo replica - a floating restaurant

Sunday 4/3/2012:   18 degrees - 25, sunny and very windy with a lot dark clouds.   Had a quiet morning walking into the little town of Normanville, the wind was so strong the water in the Gulf had lots of white caps, then came back to the  Coaster and sat inside out of the wind and caught up on the blog.   Late in the afternoon the wind dropped and the clouds thinned out a bit, hopefully the crossing to Kangaroo Island tomorrow will not be rough.



at Normanville

Monday 5.3.2012:    17 degrees - 25 degrees - cloud then sunshine.   Left Normanville and drove down the coast about 34 kilometers enjoying the little bays and hillsides with a few large sheep or cattle properties.  The hills seem to be a continuation from the Adelaide Hills all the way down the coast to Cape Jarvis and further south.  Stopped at Lady Bay for a cuppa and found that the HMAS Hobart had been scuttled out in the bay.



Lady Bay



Fishing shacks at Lady bay



Arrived at Cape jervis and now have to wait till the ferry leaves.



Cape Jervis  - Kangaroo Island in distance

We had lunch and watched the vehicle ferry come in and unload.We were on the 3.30pm ferry to Kangaroo Island,  and as we were almost last to drive on the ferry we will be one of the first to leave the ferry on arrival at Kangaroo Island.



They even take semmi's



Reversing the bus onto the ferry

The next edition of the blog will be our experiences on Kangaroo Island where we will be for the next five days.