We saw and did so much on Kangaroo Island that I can't do it justice in one posting, and even so, there are lots more photos than you will see here, so don't forget to head over to http://harristravel.shutterfly.com/.
From Hobart we flew to Adelaide, but I will treat Adelaide with Melbourne and it will make more sense. Adventure Tours picked us up in Adelaide by bus. We took about a two-hour ride to the ferry, and then the ferry crossing was forty-five minutes.
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It was discovered in 1802 by Matthew Flinders, and named for the large mob of kangaroos that came to greet the ship. I don't know how large the mob was, but there had to be at least thirty-seven, because that's how many they killed for food.
It's really pretty unspoiled. The island is settled, but even the main town is fairly small, so you see wildlife everywhere.
One thing that was interesting about Tasmania is that it was the first place where we ran into other Americans. When I posted about Kangaroo Island from the road I mentioned that our tour group was like a mini-United Nations, but that seemed to be the case with many of the other tour groups too. There was lots of international flavor.
Our first stop was Prospect Hill. You can see two photos from my highest point, showing how far up I had made it (that's our bus below), and how much father there was to go. Remember, the thing about Adventure Tours is that there is a hike every couple of hours. They go to neat places, but it's kind of brutal for the less fit. (No wonder there were no other Americans!)
Our next stop was a eucalyptus oil distillery. They also did tea tree oil and emu oil, and they talked about the properties of all three, but the presentation on the manufacturing focused on the eucalyptus oil. They did have a father emu and two chicks nearby, and there was a lot of eucalyptus around.
The distillery is owned by a married couple and the wife is also a certified wildlife carer. she had a young joey sleeping in a sort of sling hammock, as pictured. Eventually he woke up, and later on he started hopping about.
Actually, he broke my heart a little. As he got more lively he started approaching people, and he seemed to want something. They tried offering him bits of food and water, but of the main two people he was approaching, one had on a loose vest, that was kind of hanging in the front, and the other had a camera around the neck, also hanging. Yes, I think he was trying to find a pouch to crawl into, and it wasn't really something any of us could pull off. Later on at Seal Bay there was one solitary sea lion pup that kept crying and trying to get some attention, and I was really starting to cry for all of the orphans in the world.
We had lunch at the distillery. On this trip everyone helped with the meal preparation and clean-up, so it had more the feel of a family camping trip, except that we were still getting to know each other. I think a lot of the bonding happened at dinner that night. At this point, we were still learning names.
I want to put up many sea lion pictures, so I am not going to write about Seal Bay now, but it did actually happen on Day One, the Saturday. Our step after that was Little Sahara.
With a name like that, you would probably expect lots of sand, and you would be correct. There are very steep sand dunes and the purpose of the stop was to go sand boarding. I had been amazed at the amount of sand that ended up in my shoes at Seal Bay, so when our guide Peter suggested going barefoot, I thought it made sense. I found the sand to be difficult walking though. I probably should have worn my Tevas at both places. Of course, the other problem with the bare feet was that they were completely unprotected from the very bloodthirsty insects. They were shaped like mosquitoes, but way too big. So I guess my advice for here, other than being in shape, is wear flip flops and bug spray.
We stopped by Vivonne Bay, mainly because it was voted Australia's best beach in 2002. It was nice, but we all ended up liking Hanson Bay better (that may have been Peter's influence on us). It was pretty, but kind of different. There is a creek leading to the beach, and maybe it is because of the fresh water coming into the salt, but the rocks are all mossy green, and whether it is land vegetation or sea vegetation is hard to say.
Our last stop before camp was Hanson Bay Koala Sanctuary. This should not be confused with Hanson Bay, though clearly they are in the same area. Really, it's just a stand of tall eucalyptus trees around a trail, but as you look up you see gray balls of fluff, and it is kind of exciting. It was our first time seeing koalas in the wild.
Well, wild may be a bit of a misnomer, since it's a sanctuary, but at the same time, it is not a zoo. No one is feeding them, and they are free to leave. At the same time, why would they leave? There's plenty of eucalyptus, and I don't think koala move much more than they need too. Because of the toxins and nutrient levels in the leaves, they need to sleep twenty hours a day and eat three and a half hours a day. With only half an hour for migrating, you need a pretty compelling reason.
You should notice a red tag in the koala ear. This koala has been spayed or neutered. They aren't native to Kangaroo Island, but once brought there they thrived, and became a bit of a pest. Some farmers started shooting them, but you can imagine how well that went over, so now they have a big sterilization program going on. Peter volunteers with this, and he will tell you that people look at a koala and think it is all cute and cuddly, and it is not. Well, I'll concede that they might not be cuddly, but they are still really cute.
You may notice it was dusk here, and so as we got to the farm and started cooking dinner, night had fallen. The rooms were cabin style, but joined together, and the kitchen and dining area was a separate building. We were advised to make sure to have the doors to the bathrooms closed, because the walls of the bathroom did not go all the way up or down, and you could end up with company. (Julie and Maria hated the accommodations, by the way. They would not get into the bed because they didn't trust the sheets, but they were freezing, so when I woke up they were huddled together in a single bed for warmth.)
After dinner we visited for a while, and those of us who were interested took a nocturnal nature walk. We didn't have to go far to start, because a possum had snuck into the dining hall, and was sitting very still up in the eaves. I guess it thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. (They look completely different from the North American opossum.)
As we actually left the building, we only made a small circle around the property, but we saw lots of animals. There were some birds, wallabies, another possum, and two large kangaroos grazing, that let us get pretty close without caring. Even then, they did start to move away, but not in a panicked manner. It was all very good-natured.
I did crawl between the sheets, even though I did have some concerns about what might be in the shower the next morning.
http://www.tourkangarooisland.com.au/
http://www.adventuretours.com.au/2-day-kangaroo-island-tour/
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