Last day on Kangaroo Island.

When I look back at planning this trip, Kangaroo Island wasn't even on the itinerary.  It was Peter's idea to go there. After researching the camping grounds and costs involved to get to KI,  we decided to take the car and van. This gave us great accommodation and transport. It is the ferry that cost the most.

 On our last day we drove north about 20 minutes to Emu Bay. It is only small but oh so beautiful.

 Emu Bay is a 4 km beach that one can drive on. It is hard sand and we saw many cars with dogs driving to the other end of the beach.

 We saw many tourist photos with a penguin and the jetty.  I can't believe I got a shot like these.

 The car got sick so we couldn't explore much of the north of the island and went back to the caravan park while the car was getting repaired. We passed a bee information centre and if the car was well we would have stopped to have a look.

Who would have thought that honey was prohibited any where in Australia? One can't bring honey onto KI!!

 We left the next day and didn't see one Kangaroo! ! Only dead ones.

 We drove back to Penneshaw and waited for the ferry.

 The ferry terminal at Penneshaw is under going some renovations. This area was not finished on Tuesday when we arrived.

Here we are on the ferry. Peter has been out the front, while Jonnie has been playing his game on the free wireless on the ferry and I have been doing crosswords.




Happy Travels
Allison

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

There were so many lovely beaches and coves tucked away all over the island, it is not possible to show them all here.

This photo is for you Beth.  We had lunch here on day 2. There wasn't much there EXCEPT a beautiful beach, but I forgot to take a photo! There were four or five old fishing shacks on the beach front and a more modern motel type unit at the back. That was it. No shops. No tables.

 About halfway between Penneshaw and Kingscott is American River, a lovely fishing village NOT on a river.

 American River is named after a group of American sailors who landed here in 1803 and camped in the inlet mistaking it for a river.

 We followed the inlet around and came across a monument for Matthew Flinders.  He named the inlet Pelican Lagoon after the large amount of pelicans he saw there.

 We then took the coast dirt road around the inlet to Penneshaw.

 Penneshaw was originally named Hog Bay and consists of many little coves.

 In 1803 Captain Baudin anchored here in Hog Bay to look for fresh food and water. While waiting for the water casks to be filled a sailor carved a nearby rock 'Expedition de descouverte par le commandant Baudin sur le Geographe 1803' The white dome in the background is where the rock was. There is a replica there now, and the original rock is at the information centre. It is called Frenchman's Rock.

 Cape Willoughby was built in 1852 and was the first lighthouse to be built in South Australia.

 ... and look what we found ... The two houses still being transported.  We found out that they were going to Pink Bay, near Cape Willoughby.

 The road from Penneshaw was dirt (as are most of the roads here). Here is our first view of the lighthouse.

 The lighthouse keepers cottages here have been moved from their original sight closer to the beach.  There are 3 cottages, one used as the information centre and museum,  and the other 2 as accommodation.

 The lighthouse is also a great place to see whales, and sightings are recorded. These are some of the whale bones found in the area.

 Cape Willoughby is also a weather station. Weather has been recorded here since 1881.

 The tower is 27 metres high and built from granite and limestone from the Devil's Kitchen Gulch next to where it stands.

 We had a late lunch at this little camp site right on the beach. We couldn't believe there was only one camper.

 Lunch

View from the camp kitchen.










Happy Travels
Allison

Flinder's Chase National Park

In 1800 the British Government funded Matthew Flinders to explore and map Australia. He made the first recorded sighting of KI in March 1802. He came on shore and named it Kangaroo Island because of the large number of kangaroos he saw roaming there.

We drove 90 km to the other side of the island to Flinders Chase National Park. We paid for a one day pass ($ 28) and spent almost three hours there.

 First stop was the visitor information centre - the usual souvenirs and cafe and an interesting art display that displays the natural history of the area. 

We headed south to Cape du Couredic, about 15 kms to Admirals Arch.

We thought the view was magnificent, until we got to the arch.....

 ..... and WOW

 The park is very well kept and all the timber work was being oiled while we were there. 

 There is a New Zealand sea lion colony there and we saw so many just laying around or playing in the water. We watched them for ages, and decided we didn't need to do the paid tour to the seal colony.

Cape du Couredic was named in 1803 by Captain Baudin. The construction of the lighthouse started in 1906 and is built of local stone. Three 4 roomed cottages were also built. 

Peter likes to take dirt roads "to see where they go".... so we went down this dirt road and came to Weirs Cove, 1 mile from the lighthouse. There we found the ruins of the storage sheds for the supplies for the lighthouse keepers. 

Supplies were delivered every 3 months by ship. This is the jetty where the flying fox would haul supplies up to the storage sheds.

Weirs Cove

The Remarkable Rocks were  formed in the post-Cambrian period and are weathered rocks made of granite laid down about 500 Million years ago. 

I'll let the pictures tell the story. 

We had a great day and although it was cold it was well worth the long drive and the cold weather.

Allison

Kangaroo Island

We left Port Elliot for a short 1 hour drive to Cape Jervis.

 We got stuck behind two houses that were also going to Kangaroo Island. 

 They both turned up at the ferry damaged.

 One is not allowed to take honey or potatoes onto Kangaroo Island.  Very Strange! 

 Peter had to back the van onto the ferry. 

Jonnie and I found a table for the 45 minute ride.

The ferry arrived at Penneshaw and we then drove another 45 minutes to Kingcott Caravan Park.

The park is small but very well set up. This is the camp kitchen. 

Dining area.

Cooper and Ava would love this play area.

Sunset on our first night on KI.

The next morning we drove in to Kingcott.  This is the largest town on KI. We had a look around the water area and then walked up and down the main street. 

Found this quilt shop and HAD to go in.

The Bay Window

This is one of the two fabric packs I bought.

Later we went to the other side of the island. I'll blog about that tomorrow. Off to bed now. 

Allison.