Kangaroo Island, Wednesday 2/6/08

There are some days that simply can’t meet expectations. This wasn’t one of them. We were up early and ready to go when Peter came tap-tap-tapping on our door with piles of fresh fruit from the garden, juices, yogurt, cereal and bread he had baked while we were sleeping. The homemade fig and ginger jam was unbelievable. He got our paperwork done and booked our return on the 7:30pm ferry while we had breakfast. In the meantime, Malcolm was packing up the Land Cruiser for our day on the island, so we were all set to hit the road at 8:45am.

Peter walked us out while Malcolm got our luggage on board. As we took off, Malcolm gave us a map of KI so we could follow along during the day as well as a book of indigenous birds and another with local animals. He took us on a "shortcut" down a road that seemed washed out to us but we made it out the other side at Boudin Heritage Park. Malcolm is one of the few guides licensed to operate in this park and he considers it one of his secret weapons. This is our Wallaby stop and we see one as we move down the hill into the park. They are little Kangaroos, identical to our eyes except they are only about 2-3 feet tall. We keep walking and suddenly there is a Wallaby under every bush. There are females with joeys, single males and groups of all sorts. Malcolm hears a bird call he recognizes and we sneak down another hill and through a patch of trees and there is the Glossy Black Cockatoo, an endangered species of bird that mostly exists on this island. It is a big black parrot with a red tail and is similar to the more common Yellow-tail Black Cockatoo that we also see here. Malcolm says this is a bonus.

Our next stop is Seal Bay, but on the way we stop for an Echidna crossing the road in front of us. The Echidna seems to be a cross between a porcupine and armadillo with a little platypus thrown in. It is a member of the platypus family, has quills like the porcupine and has a sticky tongue for eating ants. Malcolm says this is a bonus. Malcolm is licensed at Seal Bay too, so we are able to walk down on the sand among the Australian sea lions. There are hundreds including dozens of pups. As the females go out fishing, the pups sort of wander around and check out every returning female to see if it is mom. While waiting, they also check out us and as the pups gather closer and closer to us, Malcolm has us back away so we don’t "interact." They are distant relatives of the dog and these little guys are indeed like puppies that want to play with us. Hard to resist. Malcolm has us pop into the information center and tells us to meet him at the car in ten minutes—it is time for a tea interval. When we get to the car there is a tablecloth on the tailgate with French-pressed coffees for us and a basket of homemade biscuits (cookies). Mary likes roughing it.

We’re off to a private Koala reserve. The property is a converted farm that happened to have a good number of eucalyptus trees so Koalas were introduced here. They liked it so much they multiplied like crazy and ate all of the trees. Unintended consequences. They have now planted more trees and figured out how to manage the population, so life is back in balance. Our first sighting is not a Koala but a pair of bright blue and red parrots, Crimson Rosellas, that take off right in front of us. Malcolm says this is a bonus. We spend about 45 minutes wandering among the trees and Malcolm finds several Koalas, John finds two and Mary finds none. Most are fairly high up and they are all sleeping. We do find one that is fairly close to the ground and when we duck under the low hanging branches, we are within a couple feet of him. He is so nervous, we think we hear snoring.

We have a drive to Flinders Chase National Park (the island is 100 miles long by 30 miles wide) where Malcolm drops us at the interpretive center while he prepares lunch. As we walk up a wooded path to the building Mary points up in the tree above us - she has found her first Koala. When we find Malcolm in the picnic area, the table is covered with a tablecloth, there are cloth napkins and he asks "white or red?" Lunch is a great green salad, potato salad, another loaf of fresh bread, chicken, ham, corned beef, salami, mustards and homemade tomato jam and, of course, the fruit and cheese tray with crackers and biscuits for "afters." We opt for the white wine with lunch and, of course, everything is perfect.

Malcolm gets everything packed back up and we travel about 10 minutes to the Remarkable Rocks which is a shoreline eruption of granite that bulges up forming its own peninsula. We hike out to the rocks and get the geology lesson, but you can see that Malcolm is looking down the road and is planning his next move in "tour bus avoidance". This is a game played by the private guides to enhance the experience of their guests. Next we have another 10 minute drive to Admiral's Arch and the fur seal colony. There was a fire in the park in early December wiping out about two-thirds of the foliage. You can already see new growth at ground level, and they expect a ten year recovery period. The arch is a hollow opening that reaches from one side of the peninsula almost to the other and forms a protected cove that the seals treat as their own private swimming pool. There are both New Zealand and Australian fur seals lolling about on the rocks and splashing in the water. It is very peaceful in the cove with waves crashing up against the perimeter rocks, the frollicking critters, the sun shining down on us with a little breeze blowing and the wine kicking in. We wonder why Malcolm didn't think to bring a hammock.

We fire back up and head for the Kangaroos. This is yet another "secret" place and Malcolm has to unlock a chained gate to get us on the property. The property is again a converted farm that the owner has placed at the disposal of the state for management purposes and, they in turn, allow certain guides access. We are the only ones here today and wander for an hour peeking under shrubs and around trees for "Roos". They are primarily nocturnal feeders and tend to stay in the shade during the day, and we stir up a dozen or more in our stroll around the fields and trees. Malcolm then whips out the cooler for cokes, juice, waters and, of course, biscuits.

We are heading back the length of the island now with just two more stops. The first is called "Little Sahara," a series of "sand" dunes that are really made up of pulverized sea shells from many centuries before and are now 3 kilometers inland. There are a bunch of young folks "snow-boarding" (really using snow boards) down the dunes. The second stop is Pennington Bay, one of the premier swimming beaches on the island and at the narrowest point of the island - just 2 km wide. It is 6:30pm as we drive past the farms along the road and we begin to see kangaroos join the sheep and cattle in the fields. We find a store to buy some stamps so we can mail some postcards at the Penneshaw post office and Malcolm drops us at the ferry just before 7:00. Boy, did he earn his money!

We check in and Mary takes a stroll down toward the beach to take a picture of a huge Australian pelican where she encounters a Wallaby that pops out of the shrubs at the penuguin colony (although the penguins are out at sea). It just won't end. The crossing is pretty smooth and we get to our car at 8:25 with about an hour drive ahead of us. It is almost dark now and as we head cross country we see dozens of "Roos "along the road and in the fields. It's just like driving at home in the fall with different shaped animals. We arrive in Victor Harbor, make a lucky find on the right road and get to our hotel about 9:15. Their restaurant has closed but Matt, the manager, offers to grab some stuff for us from the kitchen. He throws together a pile of pita wedges, sauces, meats, cheeses, fruit, calamari, some greek grape leaf things, olives, garlic bread and meatballs which we nibble on until almost 11:00. As Mary said, "what a day!"

Today's local headline: Clinton, Obama deadlocked The Australian (The front page, not the "World" page)