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| Secret Passage to Beach |
Our lovely tranquil sleep-in was cut short by of all things, the local garbage truck. See even out here in paradise, the daily grind still goes on.
We packed up camp as the clouds were rolling in, we were concerned that the tent was going to get wet. It ended up holding out, but we still headed out early and went for another walk down the beach for one last look and photo opportunity. It didn’t disappoint, this place is beautiful; Stokes Bay is by far the most beautiful of all the bays on Kangaroo Island. And the secret passage cave walk to get through to the beach, a real novelty.
As we began our drive around the island our first stop was King George Beach. This beach had the most amazing red lichen (similar to moss) all over the rocks, a photographer’s paradise. We explored the rock pools, and took a million photographs.
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| King George Beach |
We then ventured onto Western River Cove, another picture perfect area and like the last stop we had the whole place to ourselves. To get to this cove we had to drive down into a very steep winding valley, totally worth the thrill ride and we could see why not many people ventured down here.
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| Western River Cove |
Next stop was Flinders Chase National Park Visitor’s Centre to have some lunch, and purchase a national parks pass. This park is home to the famous Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks, both part of the reason (other than the wildlife) we came here.
Admirals Arch is home to hundreds of New Zealand fur seals, they are everywhere. There were mothers with pups; juveniles play fighting, huge older seals asleep everywhere in the sun, and more playing in the water. The actual arch was down a long stairway and is a huge natural wonder cut out of the side of th cliff by water erosion, providing a great sheltered breeding area for the seals.
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| Admirals Arch |
While walking out to another lookout at the Arch, Scarlett nearly trod on a Tiger snake. I knew they were very common in this area, so walking along I was always keeping a lookout along the edge of the path. Poor little bugger I nearly broke her arm pulling her backwards in mid air just as her foot was about to come down on him. She quickly forgot the pain in her arm and turned from crying to excitement, and wanting to take a closer look at him. On the way back from the lookout, we were able to find him again not far from the path, slowly cruising for lunch.
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| Tiger Snake |
The beautiful sculptures of the Remarkable Rocks did not disappoint either, they really are actually quite ‘remarkable’. They look so out of place, yet blend in beautifully. There are so many colours and shapes, and they seem to be poised so delicately here that a small wind might just blow them all off. We had a great time posing for photos and finding shapes in the rocks, we could have stayed here for hours. The rocks are so smooth, I don’t know if this is from natural erosion or the fact everyone who visits can’t help as they walk around running their hands all over them, I know we did.
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| The Remarkable Rocks |
Next on the list today was a guided walk through the Kelly Hills Caves. On the way to the cave entrance we spotted an echidna, he was huge, and so busy digging for ants so we were able to walk right up to him. We were the only people on this tour so the ranger let Scarlett hold one of his torches, and pretty much let her walk us where ever she wanted to. These underground wonders were discovered in the 1920’s and there is still more paths being opened up and explored today. The photo’s here don’t do the experience justice, it was really beautiful inside.
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| Kelly Hill Caves |
When we came out of the caves the clouds had really rolled in and rain drops were starting to fall, so we decided to ditch the tent and booked in at the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Retreat, located at the entrance to the park and very eco-friendly. Scarlett purchased some kangaroo food and laid a path through the motel and right up onto our veranda. Within half an hour she had three small wallabies feeding out of her hand right at our door. All the overseas tourists wanted to take photos of her - too funny. |
| Mother and Baby Brushtail Possum |
This evening Shane booked us in at Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for a nocturnal tour. We saw heaps of wallabies, kangaroo’s, koala’s, and ringtail/brushtail possums. Most of the wildlife we have seen many
times before, but it was still entertaining for Scarlett and good support for the sanctuary. Scarlett was to tired from this huge day she was asleep before we even got out of the sanctuary’s drive way. A huge day for us all.
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