Australia! - Part 3

We hopped on a bus from Adelaide down to Port Augusta to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island. It was a lovely but lengthy drive. The landscape, despite the occasional peek at ocean was really reminiscent of the semi-prairie landscape in Dawson Creek, where I grew up.

On arrival on the island, we left our bags in our room and headed out immediately in search of penguins. We were a little early so we wandered into a park where we spotted some wallabies. Having no idea of what we'd see the next day, Theo snapped many blurry, dark wallaby photos. Eventually some jackasses chased the wallabies off. Then it was time for HOT PENGUIN ACTION! Unfortunately, the only time the penguins come on the island is at night and could only be seen when the guide shone a red flashlight at them so as not to blind the little bastards. They were so awesome but the photos really don't do the experience justice - look hard and you will eventually see penguins. The little penguins are maybe a foot tall and they waddle around and make noises like Marge Simpson (thanks for the analogy, Jess). The males guard the nest from predators, unwanted guests and escape by their females. A couple of them were having quite the domestic dispute while we were there. There was also a recently hatched chick but we couldn't get a good look because both parents were blocking our sight. Apparently the penguins will waddle up to 4km each night (and morning) to go to (and from) their burrows.

We caught a bus at 8am the next morning and started exploring the island. Apparently it was named Kangaroo island because the explorer Matthew Flinders was able to catch a buttload of them to refill his meat stocks when he was checking out the south coast. Kangaroo Islanders refer to Australia as "the North Island". Again it was prairie-esque landscape but with ocean and kangaroos. The Kangaroo Island kangaroo is different (and more handsome according to our bus driver) than the mainland kangaroos. There were also some bizarre Cape Baron geese hanging around.

The views from the southern island were spectacular - next stop, Antarctica. We saw the "Remarkable Rocks" and they weren't kidding. They are certainly remarkable - carved out by wind and waves. Some little kids were crawling around underneath them getting completely filthy. I was too scared of snakes or spiders to go inside the rock until I saw an old Japanese lady get out, figuring they'd have bitten her first.

More impressive erosion carved out the "Admiral's Arch" along with an impressive stench from the seal colony on the rocks below. Stink-y! Many of the seals were frolicking in the surf, which was awesome but meant that the water was sharktastic. I wouldn't have gone swimming there for anything.

We moved on to an horrendous lunch and a walk in a lovely koala park where I saw the only wild koalas I've ever seen. One was even awake! S/he was only about 7' up a tree so we got to have a good look. There were also many wild wallabies running around and one was quite fascinated with Theo, though I think it really just wanted some snacks, which we did not provide.

Our final stop on Kangaroo Island was at Seal Bay where there's a resident sea lion colony. We got to walk on the beach with them only about 5 metres away. It was pretty amazing. So was the smell here too. Does cute equal stinky when it comes to sea life? From my observations I'd have to say a resounding yes!