We were up early this morning to begin our drive to Cape Jervis to catch the 9 am ferry to Kangaroo Island. Victor Harbor is an hour away from the ferry terminal and we have to be checked in by 8:30 am so we departed just before 7:30 am. It was a beautiful morning drive – past windmills, cows, a Christmas Tree farm (photo did not work out) and up and down over the hills and through Eucalyptus tree lined roads. Finally we started our descent into Cape Jervis and saw the ferry arriving to meet us on the horizon.
The mind plays games on you – based on my dealings with Sealink, the ferry service, I thought the terminal and ferry would be bigger than it actually was! I have no idea what gave me that idea as I knew that Andrew was going to have to drive the car onto the ferry and I was going to have to walk on as the ferry did not have any elevator from the passenger deck. We parked in line and I went in to check us in for the ferry (there was not a booth like BC Ferries – you had to go into the Terminal to check in and get tickets for each adult along one for the car. I then went back to the car to get my bag as I planned to use my laptop on the ferry and give Andrew the instructions I had been told about how to get onto the ferry and to tell the ferry workers that he had to pick me up on the other side – so he had to be directed to the passenger pick up area. As we had gotten to the ferry line up about 8:15 am, Andrew was one of the first onto the ferry. I was taken up the ramp onto the ferry with another lady in a wheelchair early and then the let all the bus passengers onto the ferry – so I was able to get a really great seat at the front of the ferry! Andrew popped up from the car deck stairs fairly fast after I had found our seats. Very soon though he was in the line to get some coffee as he had done that drive this morning without any caffeine to start the day!
Now on the ferry, that is my view from the front of the ferry as we departed Cape Jervis – the ferry slip is in a protected area and then it was open sea between the Fleurieu Peninsula, where Cape Jervis is located, and Kangaroo Island. The ferry ride takes 45 minutes and as we found out when we were in Fiji, the ferries are due to be replaced, however the replacement ferries are late being delivered. However I am not sure if the ferries being delivered late is that big a deal or not as BOTH ferry terminals – Cape Jervis and Pennshaw on Kangaroo Island are still under construction and are not ready for the arrival of the new ferries – specifically the boarding of walk on passengers. I am not sure what the design of the new ferries are going to be however the two ferries that go back and forth every 45 minutes are back end load. When Andrew got on in Cape Jervis, he drove onto the ferry and was against the hull of the ship and then to get off, he had to drive around the bow and down the other side of the ship. It also means that the ferry goes out of the Cape Jervis terminal straight forward, however backs into the Pennshaw ferry terminal – very interesting experience! You would think having a ferry like the BC Ferries which can sail in either direction would be preferable!
Anyway, we now arrived in Pennshaw and Andrew went down to the car deck and I got off the passenger exit and met him in the passenger pick up area. I had read about Kangaroo Island before I had booked us to go there however I guess I was pretty excited to go there and I neglected to realize just how BIG Kangaroo Island is! Holy cow is in LARGE! On top of that, the plans that I had made were upended by the change in the ferry schedule so we ended up doing some extra driving on this trip! The first thing we did, which was at about 10:30 am was drive to where our B&B was located, which was about 15 minutes from the ferry terminal. I was hoping we could store our luggage there instead of driving around the island with it – as we had a SUV it was in view if we parked the car. We arrived at the Fig Tree B&B and it was exactly as they said it would be which I was pleased to see! The owner was actually just finishing cleaning our room and was more than happy to let us leave our luggage there and then give us the key – despite check in not being until 3 pm! The family was going to be away in the afternoon for check-in time so it was great to meet her and see the cute 3 unit building plus a kitchen that comprises the Fig Tree B&B. After dropping off our luggage Andrew and I were off to explore Kangaroo Island – the first stop? Grocery store! Next stop – the Wilderness Koala and Kangaroo walk that I had booked for us in the afternoon!
Let’s get oriented to where we have come from and where we are going – upper right – the ferry is shown going from Cape Jervis to Pennshaw, which is the 2nd largest town on Kangaroo Island. The Fig Tree B&B that we stayed at is at Beaudin Beach which is just to the right of Pennshaw with Beaudin written in green. We then drove to Kingscote, which is the largest town on Kangaroo Island to go to the grocery store and get some picnic/dinner supplies. It is across the bay to the left of Pennshaw. Then from Kingscote we made our way to the Kangaroo Island Wool and then down to where the arrow is at the bottom of the picture which is the Hanson Bay Conservation Area, with a stop just outside of Kingscote at the Kangaroo Island Wool company! The drive from the Kangaroo Island Wool company to the Hanson Bay Conservation area took just over an hour – so it was a bit of a distance traveling at about 100 km/hr. We saw LOTS of dead kangaroos along the side of the road as apparently they like to jump in front of cars!
As I mentioned, we made a QUICK stop at Kangaroo Wool Mill which is a company of 23 sheep farmers on Kangaroo Island who have their wool spun at the wool mill and fine garments made – they were VERY expensive pieces of clothing! We got there and I saw 2 skeins of black, blue and 1 of earth green on a table and 6 skeins of bright pink! I was in LOVE with the feel of the wool. The lady who was helping me obviously saw I was a knitter as I could not stop talking about the wool so she went and got another lady as I was having issues figuring out what to purchase. Having either 2 skeins of black or blue and 1 skein of the earth green was not going to be enough for a short sleeved sweater! The lady who is in charge of the knitting machines and obviously a knitter herself came out and told me that she thinks she has enough of the earth green in the back if I do not mind a few bumps in the wool – I was like heck no! That adds interest to the knitting! So she then wound another skein for me and gave me her personal Instagram address so I could show her what I knitted! They do not have a big market for people who buy wool it seems – only the people who buy the expensive garments and blankets which were very beautiful!
Next we drove to the Hanson Bay Conservation area. I had read some online reviews that this was a great walk to do on Kangaroo Island to see some Koala’s and Kangaroos in their native habitat. Basically we ended up in a parking lot in a huge conservation area and a guide met us there to go for a walk and then a drive. First the walk! The guide took us to see her “favourite” koalas who, along with the other wildlife, are actually living free to come and go on the acreage. First we stopped at a tree where there was a male Koala hanging out down low waiting for the female Koala, who was higher up, to come down. It is currently mating season and the male Koala’s are very frustrated and can be very loud in trying to attract a female partner. While this dude was sleeping at this point in time, he did start bellowing after we left.
We learned lots about Koalas from the guide – such that there are dozens of different eucalyptus trees in Australia however certain koalas only eat certain eucalyptus trees! In fact the eucalyptus tree leaf is poisonous, however their guts can handle it as long as it is the right leaves they are eating as they have the bacteria in their system to break down the leaves – which take about 48 hours. Koala’s do not drink very much – almost all their liquid supply comes from the eucalyptus leaves they eat – however you do not want to stand under trees when they pee as their pee has a VERY strong smell! The other neat fact that we learned is about their butts. Koalas have a fat pad on their rears which allow them to sit on branches without pain – such as in the picture of the Male Koala below – who is basically sitting on a branch and will sit there for hours on end! Koalas are known to sleep for up to 20 hours in a day – sometimes in the same position! I think Andrew thought it would be good to be a Koala!
As we were walking along and talking and looking up at the trees to see the females, which are up higher with their young at this point, the guide was pointing out some fascinating things like the burn bark that is falling off the trees as it is pushed out as new bark is being re-generated. We all heard of the Forest Fires in Australia in 1999 however the same year, Kangaroo Island also had a fire of its own that was man made – a farmer had been burning off some wood and he thought the fire was out. However it has gotten into the ground and a week later it emerged and someone driving by saw it and reported it. It caused a HUGE fire on Kangaroo Island which was unrelated to the fires that happened on the East Coast. It was funny, as while we were talking as a group about these burnt tree trunks, a set of 4 kangaroos bounded by past us! I was not fast enough on the draw of my camera to catch them though! The kangaroos here are about 3-4 feet high compared to the ones we saw south of Perth on the west side of Australia in 2020 in the park where we were eating lunch – they were at least 5 feet tall – my height!
We walked through trails in the bush a bunch more and looked at a tree that is heavily scarred by koalas climbing and the guide showed us pictures of a koala’s feet/paws which are pretty interesting! I have pictures in a couple of days that outline them – basically they have 2 thumbs and 3 fingers so they can grip better on the back of their body with very strong nails! At that time the guide showed us a bench that the kangaroos now use to chew on to sharpen their teeth and then we got into a van to drive around the property to see the wallaby’s, kangaroos and the Southern geese, which I might add are MUCH better behaved than Canadian geese! I really enjoyed this walk along roads and paths in the bush and drive seeing wildlife in their environment instead of in a zoo!
After that outing, we drove the 90 minutes back to our Bed and Breakfast which was by Beaudin Beach. On our way to the house, we drove by the beach – here are the views of the beach that was nearby!
Now we have arrived back at our B&B! Such a cozy little place! It looks out onto a garden in front, has flat access (good and has a nice kitchenette in the room along with a full kitchen outside on the right side of the house for all 3 suites to share.
Tomorrow we are going to be exploring Kangaroo Island some more – our original plans – which include more driving back to where we were today and past to see the State Park and also Seal Beach! See you tomorrow!