Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island is located just a short distance from the shores of South Australia. It is one of the world’s unique nature destinations, with crystal clear waters, amazing landscapes and wildlife galore! I was fortunate to take a SeaLink Tour to KI (as the locals call it) on Saturday, October 4th. It was one of the last awesome adventures we had while in South Australia. I'm not going to lie, it was pricey, at $250 each, but it was more than worth every penny. The fee included the ferry trip to and from the shores of Cape Jarvis, a wonderfully delicious lunch (more like a dinner!), and tour across the entire Island. 
KI is Australia's third largest island at 96 miles long by 34 miles wide, and over 330 miles of coastline and if you want to see the island for all it's worth, then it's worth it to take a tour. 
On the ferry ride over we were treated to a Humpback whale lying on its side waving, as if to say, "Hey, have a great time!" We sat with a wonderful couple, Phil and Di, who were from Tasmania. Di is a special education teacher and it was so much fun talking shop with her. Though they had a different bus tour,  it was fun sharing stories for our 25 minute trek across to the island. 
 There were so many interesting facts about the island that it was hard to remember all of them, but here are some fun tidbits of information...

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• Kangaroo Island ranks at the top for having the cleanest air in the world. In fact, because the air is so pure and clean, so is their rain...
  
• Which leads to the 2nd coolest fact; much of the water consumed on the Island is rain water, which is collected in huge tanks during their rainy season. They also rely on desalination plants. 
  
• Only 3000 people live on the island. 
• There is no need to for fossil fuels. All the energy is transported through a cable that lies beneath the ocean from the mainland to the island. That energy comes from Windmill Power. 
  
• Kangaroo Island is a true wildlife sanctuary. Unlike the mainland, the Island has suffered less from the impact of European settlement. Animal and bird populations thrive! Today, more than one-third of the Island is declared Conservation or National Park and it has five significant Wilderness Protection Areas. 
  
• You cannot bring any bees, bee handling equipment and honey products (yes that means no jars of honey!) to the island. Kangaroo Island is a sanctuary to the only Ligurian bee population in the world. 
• The Ligurian bees on KI are the world’s last pure population. KI was the world’s first bee sanctuary, established in 1885.
• NO POTATOES allowed! This  includes potatoes for consumption or planting. Unwashed or dirty potatoes may carry disease, which could devastate the island’s seed potato industry. Potatoes in new packaging (chips) are permitted for consumption only.
• Kangaroo Island is well known for its kangaroos, tammar wallabies, koalas, Australian sea-lions, New Zealand fur seals, Rosenberg's goannas and echidnas which all roam free. 
  

Australian Sea Lion, Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island

This is an echidna. We saw one on the side of the road and it scrambled into to the brush.

This cool formation is located at Cape du Couedic in Flinders Chase National Park on the island. It's a steep climb down to a viewing platform but it leads to this spectacular natural rock arch known as Admiral's Arch, sculpted by weathering and erosion from the sea over thousands of years.

Remarkable Rocks: Formed in the post-Cambrian period these weathered rocks are composed of granite which was laid down about 500 Million years ago.

New Zealand Fur Seal - As the population of NZ fur seals slowly rebuilds to about 100,000 after being almost eradicated by commercial sealing in the 1800s, once thriving penguin colonies have been halved, victim to a faster moving, stronger, natural predator.

Koalas were introduced to Kangaroo Island in the 1920s when 18 animals from Victoria were released in Flinders Chase National Park at the western part of the island.The releases were intended to safeguard the species from extinction on the mainland where hunting, disease, fire and extensive habitat clearing threatened their survival. They are more than flourishing on the island - in fact, over breeding!

Western Grey Kangaroo which gives the island its name.

We were so lucky to see all of the above! Our bus driver, Robert, was a fountain of information and I learned so much from his stories. He is a native of the island and shared his own personal experiences of island life. It was a fun-filled day of wildlife, beautiful ocean views (by the way, this is the Southern Ocean) and landscape dotted with sheep, which by the way, number over a million!
Our only disappointment was not to seeing the little Penneshaw penguin that resides on the island, but caught sight of a baby penguin on the mainland - (at least that's what I think I saw and I'm sticking to it!). They are nocturnal and hard to spot during the day. Their numbers have declined over the past years and it's due mainly to the New Zealand Fur seal. While standing on the shores of the Southern Ocean, we were told that we were a mere 2,000 miles from the South Pole. When put into perspective, that's close! It was kind of neat knowing that we were that close! Of course, this also meant that the water is cold year around. 

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We had a picture perfect day. When it was time to board the ferry, there were our new friends, Phil and Di. We had different tours but it was clear, we all had the most memorable experience. I wish we had more time to spend on the island, but since we didn't, I'm glad we had the time we did. My favorite memory had to have been the Sea Lions. They were so much fun to watch, and I've never been that close to so many sea lions. Kangaroo Island lived up to all my expectations and then some! We made new friends, got up close with sea lions, nearly ran over a kangaroo crossing the road (thanks to Robert's quick response, he made it across the road!), came close to an echidna, and even witnessed some kangaroos mating! I'd say it was a day well spent!