Kangaroo Island- Part 2

Penneshaw Sunrise 

Penneshaw Sunrise

Penneshaw Coast

Kelly Hill Caves

Ballet Slipper- Kelly Hill Caves

The Cape du Couedic Lighthouse on Kangaroo Island

The path to Admiral's Arch

Flinders Chase National Park Coastline - Kangaroo Island

Flinders Chase National Park coastline

Admiral's Arch 

Fur Seals on the way to Admiral's Arch 

Kangaroo Island Coast at Flinders Chase National Park

Our stay on Kangaroo Island really was incredible.  We spent one night in Penneshaw at the Kangaroo Island Seafront Resort.  It was a nice hotel with a really large room.  We had a small kitchen and a balcony with ocean view.  In fact, we were greeted in the morning by whales doing flips outside our balcony.

The one thing we paid extra for was the penguin tour in the evening at the Penneshaw Penguin Center.  We honestly didn't even know about this before we arrived, but our tour guide told us we could do this.  I think it was $10 per person.  Since it is done in the dark, it can be hard to spot the "Little Penguins" or Fairy Penguins.  That is why our guide carried the pink lights.  We did see quite a few on this tour including some little families of penguins, but we saw so many more the next day when we were arriving back on the mainland of Australia by ferry as they were all lined up along the coast as if to welcome us back.  Either way, it was exciting to see these little creatures in their natural habitat instead of a zoo or aquarium.

The one thing to note about Penneshaw is that in the off season there are few places to eat. Not like there are many more during the peak season, but there are a few others that are open seasonally.  The hotel had a restaurant and there was a pizza place we tried the night we left as well as a pub.  However, they close early!  Thankfully we purchased a block of cheese at one of our stops on the island and some crackers at the grocery store behind the hotel to snack on because when we got back from the penguin tour, all the restaurants were closed.  So, there was no dinner for us.  This was our dinner that night:

The Faces of Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island Koala in the wild

Kangaroo Island Seal Bay

Baby Koala 

Fairy Penguin Penneshaw - Kangaroo Island

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Kangaroo Island Part One

Sealink Terminal

Approaching Kangaroo Island

The first lookout point near Penneshaw

Kangaroo Island

Emu at Emu Ridge

Baby Wallaby

Penneshaw

Penneshaw at Rush Hour

View from Kangaroo Island Seafront Resort hotel room

Oh what I would give to be on Kangaroo Island today.  For those who know me, I am very much a city girl who lives in the country due to the location of our jobs.  I love cities. I love shopping. I love restaurants on every corner.  Kangaroo Island is the opposite of everything that I love or thought I loved.

We arrived on Kangaroo Island via the Sealink ferry just a few days after the ferries had been shut down for some maintenance issues.  Although I wouldn't have minded being stuck in Adelaide a few more days, if we had missed this gem, I would have been devastated now that we've been there and know what the island has to offer.

For two days, we were with a small group of maybe twelve people touring the island.  Most of the people in our group were from Europe with one couple from Australia rounding us out.  Again, this was winter, so, the island was pretty quiet.  Our guide for the two days said that normally he has about 45 people on his tours during the peek season and that there are usually multiple buses at each and every stop.  This time, we were usually the only bus at each of the stops which made this a very personalized experience.

Our stops on the first day included some look out points not far from the ferry terminal in Penneshaw as well as the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery.  The owner here was a character and not necessarily in a good way in my opinion.  He was very rough around the edges and honestly, I think more interested in the money his farm can make him and is looking to try to farm Emus to do the increase those profits.  It was an interesting short tour with a little shop at the end, but not the highlight of our trip.  However, we did love the baby wallaby he and his wife were raising.

The first day also had us stopping at Seal Bay where we saw some beautiful Australian sea lions up close and personal.  We even saw a few of the moms returning from the sea and calling out to find their babies. It was nature at its best.  After Seal Bay, we ended up at a small place for lunch and a bird show.  Again, because this was the off season, it was pretty much a private show and everyone who wanted to participate was able to do so.  My husband got to hold a Kookaburra on his arm and that made his day.

All around Kangaroo Island are wildlife preserves and sanctuaries.  We visited one where we were able to pet some koalas, feed kangaroos and even hold a baby kangaroo who decided to give me a kiss!  I really wish we had more time to explore some of these places as there was a koala walkabout that looked tremendous, but wasn't part of our schedule.

Kangaroo Island was the only place we saw koalas in the wild too.  They were often hard to spot in the trees, but our guide helped us find a few.  The sad part though is that because they are in the wild, they are often seen where you don't want to see them while driving across the island.  This saddened me and I think much of the "accidents" could have been prevented if the speed limit on the island were lower.  The cars and buses went across the island quite quickly which I didn't think was necessary and quite harmful to the beautiful inhabitants of this island.

To be continued....

Adelaide

The start of Rundle Mall

Adelaide's Central Market

Bargain Bananas 

Adelaide was a surprising little gem during our trip.  We had two nights here, one before our Kangaroo Island trip and one after.  Personally, I wish we had at least two or three more days here.  I was pretty impressed with the city and everything they had to offer.  There were a lot of side trips that one could do, but we didn't have time.  There seemed to be quite a few places to interact with koalas which was my favorite part of this whole trip.

The one thing that I absolutely love is shopping.  Adelaide had fabulous shopping!  However, the fact that stores close early really caused me a bit of a heartache because I had to squeeze in as many stores as possible in about two hours.  I managed to find the cutest stuffed koala and some wood Christmas ornaments at the Australian Geographic (I think that is what it was called) store.  Otherwise, I didn't do too much damage here which was a shame.

One of our favorite things to do in every city we visit is to visit a local market or two.  Some cities don't have markets or only have them on weekends and we miss them, but we were lucky enough to get to Central Market on one of the days that it was open.  This is a fabulous market and we were surprised that most of the prices were quite reasonable except for the bananas perhaps.  There weren't a lot of prepared foods to buy and sample, but we did get a few things including one of the chocolate crackles pictured above, some bread, and I think my husband had something else.  There were some small cafes inside, but we didn't get a chance to try any as we had to get back to the hotel to get to the airport.  However, we were very pleased with this market and its offerings.  It is definitely worth a trip if you are in town.