Well, time for another update! I tell ya, it's hard to keep up with a blog when you have a full-time job! Don't worry, I'm only about 4 months behind! :) Quick update on my job: being a travel agent is actually super stressful. I had no idea of all that is involved in it! I'm still going to give it a fair chance, but let's just say, I don't think I've found
the job for me. Oh well, at least I can say that I tried it....and hopefully one step closer to finding that job that
is the right fit for me!
So, for my 3rd Groovy Grape Getaway, I headed to spectacular Kangaroo Island, an island full of Aussie wildlife! KI is OZ's 2nd largest island, the first being Tasmania of course. As you may have already guessed, the island was named KI because there are tons of kangaroos and wallabies. The original founders of the island kept shooting a particular animal and then cooking it up. After learning that that particular animal is called a kangaroo, it made sense to them to name the island that.
On this tour, I was reunited with Holly and Laura, 2 English girls that I had done the great ocean road with. The rest of the group included a Dutch girl, a girl from Hong Kong, and 3 French (2 of whom were very bossy). Our tour guide, Simon, was a very crude Aussie bloke and 2 days with him was enough! I still had a great time, but could've done without his sleaziness (most of the girls agreed on that)!
So, what did I do on KI, you ask? Well, let me tell you all about the fun I had. After getting off the ferry, we went to the Cape Willowbeigh Lighthouse. The views of KI are just magnificent, so the old lighthouse was a nice way to start off the day.
From there, we went to the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Farm, where they grow their own eucalyptus and make all kinds of products (from soap to chocolate). Now the really special thing about this farm is that they raise orphaned joeys, like when a kangaroo has been hit by a car (yes, it happens heaps here). If there is a joey in the mum's pouch, the locals take the joey to the farm. I got to meet Luna, an adorable kangaroo they are raising. She just sat in her basket the whole time-so sweet! Luna is free to come and go as she pleases and soon she will probably just stay with her own kind. She might miss her basket though! Apparently, she still always shows up at the farm for dinner!
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| Isn't she sweet?! |
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| I love the basket! |
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| What emu farm is complete without an emu? |
The next wildlife we saw were sea lions on the beach! They were
everywhere! The adult sea lions go out hunting for food for 3 months at a time, so when they are at "home," it is really important for them to sleep...and sleep they do! To me, they look like fat sausages sizzling on the beach. I saw plenty of mum and pup seals; when the mums are home, the pups want to eat all the time and it is really important for them to, so the poor mums never get much of a break. It was so fun watching them wake each other up and then huddle for warmth or ride a wave into the beach. They all fight for the middle spot in the group! It certainly looks like a lazy life, but it makes sense why they have to sleep so much.
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| He looks like he just flopped! |
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| Mum and pup |
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| So cute! |
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| How sweet...see her arm around the little one? |
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| Having a little chat...actually that big guy kept trying to push in the middle of the others, so she was telling him off! |
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| See what I mean about fat sausages?! Those brown lumps are the sea lions. |
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After the sea lions, I got to try sand-boarding for the first time! Oh my goodness, it was so much fun and one of my new favorite things to do! It's like sledding, only better because it's such a smooth ride and as you fly down the sand dune, it isn't cold or wet...you just get sandy! :) We had a little competition to see who could go the farthest and I won! I was really flying! Such a blast!
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| Waxing up the board...very important! |
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| Waiting for the right moment.... |
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| Getting in position.... |
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| Off I go.... |
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| Check out that form! The pointed toes definitely helped! ;) |
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| SO MUCH FUN!!! |
We then headed to our cabin for the night. We had a blazing fire and all sat around and toasted marshmallows.
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| Our rustic cabin. |
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| Some of the group enjoying some hot cocoa. It was freezing at night! |
At about 10pm, we went over to the beach to see fairy penguins (now called "little penguins" due to political correctness...so silly)! They are so cute and we saw tons! I don't have any photos b/c the flash hurts their eyes. But it is the coolest experience to see them in the wild....not just in a zoo!
For bedtime, I slept outside for the first time in a swag! I really felt like I had a true bush-Aussie experience. A swag is basically a mattress encased in a canvas liner, but you put your sleeping bag inside and then zip the canvas up around you. It was a freezing night, so I even had my face covered up, but my body stayed very warm. The nice thing about swags is that they really trap your body heat in. And if it rains (which it did in the desert...of all places), you can pull the flap over your face. A lot of Aussies camp with swags. But the best part is I was lying underneath a brilliant canopy of stars! It was absolutely spectacular to gaze into the sky and see that many stars! So that was my first swag experience and I've had
plenty more since then...that's how we slept in the desert and in the Kimberley's. Here's a pic to give you an idea of what they look like.
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| I think they look like body bags!!! Imagine how funny it is to see a bunch laid out around the campfire. |
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The next morning, we woke up bright and early, so there were still stars out because it was so dark.
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| Some friends who greeted us in the morning. |
First thing for the day, we went to a wildlife reserve and saw some cuddly, sleepy koalas.
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| I love how they look like balls of fur! |
After that we headed to the Remarkable Rocks. That's really their name and they really are remarkable! As you can see from the following photos, we had a lot of fun taking pictures with the rocks!
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| The Remarkable Rocks |
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| Holly, Me, and Laura....miss those girls! |
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| Love this shot! |
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| Hehee, I think we look like little animals! |
We got to see some more fur seals at Seal Bay and Admiral Arch. I'm telling ya, KI is just full of wildlife! These seals were either sleeping on the rocks or playing in the water and there were TONS of them!
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| If you look closely, you can see all the seals on the rocks. It's a bit like Where's Waldo?! |
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| There's those fat sausages again! |
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| Admiral Arch |
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| Beautiful views! |
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| Sparkly like diamonds! ;) | |
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For the rest of our time on the island, we spent the day on a beautiful beach - Hudson Bay. The water was once again the most magnificent colors and so clear! I just love these beautiful Aussie beaches (just wait until I blog about the west coast beaches...unbelievable)! I'm sorry, friends, but OZ has way better beaches than America. You'll just have to come see for yourself!
Even though the water was super cold, Holly convinced me to go in with her...since this may be the only time we are ever on KI. So, now I can say I've been swimming on Kangaroo Island!
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| Braving the cold! |
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| A bit chilled but loving it! :) |
Well, that brings my Kangaroo Island adventure to a close. As you can see, it was fantastic and I would definitely go back there again! I would recommend it to anyone!
Up next: 7 Day Desert Patrol....think of the big red rock!!! :)
Aussie Fact of the Day: Kangaroo Island is famous for its honey and for being the oldest bee sanctuary in the world. Ligurian bees were imported from the Italian province of Liguria in 1881, and Kangaroo Island now has the only pure strain in the world. As a consequence, the importation to Kangaroo Island of bees or any honey products is prohibited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_Island
For more pictures of my time on Kangaroo Island, click on this link:
Kangaroo Island
