Monday 9th March, 2015 - (HTCC) Kangaroo Island Highlights Cruise and Cruise
A very long day today!
Kangaroo Island is an excellent tour if you are willing to
spend a lot of time in transit.
You are picked up at 6:25 AM (still dark in March) by bus,
then it may make some more stops before it drops you at the bus terminal where
you change to a bigger bus. It is about 1.5 hours travel to the Sea Link Port
Jarvis ferry.
Transfer Type: Seat in Coach and Boat
Duration: 16.08 hour(s)
Pick up: 6:25am Miller Apartments , Adelaide
Drop off: 10:30pm Miller Apartments , Adelaide
The bus made a stop at a bakery to pick up supplies for the ferry.
We board the 9 AM ferry and it is a fifty minute ferry ride to Kangaroo Island where you board another bus. There are forty of us on board, all nationalities.
On arrival onto Kangaroo Island enjoy the scenic drive to the Seal Bay Conservation Park. Here
you can walk on the beach amongst a colony of rare and wild Australian Sea-lions with a National
Parks Ranger.
We make a stop before the seals.
The seals.
This is very controlled you are not going out without a guide.
The seals are everywhere. We are told that it is mating season so the males are quite aggressive.
The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) also known as the Australian sea-lion or Australian sealion, is a species of sea lion that breeds only on the south and west coasts of Australia.
Bulls do not have fixed territories during the breeding season. The males fight other males from a very young age to establish their individual positions in the male hierarchy and during the breeding season, dominant males will guard females for the right to breed with her when she comes into oestrus. A female comes into season for about 24 hours within 7 to 10 days after she has given birth to her new pup. She will only look after the new pup and generally fights off the previous season's pup if it attempts to continue to suckle from her. Male Australian sea lions are also known to kill young as an act of defence of territory.
Travel to Vivonne Bay Bistro for a delicious two-course lunch.
Lunch is good – two courses buffet style. They do not refill the salads so these were pretty lean when we got there. The chicken and the beef sausage were good. Instant coffee and tea are provided. No soft drinks unless you buy them.
On the way back we are told we can have dinner before the ferry back to the mainland which sounds great.
The tour of the park will take you to the rugged southern coastline for a walk on Remarkable Rocks and Admiral's Arch. Remarkable Rocks provides great photographic opportunities and stunning sea views.
Admiral's Arch boardwalk takes you down a rugged cliff face to reveal this spectacular rock archway, a natural nursery and safe haven for playful New Zealand fur seals.
This was an amazing stop. absolutely stunning!
Your next stop will see you walking among eucalypts looking for Koalas at Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
Spend the afternoon at Flinders Chase National Park, renowned as a sanctuary for native Australian
animals including kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and echidnas.
There is also a possibility that you will see kangaroos and wallabies before returning to Penneshaw for the return journey to Adelaide.
You will see lots of road kill kangaroos, there are many and it it just the way it is.
We have to make a stop at the airport to drop two passengers off – this takes 60 minutes from our last stop. Then it is 30 minutes back to Penneshaw the town where the ferry docks. We are on the 7:30 ferry and it is 7PM when we get to town. There is a pub, cafe, pizza and fish and chip shop to choose from.
We choose the fish and chips with great anticipation, and plan on sharing a dory and chips. However, the woman in front ordered two dorys and there was only one left. So at our turn I ask for the whiting, an expensive fish, but she is out of that too. The is only salmon, not what we want.
You now have a 50 minute ferry ride and 1.5 drive back to our hotel.
