The day promised to be a very, very long one but full of
adventure, and it certainly didn’t disappoint!
With such a short cruise from Adelaide to Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island, we
were anchored in plenty of time to be on our way ashore at 7:15 for our shore
excursion, Wildlife Encounters 4WD
Safari. Ever since my slight mishap
on the 4WD excursion in Wellington, I’ve been overly-cautious about these
experiences, but we were very pleasantly surprised to find that we would be on
a small 4WD bus rather than 4-passenger jeeps.
Unlike in Picton where the seats were so small with very little legroom,
we had ample space.
Kangaroo Island was first discovered in 1802 by explorer,
Matthew Flinders, who claimed the island for England. While the French got there shortly
thereafter, Flinders made sure they knew that the land had already been
claimed. The third largest island in
Australia (behind Tasmania and Melville), Kangaroo Island (KI) is approximately
the size of Singapore, or about 4500 square kilometers. However, Kangaroo Island has far fewer
residents with only 4600 people living there.
Recently National Geographic ran a study among journalists, specifying
criteria to rank islands as desirable places to visit. Much to their surprise, of the top 100,
Kangaroo Island tied with another of our favorite islands, the Isle of Skye in
Scotland for 5th place! They
are hoping that this will increase tourism; currently approximately 180,000
tourists visit per year. Needless to
say, tourism would be a boon to the economy of the island!
Kangaroo Island boasts a wide variety of gum trees, and gum
is a kind of eucalyptus tree. Most of
the trees here survive with little water, which is fortunate because between
the months of October and April there is virtually no precipitation. In fact, my impression of what the driver
told is was that there are two seasons – the wet season and the dry
season. During the dry season they have
to be very careful of bush fires. As we
drove, we saw two separate incidents where bush fires were being brought under
control by firefighters. Apparently this
is very, very common in the areas of Australia that we have been visiting
because the people take it as a matter of routine. The bush fire is a way of clearing things out
and regenerating growth. (Later in the
day we visited a national park that was devastated by a bush fire in December
of 2007. While evidence of the fire was
unmistakable, there was also an amazing amount of plant growth despite the
destruction that had occurred just five short years ago.)
Has anyone else ever wondered why Australian athletes wore green
and gold rather than the red, white, and blue of their country’s flag? This is because of the wattle, Australia’s
national tree. We learned that the wattle, a kind of acacia tree, is found everywhere
in Australia; not only that, but it is always in bloom somewhere so the colors
of green and yellow on this tree are ever-present in the country. For this reason Aussies compete in the green
and gold colors.
Although the island has a very small human population, it has
prolific wildlife, many species of which are indigenous to the island. The KI kangaroo is a subspecies of the
Western Gray kangaroo. At one time
Kangaroo Island was part of the mainland, but after the last ice age, it
separated and became an island. That is
when the KI kangaroo began to develop its own characteristics. The kangaroo is so prevalent that it was used
as a source of protein for early explorers (hence the name Kangaroo Island),
and is still so common that it’s not at all unusual to see kangaroo road kill. (We heard from both the guide and our Aussie
friend John that this kind of road kill is called “was a roo.” Ugh!) There are thousands of Tammar wallabies
on the island. This is a very small
animal very similar to its larger counterparts but only stands about
knee-high. I asked the guide if it was
related at all to the adorable little pademelons we had seen in Tasmania back
in 2009, and the answer was not really.
Pademelons are even smaller than the Tammar wallaby, but they all
definitely look like part of the kangaroo family. The Australian sea lion is an endangered
species with only about 14,000 left. The
brushtail possum, unlike in New Zealand where they’re open game, is completely
protected on the island. The echidna,
like the platypus, is a monotreme, or an egg-laying mammal.
Animals introduced to the island are the koala and the
platypus, both introduced in the 1920s, sheep, pigs, wild deer, rabbits, and
cats. Wild cats have become such a
problem that they are trying to find ways of getting rid of them. Another animal brought to the island is the
honeybee, which arrived in the 1800s.
The settlers were wise in immediately requesting that this bee be
protected by law. As a result, the honey is very pure, and it is just about the
only place in the world where the honeybee is not infected with a mite that
kills off these bees. Our guide Daniel
told us that if this mite was not brought under control, honeybees would really
become endangered worldwide.
Our tour was off and on its way early enough that the
nocturnal kangaroos were still hopping around in the fields. Daniel explained that because of the overcast
skies (no chance of rain because this is the dry season) the kangaroos would be
fooled into thinking it wasn’t quite daytime yet. We caught quick glimpses of several of them
as they foraged for food. Enjoying the unique
flora of the island we continued on our way across it, making a stop at Prospect
Point, where we could enjoy a view of the seaside resort of Pennington
Bay.
Then it was on to Seal Bay, our first wildlife stop. This was where we would find a colony of 1100
Australian sea lions. Female sea lions
spend their lives pregnant! When a
female comes to maturity at about age 4, she is immediately impregnated. Gestation period is about 18 months, and when
the pup is born, she takes care of it.
In the meantime, she immediately gets pregnant again. The only one who will take care of a pup is
the mother. When the pup is able to be
left alone, the mother goes out to sea to feed, sometimes traveling as far as
1200 miles. During that time she is in
danger of being attacked by predators – whales and sharks. If the mother dies, this means a loss of not
just the mother, but also the fetus as well as the pup she left on shore
because the pup will starve without its mother.
As we watched, some sea lions lounged on the beach while others swam in
the waters. As mothers or pups calls
back to the mother. That way mothers and
pups can find each other. We watched as
one pup wandered the beach calling for its mother. We were a little concerned that this pup had
been orphaned, but after a continued calling and searching, the pup found its
mother. Watching these animals walk is
interesting because unlike many other sea lions, they can lumber along on all
fours, leaving long tracks all over the sand making it appear like hundreds of
dune buggies have raced across the beach. Their flippers act like “snowshoes”
in the sand. Soon we were on our way
again, having enjoyed the unique experience of being so near to such an
endangered species of animals in the wild.
Continuing our journey to a nearby wildlife sanctuary, I
kept my eyes peeled for anything that might signal an animal. What a surprise to look down and see a little
Tammar wallaby sitting along the side of the road just as we might view a
squirrel or rabbit ready to dart for cover at home!
A few minutes later we had arrived at our next destination,
a wildlife park where the animals could roam freely. The only fences we saw were specifically to
allow the animals to separate themselves from the humans! In other words, the animals could come and go
at will, but the humans were limited to where they could walk. We started down a path, wondering what to
expect. After a similar experience in
Melbourne in 2009, we didn’t anticipate having much opportunity to see any real
wildlife so we were very pleasantly surprised to discover that we could see
koalas in several trees. In 2009, we saw
two high up in the trees – hard to spot hidden in the branches. This time though we caught sight of two quite
near each other as soon as we started down the path. And even more to our surprise, there was
another one a little farther down that nestled in the crook of a tree just
about six feet above the ground. Here we
were, practically at eye-level with this adorable little creature! He was really settled in for the day, and he
completely ignored our crashing around in the brush trying to get the best
vantage point for pictures. One man even
touched him to see what his fur felt like.
I gasped – I was so afraid he would wake the little guy up so he’d climb
away! Nope – he just slept through
it. By the way, koalas spend most of
their time sleeping, and they smell like eucalyptus. Closely related to the wombat, koalas eat
virtually nothing but eucalyptus. Koala is an Aboriginal word meaning
little or no water. They get their water
from the eucalyptus leaf, and since the leaf has little protein, this means
that the koala has little energy – hence the need for so much sleep! After spotting yet another koala, we
discovered a couple of the Tammar wallabies hiding in some nearby bushes. Hard to spot, they hunkered down till they
could find a way out and around all the people who were eager for photo
ops. Lounging nearby, totally indifferent
to its “celebrity status” (pictures to be posted on Facebook when we get a
chance) was an Australian kangaroo.
Walking a little farther, we encountered more kangaroos. A couple were inside a fence relaxing while a
couple more were outside the fence posing for pictures. Both stood up tall to grab the nearby trees
and feed on the leaves, oblivious to the clicking cameras. Finished with lunch, one kangaroo hopped away
heading for who knows where.
Very happy to have seen so many of these iconic animals, we
headed to Flinders Chase National Park, where we were scheduled to have lunch
and spend the afternoon. This park
comprises most of the western end of Kangaroo Island. We had a nice picnic lunch of prawns (but not
on the barbie – by the way, shrimp on the barbie is a fallacy because Aussies
don’t call them shrimp), pasta salad, tossed salad, and a dessert of fruit and
cheese. I walked up to the visitors’
center and after exploring the gift shop I was heading back when I saw a few
people a few yards away gazing up into a tree.
Yep – another koala nestled into a branch doing what koalas do best:
sleeping. As we waited for people to
come back so we could depart, all of a sudden our HAL representative on the
excursion pointed to something and Daniel went dashing off. They’d spotted an echidna making a “run” for
it across the road in front of another bus.
Daniel managed to head him off and he curled into a ball under some
brush right near the road. While we were
unable to see his little snout, his prickly spines were very visible to us.
Since the echidna is rather elusive, this was a very pleasant surprise for
us!
As we traversed the lands of Flinders Chase National Park,
we could see the result of the 2007 bush fire that devastated the park. However, also evident was the regrowth of the
plants. Myrtle and a kind of tea tree were abundant, albeit low to the ground. Our next destination was Remarkable Rocks, and
with the low foliage we caught a glimpse of these massive stones in the
distance. It reminded me of coming
around a corner and seeing Stonehenge rising out of the Salisbury Plain in
England; however these monoliths were created over millions of years by nature
rather than by man, and the dramatic seascape formed a completely different
backdrop. Set atop cliffs that rise
about 270 above the sea, the stones themselves stand approximately 30 feet high,
carved artistically by nature. We were able to walk up the smooth rock slope to
climb on and stroll around these strangely shaped, imposing stones. Chuck ventured farther than I did because my
foot had really taken a beating with all the walking I’d been doing. However, no matter what the vantage point,
these naturally formed sculptures were impressive.
After another short ride through the park to the southwest
tip of the island, we arrived at Admirals Arch, another incredible natural land
formation, which also boasted a colony of New Zealand fur seals. Back in Wellington I had visited a colony of
the same species and was able to get very close. In this case however, we viewed them from
above as they lounged on the rocks or cavorted in the waters. There was a long walkway that sloped gently
down toward the sea, affording several vantage points where we could see these
huge marine animals. Daniel told us that
in order to see the arch we would have to negotiate several stairs because this
arch was only visible from the very bottom platform. I went down as far as the end of the ramp and
then decided to try the stairs. Discovering
that the stairs were an easy walk, I continued downward, and am I glad I
did! There was Admirals Arch in all its seaside
splendor! Carved out of the rocks as it
was, it was a perfectly formed arch that offered a view of the rocks on the other
side of the point. Cavorting through the
waters under the arch were more seals.
Hanging down from the arch were what appeared to be small stalactites;
these tiny rock “icicles” gave the impression looking from the inside of the
top half of a giant’s mouth with his jagged teeth hanging down taking a huge gulp
of water. What an incredible view, and a
perfect last stop on a wonderful excursion.
By this time it was late in the afternoon. The last tender back to the ship was supposed
to be 5:30, and as we set out after a final rest stop, we had a lot of road to
cover from the southwest corner to the northeast coast of the island. We whizzed along, backtracking part of the
way, enjoying the scenery once again, and even spotting a lone kangaroo venturing
across a field late in the afternoon.
As we rode, Daniel told us a little about life on the
island, and his information corroborated what we had gotten from the ship. With a small population, the island remains
unspoiled. He commented that there were
only two restaurants on the island, and if someone wanted to go to one, they
would have a long round trip. As a
result, people would entertain each other, inviting a group of friends over for
dinner and a movie (since there are also no theaters on the island). To rent a movie is about $3.50, so if it’s a
group of six to eight people, they can enjoy each others’ company and not worry
about wasting a lot of money on a movie they don’t enjoy. There are no police, no taxis, no public
transportation. People don’t lock their
doors; they leave their keys in the cars, just in case a neighbor needs to
borrow the car! It’s difficult to
imagine such a safe environment when at home we live in a culture where
everything must be kept under lock and key!
Ever present, however, is the fire department!
Having so thoroughly enjoyed our short stay on Kangaroo
Island, we were sorry to see the day end.
This is one place we would return to in a heartbeat! We
certainly hope this wonderful island remains as fascinating as it is today and
that tourism doesn’t affect its innocence!
BT
No comments:
Post a Comment