Monday 24 February we said sad farewells and left Lester and Helen’s property on Hindmarsh Island to drive five hours towards Beachport where we had booked to stay in an apartment at the Harbourmaster’s cottage on the promenade.

Here I am ready to drive Richard away….

We took the scenic route rather than the motorway so we ended up on a quick (free) trip on a cable ferry at Wellington. We were lucky to get onto one pretty quickly as the guy loading was picking carefully from the queue waiting for access…the fact that we were just a car with no caravan attached helped a lot I think LOL.

En route we stopped at Kingston to check out the Big Lobster before continuing onto Robe for a comfort break and a quick look around.

Afterwards we carried on until we reached the property in Beachport. We parked in our allocated spot and got ourselves checked in – very nice indeed! Beautifully furnished with fantastic views too…. Sadly was a bit too windy / chilly to take advantage of the outside deck. Some hardy Australians were walking the prom despite the chill factor but it wouldn’t have suited us to be quite so ‘on display’ LOL.

Anyway we checked out all the cooking facilities and then headed to the local general store for some provisions. We unloaded the car and took ourselves off for a scenic drive including our first lighthouse of this element of our trip (Cape Martin). This lighthouse is quite modern compared to many we have visited on our travels through Australia.

Afterwards we retired to our apartment, had dinner, and an evening in front of the TV before bed.

Tuesday morning we were up early as we had to be out by 10 am. We did a few bits of laundry in the washer / drier, cleaned up after ourselves, had a quick breakfast and checked out. Sadly the drying element of the washer was not up to scratch so we ended up moving on with a bag of damp clothing….oh well, never mind….

Our next stop was Mount Gambier where we visited the blue lake which was spectacular! Thought it quite amusing we were only 17kms from Southend at this point LOL.

We also checked out the town / art centre and stopped off for some lunch in a cafe.

Then we continued our scenic drive along the coast to Nelson and visited another lighthouse station at Cape Nelson. Some of the old light keeper’s cottages at many of the light stations are available to rent although obviously they are a bit isolated and you might have snakes as neighbours….

Finally we arrived at Port Fairy where we had booked a historic cottage which was disappointingly finished poorly and, although the bed was lovely (as were the linens) the rest of the place needed a thorough deep clean. I had personally been swayed by the fabulous five star reviews but of course what the reviews don’t tell you is that this property has five cottages in total. The reviews must clearly relate to the newly refurbished ones. And, to my disappointment, they did not even publish my review – although I was polite in my criticism. Shows that this element cannot be trusted on Air BnB as the owners can manipulate what goes public. Rant over…..

Back to the property – cooking facilities were not good – I personally don’t class a rusty standalone electric two hob plate as completely sufficient – although there was a microwave, kettle and toaster – but no oven. I wasn’t going to rustle something up with the two hobs (and the very limited pans available) so decided that, although the place was not in town as anticipated, we would head out for dinner. But first some exploring was needed…we went to see the sea entrance to the Moyne River and the sea was absolutely raging. Afterwards we went to check out the boats on the wharf too…. Then found a local pub which was recommended for its food offerings – and had a spectacular meal! Afterwards we went to the Passage Cliffs to check out the sunset before returning to our cottage, by which time we were absolutely freezing….

Wednesday morning we were up and out early – definitely had no inclination to stay longer – and this time we were heading to Warrnambool as we wanted to see the Maritime Village on Flagstaff Hill.

In the 1850s the original Flagstaff was erected which served as a navigational aid and signal point between ship and shore. It was a vital communication tool relaying important messages to vessels and alerting the townsfolk of shipping activities in the port.

The southwest coast of Victoria was often the first port of call for ships en route to Melbourne and the east coast of Australia from England. Imagine the excitement of passengers and crew at sighting land after 20,000 kms and three harrowing months at sea. Also the devastation of being shipwrecked along the 120 kms of coast from Apollo Bay to Portland – now aptly named the Shipwreck Coast.

We arrived, got parked up, got a concession price on entry (for OAPs) and thoroughly enjoyed a walking tour with one of the volunteers (who was dressed in a period costume). The shipwreck artefacts were stunning along with the stories of those who had survived, and those who had perished, on the ancient wooden schooners which had plied their trade along the coast from England. There are 26 recorded shipwrecks and strandings from 1842 to 1905. In the museum there are relics, cargos and anchors from some of Victoria ‘s most infamous wrecks including the Loch Ard, Schomberg, Newfield, Childre, Antares, La Bella and Falls of Helladale. Obviously wind powered only and this is a treacherous piece of coast – with onshore winds and currents combined with incredible unpredictability.

Was very interesting to hear about how the early settlers lived in this area and to enjoy some of the recreated / restored buildings…. The church was cute and the llamas were an interesting addition to the volunteer crew. And there were two lighthouses, Richard’s favourite LOL.

I particularly enjoyed the scones with cream / jam in the cafe and the sweet shop had some interesting concoctions – my favourite was their chocolate bullets (think hard black liquorice covered in thick milk chocolate). Yummmm…..

We had a lot of time to explore as our next stop was a short distance away – total driving time from A to B today was only 1 hour 30 minutes.

But as we were now officially joining the Great Ocean Road at every brown sign (tourist signs) along the road we turned to see what we could see / find – so visited the Bay of Islands, London Bridge and the Bay of Martyrs….which are inlets along the road. Many of them required us to go off road again too which is fun particularly when it’s only for a short period.

Leaving some of the spectacular scenery behind we continued to Port Campbell where we had a hotel room booked. Unusually for us we were staying in a hotel rather than an apartment and the room was huge. The staff were very friendly and, after checking in, we walked the pier, enjoyed some of the tiny town, checked out the surprisingly nice beach, and then had drinks in the bar before going back to our room for a while. Later on we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant which was great!

Thursday morning we had a wonderful hotel breakfast and then took ourselves off to the nearby heliport where we were going to be enjoying a 30 minute helicopter trip over the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles. We were very excited and did wonder how many people we would have to share our helicopter with….they take up to eight people and need a minimum of three to fly the trip. Anyway, we arrived, had our safety briefing, got kitted up and were then told our helicopter was on its way to pick us up and we climbed into Budgie LOL.

It was only a four seater (including the pilot) and Richard nabbed the front co-pilot seat while I settled into the back. Not too happily I had to relinquish my small rucksack and leave it in the car…so it meant that the car now had all our valuables locked within…why couldn’t my bag take up the free seat?!? Anyway….we took off…and OMG what a view. We do have video footage of the trip which I’ll share another time – can’t right now as have no computer to plug it into – as we only travelled with the iPad / keyboard this trip to minimise hand luggage. But a unique USB reminder that’s for sure.

What a fantastic experience and highly recommended for anyone thinking of coming this way!

After the helicopter excursion we drove back along the Great Ocean Road and visited all the sights we had seen from the air by road – again following brown tourist signs.

We then drove on to Cape Otway but our sat nav lost its signal and started taking us through single rainforest dirt track roads into the clouds. We spotted some logging going on and prayed we would not meet a logging lorry coming the other way LOL. Nowhere to run and Richard didn’t fancy reversing along these roads under pressure. Pretty though in the forest…

We realised what had happened but there wasn’t an obvious way to sort it out – so pushed on until the signal returned – and then re-routed back to the Great Ocean Road. Amazing rural scenery as well as the ocean but, OMG, so very remote and hard to consider living somewhere that is at such significant risk from bush fires….

We did eventually reach the Cape Otway lighthouse which is regarded as the most significant lighthouse in Australia as this would be the first lighthouse that ships would have seen coming from England.

We then continued onto Lorne – by now we are on the best part of the coast road driving around hairpin bends alongside the cliffs…but, Sod’s Law, it is raining so the views are not visible. Pushing on we arrived in Lorne and eventually found our apartment in this particularly drab old-fashioned building…never mind…. We found reception, got the information about the underground car park, checked in and had a look around. The apartment was nice with great views out to sea…and was within walking distance of bars / restaurants etc. Having checked out the cooking facilities we went shopping, returned and unloaded, then walked down to the beach and enjoyed watching the cockatoos digging into the dirt. The beach was busy with lots of people swimming and enjoying themselves – this place had a different vibe, much more of a ‘seaside’ town. We returned to the apartment, did a bit of unpacking, then went out to the Lorne Hotel across the way for drinks on their rooftop bar overlooking the ocean and plagued by cockatoos LOL.

Back to the apartment for dinner and, naughty, naughty, we encouraged the cockatoos to visit our balcony and fed them with some cheese crackers. Love watching these pretty birds despite the earsplitting noise they make. And that was it for the day.

Friday morning we packed up and left. We drove down the road to the Swing Bridge Cafe for breakfast which had been recommended. It reminded us a bit of a Caribbean beach bar and didn’t hold much hope for a good feed – but it was tremendous, fast delivery and very fresh.

After breakfast we headed to Split Rock Lighthouse and had a cup of tea in their cafe before continuing our drive towards Torquay via Anglesea. Notice all the English place names…we had even driven through Southend the other day!

We arrived in Torquay and parked up outside and went in. The hotel room was not ready yet and they would call us when it was….so we asked for the car park instructions in the meantime. We got the car parked up and found a lift to take us back to the main reception. This place is huge and we needed a map to get around LOL. We decided to have some refreshments and settled down by the pool while we waited.

A couple of hours later – and at the allocated check in time – we returned to reception to get an update. We finally got access to our room which was huge although not easy to find! We unloaded the car and then went for a walk along the promenade towards the main strip of bars and restaurants as, surprisingly for a five star Wyndham property, the hotel didn’t have a proper restaurant just a cafe doing basic fare. En route we popped into the Bowls club (or the Bowlo as the locals call it) always a good place to get a reasonably priced meal – and it was absolutely rammed…. So we continued walking until we found a restaurant that could accommodate us. Which was called Bombaras. The food was good and the ambience nice too so glad we found it – despite the 35 minute walk to get here. After dinner we called back into the Bowling club as there was a live band playing. They were called The Truants and Richard reckoned they were called that because they had missed music lessons at school LOL. They were absolutely dreadful…. So we headed back to our hotel where we found we had frozen a bottle of wine in the fridge and so to bed…

So that completes this part of our Great Ocean Road adventure. Come back soon for the next instalment which visits Melbourne. Bye for now Jan

Wednesday morning (19th February) we were up early, packed up the car and left our little cottage behind. We drove towards the ferry terminal and arrived early enough to get the ferry before the one we were scheduled to be sailing on. I went inside to talk to the check in desk and they said we were welcome to join if we wanted to – however, they wouldn’t recommend it, as they had just loaded a lorry full of cows on board. In bad weather it wasn’t unknown for cars to be splattered as the cows reacted to their confinement in a ‘rolling’ truck. Hmmmm….our hire car was already filthy from all the dust on the Kangaroo Island’s unmade roads….didn’t fancy that! So we declined to join and waited it out keeping our place at the start of the queue for the next sailing.

Our next destination was Hindmarsh Island where Lester and Helen had settled since leaving the Gold Coast where we had met them. They had had an Island Packet too and we were (allegedly LOL) the inspiration for them to sell their boat SV Joule, as they had seen how well we had done in the Covid market when Australians were after anything that would let them go walkabout particularly boats and caravans in response to the restrictions. Their move to Hindmarsh – which is an inland river island located in the lower Murray River near the town of Goolwa, South Australia – is very close to where Helen had grown up so the huge move was also partially for family reasons as her mother had had some health concerns over the last few years. We were very excited to see our friends again especially in their new home and eagerly boarded the ferry and took off towards the mainland. We docked on time and drove towards the island and across the bridge. We located and drove down their street but couldn’t spot their house number – suddenly Richard spotted Lester in the road behind us – we had driven right past LOL.

We quickly got our luggage indoors, made ourselves comfortable in the guest bedroom, and then headed down the Murray River on their motorboat Romanza where we had a glass of bubbles and some nibbles. Lovely!

We then returned to their beautiful home for dinner – at which point Helen and I went indoors and the boys disappeared. Helen said they were probably next door so I popped out into the garden and yes, there they were, both sitting in the cockpit of the neighbour’s small Beneteau. Warned them dinner was almost ready and, eventually, they returned so we had a fantastic meal, sat and watched some TV, and then to bed. Had been a lovely day.

Thursday morning we headed to the Goolwa Barrage – this is a 10 minute drive from the town of Goolwa around 80 kms south of Adelaide. It separates the fresh water flowing down the Murray river from the salt water of the Coorong. It is the last of a series of locks and barrages that control the flow of the Murray River along its entire length. They were originally intended to make the river more navigable for the elegant paddle steamers that once plied these waters carrying essential goods. A row of statuesque Norfolk Pines lines the roadway to the barrage and as we reach the barrage we are greeted by a variety of wildlife around the first section which leads out into the river. There were great cormorants, NZ fur seals basking and fishing in the muddy water before resting up on the barrage itself for a rest (don’t know how they get into the positions they ferociously defend) and a view of my personal favourite the Australian Pelican. So much more beautiful than the brown pelicans we are used to seeing in the Caribbean. This largely white bird with black wings just seems bigger and more majestic somehow…..

We then moved on with a drive into the Barossa Valley. We stopped for coffee in Balhannah (in the Adelaide Hills) along the way and then headed towards Gumeracha where we saw the Big Rocking Horse….not sure why the Australians have to have “big” things everywhere but as they then become tourist attractions over time can see the long-term benefit!

Then onwards to Tanunda where we had a lovely lunch in the Bakery. We also stopped at the Whispering Wall in Williams Town – amazing feat of engineering building a curved dam wall that, when you speak to each other from either end, it sounds like the person is standing next to you! Had lots of fun with that….

We then went to a couple of wineries – the first one being a very commercial Penfolds and finishing up at Rockford – smaller with old fashioned methodology. We enjoyed the cellar door tastings and, having purchased a few bottles here and there, we headed back to Hindmarsh for dinner. Lovely day!

On Friday first thing Richard tried his hand at radio controlled sailing. This is something that Lester has newly introduced to the island and there is now quite a gang of them who race regularly! I declined as I really have no hand to eye coordination LOL.

Peter and Carol came over and we went up the river on Romanza to Clayton Bay for lunch at Pier 28. A jolly time it was too…. Always nice to make new friends. Everyone had a go at driving the boat and trying out Lester’s silly captain’s hat LOL.

On return to the house we chilled for the rest of the afternoon before getting ready to head out to Goolwa for the evening where we were going to a quiz night which was a fundraiser for the community shed that Lester attends. The team consisted of us, Lester & Helen, Peter & Carol, Frances & Geoffrey and George & Di. Lots of Australian specific questions so we were rubbish at them and because the team was so large the lady scribing often chose an alternative suggestion to our preferred answer….as a consequence we came third overall but, had she chosen some of our responses, we could have improved upon that LOL. Lester was also somewhat distracted by the yacht racing going on in the bay – a weekly event that he usually takes part in on his neighbours Beneteau….

Saturday morning we went into Goolwa and visited the historic Oscar W which is a unique 1908 wood-fired heritage Paddle Steamer. Lester is heavily involved in this vessel being part of the crew and Helen is currently treasurer of the charity so we had a private viewing! This project definitely keeps them busy…. Beautiful old craft which takes paying guests periodically for a cruise along the Lower Murray River.

We then headed off for a trip aboard the Steam Ranger Heritage Railway towards Victor Harbour – was quite excited about the idea of going on a steam train but, unfortunately, the trains were cancelled due to the fire risk – the temperature was above 38 degrees Celsius and there has been no rain for months. So we drove to Victor Harbour instead and dropped Helen off as she had an important opticians appointment. We then drove up to the Bluff for some scenery pictures before returning to get a horse drawn carriage over to Granite Island. We chatted to Albert – the large Clydesdale horse who was shackled up ready to go. The people running this service said this would be the last run over as the heat was too much for the horses…. So we waved Albert off and went to chat to Scottie, who was being lazy, and came with a warning that he bites! Lester chatted to him and he clearly wanted to bite him LOL.

Anyway by now Helen was free again so we went to pick her up and travelled onwards to the McLaren Vale where we visited the D’Arenburg Cube which is Salvador Dali inspired and where many exhibits were signed and certified as originals from the Dali stable. The most expensive statue was only Australian $1.95 mn plus sales tax (10%) plus delivery….. Was interesting looking through all the exhibits – not sure our garden / house or pockets were sufficient to warrant a purchase LOL. Some of the exhibits were just plain weird to be honest.

D’Arenburg is actually a winery so after looking around the exhibits we headed to the top floor for a wine tasting. All the white offerings were a bit sweet for our palate but was a fun experience anyway.

After we finished the tasting we drove back to the mouth of the Murray River which was fascinating. We then had dinner at home before retiring to bed after a long day. The temperature had certainly started to drop when the sun when down.

Sunday we headed to the Warrawonga Wildlife Sanctuary which is owned by Lester’s old school friend David (Cobbold). They had recently reconnected via social media.

We fed kangaroos / emus / checked out the ducks and turtles but sadly saw no platypus. Then it was time for our koala adventure…we all went into the enclosure with two rangers and, it was so cute, one of the smaller ones just reached up for the guy and climbed straight into his arms for a cuddle. Apparently this koala loves anyone dressed in khaki LOL. These koalas really seemed to enjoy the human interaction and we had lots of petting time – usually they give you a side look to say ‘hey, I’m tired, let me sleep’…. These were the friendliest koalas we had ever met and the most rewarding adventure.

Sadly leaving the koalas behind we continued wandering around the park and visited the dingos and, again, were mugged by the kangaroos for food. Richard even had the emus eating out of his hand…. I’m a little nervous around them as they have huge claws and a fast turn of speed…. Then we spotted a couple of little fellows – we think they looked like rock wallabies – some cockatoos, snakes and lazy lizards – called sleepy lizards and some blue tongues. All very strange looking creatures.

Moving on we headed to Hahndorf which is a German artisan village settled in 1839 by Prussian Lutherans seeking religious freedom.

We checked out the cuckoo clocks, the nutcrackers, the scented candles and a variety of other items, especially Xmas decorations. We, however, decided not to buy anything.

We stopped for a snack – I had a pretzel which was pretty good – and then we returned to the house. We had a rest up before getting ready to go out for dinner at the Chiton Rocks Surf Lifesaving Club. We saw an amazing sunset on our departure before heading home to bed.

Monday morning we said our sad farewells to Lester and Helen again – it had been a very special reunion and we were so very grateful to them for their amazing hospitality in their beautiful home and for showing us around the area. They are definitely living the dream!

And so the next chapter of this adventure beckoned….the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne. Very excited about this. Bye for now, come back soon, Jan

Saturday 15 February we were up early in Adelaide, packed up the car, checked out of our apartment and drove down the Fleurieu Peninsula on the way to Cape Jarvis where we were scheduled to be on the midday ferry over to KI. (And this is the most expensive ferry in the world per kilometre!) Beautiful scenery and small towns along the way and, although the brown grass showed the impact of the South Australia drought – if the hills had been verdant and green you could almost think you were in teletubbie land LOL.

Of course, the weather had caught up with us, after the extreme temperatures in Adelaide the previous week it was now chilly with the very occasional short-lived shower of rain.

We got to the ferry terminal and checked in – I had to walk onto the ferry as Richard drove the car and met me onboard later – it was very choppy heading directly into the wind towards Penneshaw, our KI destination port.

In fact the ferry was tipping around so madly that the (empty) swivel seats were enjoying themselves in some sort of synchronised ballet. There were a few excited kids around and they loved it although they were not so keen when the ferry tipped and they couldn’t stand up anymore LOL. Thankfully no one was injured or sea sick although bags were at hand in plentiful numbers just in case…

We arrived in Penneshaw and I walked off the ferry and waited for Richard to pick me up. Richard had been one of the first to drive onto the ferry so he was lucky enough to go forwards and reverse into a tight spot near the stern. Other drivers were not so lucky having to navigate the access to the ferry completely in reverse gear. Upside to that for them was that they were off first at the other end!

Richard drove us the hour or so to our accommodation in Kingscote which is the main settlement on the island. The first thing we noticed was the huge amount of roadkill – mainly kangaroos sadly. We found our holiday cottage easily and let ourselves in…checked out the cooking facilities…and headed into town for some provisioning. This cottage had been built in the owners garden (which was very spacious) and was lovely with sea views from the kitchen window. On the way back from provisioning we enjoyed the Silo Art, visited the pelicans and the cormorants on the waterfront. Back at “home” we felt quite cold so had dinner and movie night in.

Sunday morning we were up early and headed down the island to the Wildlife Park and Raptor Domain. The Wildlife Park had been relocated in December 2024 from the centre of the island near Parndana. We enjoyed ourselves feeding kangaroos and patting the koalas. The kangaroos are different here – more woolly – and very friendly. The funny thing about the koalas’ enclosure was that they had wild ones who had come down in the night and wanted to stay…so they were let into the enclosure and hadn’t tried to leave since… Guess they were attracted by the easy access to fresh eucalyptus leaves each day LOL. The keeper told us which were the wild ones and they were more than wild looking – absolutely livid with us tourists checking them out when all they want to be doing is sleeping! But my favourite this time was the sleeping koala who was cuddling a youngster in her arms and a bigger young one climbed on top, not wanting to miss out. Wondered if this was also one of her joeys. Lots of arms / legs to decipher in this one LOL.

After that we looked at the fairy penguins, which do live on this coast in the wild but are being decimated by the expanding fur seal population. Afterwards we went to the raptor show which was very educational – the avian keepers clearly had a rapport and respect for their charges. I was lucky enough to hold a tawny frogmouth (who is often mis-named as an owl) and Richard held a large South American parrot. We also checked out the meerkats, the dingos, and some other critters.

Moving on we headed in the car to the far west of the island to see Admirals Arch and the Cape de Couedic Lighthouse. We also spotted quite a few fur seals lazing around – completely protected by their precarious perch on the rocks. Boy the sea was raging that day….

Afterwards we headed to see Remarkable Rocks which are perched above the sea in Flinders Chase National Park, the rocks form what appear to be a cluster of precariously balanced granite boulders. This stunning work of nature has been shaped by the erosive forces of wind, sea spray and rain over 500 million years.

By now we were pretty peckish so grabbed a very late lunch at Livonnie General Store and cafe just before they shut the kitchen. Back in Kingscote we were surprised to find a car parked in the parking spot outside the garden gate to our cottage. We realised, however, that the main house was also being let at this time so the car belonged to another guest who had parked close to the main house…. Anyway, no real hostelry nearby that we fancied so we decided to have another night in.

Monday we went out for breakfast in Kingscote before driving to Seal Bay.

On arrival, we enjoyed the boardwalk to the beach lookout.

Leaving this (and the seals) behind we headed to the northern coast and ended up in Rockpool via an unmade road. OMG the poor car was completely covered in dust! And we had been shaken / rattled like crazy. The slower you drove the worse it was, so Richard embraced his natural energy, and took off like a F1 pro LOL. I merely clung to my seat hoping to arrive safely!

After this we went to Emu Bay and had a cold drink in the car watching out over the coastline…. Then to Shoal Bay / North Cape and phew the roads were difficult – driving on sand over limestone rock…completely desolate with some farmland tucked in between. This is what you call isolation! Back to the apartment after a long day of driving we had another quick shop on the way back ‘home’ and another early night beckoned. This time we were a bit practical too as we got all the laundry done and hung up outside to dry. The sun had come out so we even enjoyed a glass of wine in our little cottage garden overlooking the sea….

Tuesday morning we headed to the American River. This is the first area visited by Europeans in 1802 when Matthew Flinders landed to survey this part of the island. In 1803 a group of American sealers camped for four months in the area. They arrived on the brig Union and built their own 35 ton schooner Independence from local timber. The town takes its name from this time. Was interesting to see the restoration work being done on the schooner Independence in the shed on the end of the wharf. The star attraction on the wharf was the solo seal sunbathing….

Oh yes and it was cruise ship day…so swarms of tourists in minibuses descended on the small towns along the way. It was also one of the few places where we saw yachts at anchor.

After this we headed off to see the Cape Willoughby lighthouse – and, with me driving and Richard navigating – once again we had dirt roads to contend with! To be fair you can’t really get around KI if you try to avoid them…. Funnily enough we had been told in the past not to take rental cars ‘off road’ but, although they knew our destination there was no such warning given this time. Felt better about that but did wonder if we would have been better off in a SUV?!? By the way, going back in time, can’t imagine being posted as the light keeper to one of these very remote places…

In December 2019/January 2020 KI was hit by lightning which ignited devastating bushfires. Fires burned 211,474 hectares of land, almost half of the island. It is unknown how many of the island’s wild animals perished, although the koala population plummeted from approximately 48,000 to 8,500 as a result, alongside 32,000 head of stock and domestic animals that also died. The widespread fires damaged / destroyed homes, businesses, grazing land, forests, crops, machinery, and infrastructure, and two people tragically lost their lives. Very sad but the island has recovered amazingly well considering.

In the afternoon we had booked on a boat trip to go out and see dolphins and seals…so headed to Christmas Cove to meet the boat. The boat was late docking and all these wet, cold and exhausted tourists disembarked. They had been swimming with the dolphins and seals….brrrrr….not for me thanks in the Southern Ocean which is Great White shark territory!!! Think they may have been cruise ship passengers…

We had an enjoyable slow cruise out looking at the limestone cliffs which showed many a story of the evolution of the place…with unusual formations which the skipper was quite excited about….but we had seen very similar in Tasmania so weren’t that impressed. We met a young French traveller – female and solo – who was driving around in a truck which had a tent on the roof for accommodation. I thought she was incredibly brave but she said that lots of French people do this and she keeps bumping into them at different places – but everyone has a different schedule so she always knew this would be largely a solo adventure. Guess camping is in her bones as she manages a campsite in France for a living LOL.

We were lucky enough to see both dolphins and seals as promised by the captain. Guess they pretty much stay in the same place…. On the way back the crew let the massive 1200 HP outboard engines rip and we drove around erratically at great speed to the delight of all the guests on board.

Anyway, quite chilly after the boat trip, we headed back towards Kingscote and popped into a new local hostelry called the Pick & Shovel Pub. All very trendy and tiny! Not particularly comfortable we drank up and moved back to our apartment to bring in our laundry, have dinner and curl up in the warm.

I got on with the blog and Richard watched his favourite programmes…. Anyway, this was our last night on Kangaroo Island as Wednesday we were booked on the 1.30 pm ferry to return to the mainland….

So bye for now and come back soon for another part of our adventure.

Jan