Day 18. Kangaroo Island

 What a Remarkable day

Secret Passage to Beach



Our lovely tranquil sleep-in was cut short by of all things, the local garbage truck. See even out here in paradise, the daily grind still goes on.

We packed up camp as the clouds were rolling in, we were concerned that the tent was going to get wet. It ended up holding out, but we still headed out early and went for another walk down the beach for one last look and photo opportunity. It didn’t disappoint, this place is beautiful; Stokes Bay is by far the most beautiful of all the bays on Kangaroo Island. And the secret passage cave walk to get through to the beach, a real novelty.



As we began our drive around the island our first stop was King George Beach. This beach had the most amazing red lichen (similar to moss) all over the rocks, a photographer’s paradise. We explored the rock pools, and took a million photographs.



King George Beach


We then ventured onto Western River Cove, another picture perfect area and like the last stop we had the whole place to ourselves. To get to this cove we had to drive down into a very steep winding valley, totally worth the thrill ride and we could see why not many people ventured down here.


Western River Cove

Next stop was Flinders Chase National Park Visitor’s Centre to have some lunch, and purchase a national parks pass. This park is home to the famous Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks, both part of the reason (other than the wildlife) we came here.

Admirals Arch is home to hundreds of New Zealand fur seals, they are everywhere. There were mothers with pups; juveniles play fighting, huge older seals asleep everywhere in the sun, and more playing in the water. The actual arch was down a long stairway and is a huge natural wonder cut out of the side of th cliff by water erosion, providing a great sheltered breeding area for the seals.



Admirals Arch

While walking out to another lookout at the Arch, Scarlett nearly trod on a Tiger snake. I knew they were very common in this area, so walking along I was always keeping a lookout along the edge of the path. Poor little bugger I nearly broke her arm pulling her backwards in mid air just as her foot was about to come down on him. She quickly forgot the pain in her arm and turned from crying to excitement, and wanting to take a closer look at him. On the way back from the lookout, we were able to find him again not far from the path, slowly cruising for lunch.

Tiger Snake

The beautiful sculptures of the Remarkable Rocks did not disappoint either, they really are actually quite ‘remarkable’. They look so out of place, yet blend in beautifully. There are so many colours and shapes, and they seem to be poised so delicately here that a small wind might just blow them all off. We had a great time posing for photos and finding shapes in the rocks, we could have stayed here for hours. The rocks are so smooth, I don’t know if this is from natural erosion or the fact everyone who visits can’t help as they walk around running their hands all over them, I know we did.

The Remarkable Rocks

Next on the list today was a guided walk through the Kelly Hills Caves. On the way to the cave entrance we spotted an echidna, he was huge, and so busy digging for ants so we were able to walk right up to him. We were the only people on this tour so the ranger let Scarlett hold one of his torches, and pretty much let her walk us where ever she wanted to. These underground wonders were discovered in the 1920’s and there is still more paths being opened up and explored today. The photo’s here don’t do the experience justice, it was really beautiful inside.



Kelly Hill Caves



When we came out of the caves the clouds had really rolled in and rain drops were starting to fall, so we decided to ditch the tent and booked in at the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Retreat, located at the entrance to the park and very eco-friendly. Scarlett purchased some kangaroo food and laid a path through the motel and right up onto our veranda. Within half an hour she had three small wallabies feeding out of her hand right at our door. All the overseas tourists wanted to take photos of her - too funny.

Mother and Baby Brushtail Possum

This evening Shane booked us in at Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for a nocturnal tour. We saw heaps of wallabies, kangaroo’s, koala’s, and ringtail/brushtail possums. Most of the wildlife we have seen many

times before, but it was still entertaining for Scarlett and good support for the sanctuary. Scarlett was to tired from this huge day she was asleep before we even got out of the sanctuary’s drive way. A huge day for us all.

Day 17. Murray Bridge to Kangaroo Island

An amazing encounter!

This is a day late I know, but Internet isn't the easiest thing to access over here on Kangaroo Island -

But its worth the wait! Read on.....

It was an early start to make the ferry in time. The drive took just under two hours and we found ourselves boarding the Kangaroo Island car ferry and on the high seas! Actually, the seas were flat and the trip across went fantastic. Scarlett commented that she was travelling overseas!

First stop was Pennington Bay on the south coast where we had lunch and walked along the beach and crawled amongst the rocks and cliffs. Scarlett had a ball, and Bec and I were mesmerized by the beauty and coastline. It truly is an unforgettable place, as the water is a beautiful turquoise colour and the beaches are as white as any we have ever seen!

While travelling, we came across a salt lake and decided to investigate further. I took the Pajero out onto it so I could get some good off road photos. While I was doing this Bec decided to go for a walk, and before she knew what was happening she found herself breaking through the salt layer and sinking into stinking mud, It was hilarious! She was almost crying, and here I was laughing and taking photos! Scarlett was not impressed and told Bec that she was disgusting!

We then made our way to the north coast to a little place called Emu Bay. We found we could take the Pajero on the beach and travel the whole length of the beach. Scarlett thought it was great and can’t wait to go back.

Halfway down the beach, we had the most amazing encounter. While I was exploring the sand dunes, Bec and Scarlett decided to go for a swim. Bec called out to me that there were dolphins nearby. By the time I found the camera, Bec and Scarlett had practically walked up to them (very shallow water), and the dolphins came over to check them both out. There were 4 or 5 adults and 2 young ones in the pod. They got that close, that if Bec wasn’t holding Scarlett, she could of reached out and touched them. It was a magic moment that will live with Bec and Scarlett forever!

We then decided to check out what was happening towards the middle of the island and found a little place called ‘Parndana Wildlife Park’. Scarlett kept asking where are all the Kangaroo’s? She expected them to be everywhere. Well we were on Kangaroo Island, so I could see her point. This place has a plethora of local native wildlife, and the biggest collection of birds I have seen in one place. (Evo you would love it here!). We fed the animals and did everything possible, before enjoying an ice-cream and making more plans on where to head next.

We headed north to another place called Stokes Bay. We decided to set up camp here for the night, so we pitched our tent, made dinner, and then went exploring! We found another truly amazing place. We went for a walk and found a series of caves in the headland that opened up on another fantastic beach and natural rock pool. Scarlett and I left Bec to read her magazines on the beach, and Scarlett and I went exploring. We found more caves, and Scarlett soon had me squeezing through the tightest, narrowest holes imaginable. However we did end up going in one place and coming out somewhere else on more than one occasion. We even went rock hopping out past the natural rock pool, and by the time we found our way back, we had gone completely around one headland, and didn’t return for about an hour. I think Bec forgot about us, as by the time we returned she was almost sleeping.

The other thing about this place is all the little critters. We have all these small wallabies and bandicoots visiting and again, Scarlett loves it. We are just minding our own business doing our own thing, and the next thing we know we are surrounded by wallabies. Even now, I’m sitting outside the tent typing this blog, and I have at least 3 wallabies less than 6 ft away eating grass and checking me out. It’s a great feeling having wildlife so close!

Goodnight!

(Posted by Shane via Bec's blog access - I'm still having troubles)

Day 16. Mypolonga

Orange World Nostalgia

Mum sent me this really old pic of me at Orange World back in 1996, this visit was the whole reason I wanted to take Scarlett to this iconic place. It was a shame it was closed although I am now grateful I got a picture of her there now.

Me at Orange World 1996

Scarlett at Orange World 2011

Today was a maintenance da. We went into Murray Bridge, did some laundry, food shopping, shopped at Bunnings and got some parts for the engel freezer. We've booked a ferry for tomorrow to go over to Kangaroo Island for 4 days, so today was all about packing the car and getting ready to depart tomorrow.

Were leaving the van at Kim's for the four days we are gone, and moving everything into the tent. The car is packed to the roof, I'm so used to having all the space in the van, I'm now realising how spoilt I've been.
Chris and Brian cooked a lovely BBQ at Kim's for dinner tonight and we headed back to their home to stay so we are a little closer tomorrow morning for the drive into the ferry at Cape Jervis.

Scarlett had a great evening playing with Kim's three boys and was sad to say goodbye, she will be back guys so don't bother putting away all the LEGO!

Day 15. Mannum to Mypolonga

Happy Valentines Day!

Umm, well yes. Both Bec and I forgot. Oops!

Happy Valentines Day honey....... I Love You!

Weather wise, today was great! It got a little warm mid afternoon, but it was nothing compared to the heat we experienced back in NSW only a week or two ago.

As we prepared to set off from Mannum this morning, the "Murray Princess" pulled in alongside, and we had a great view of this majestic vessel. I would like to do a multi-day trip on her one day as I believe it would be absolutely beautiful.

We then headed off to Monarto Open Range Zoo and had a great time. We took the shuttle bus within the zoo to visit all the different exhibits, and even made a point of stopping in and seeing a few Keeper talks - namely the White Rhino, African Painted Dogs / Hyena / Lion, and the Chimpanzee. It was very informative, and turned out to be a relaxing day just checking out the locals.

We were even fortunate enough to witness a high speed collision between two land tortoises that ended in one roll over and had the zoo responding in minutes. It was truly amazing to watch.

Scarlett loved the 'reindeers', Bec loved the giraffe, and I enjoyed the Rhino's. We all ticked off our 'must see list' today.

After the zoo, we went down to Murray Bridge to visit Kris and Brian, the parents of Troy - a friend of mine who I know at work. They have been very helpful, and have arranged for our caravan to be parked/stored at Kim's house (Troys sister) while we visit Kangaroo Island for a few days to have a look at this amazing part of Australia. Its amazing how many people (friends and family) have gone out of their way to help us on our journey and made it that little bit more special - thank you to all of you - you know who you are!

Not a hectic day at all really, but it was nice just to spend some time as a family (on Valentine's Day) doing something we all enjoy.

I could almost get use to this.......

post by Shane (I couldn't log in and had to use Bec's access to blog tonight)

Day 14. Renmark to Mannum

McLeod's Daughters meets the Cheney's...

We had a lovely sleep in today, and Shane made bacon and eggs for breakfast. We packed up and left lovely Renmark this morning and hit the road only to stop 20km’s down the track at a huge adventure playground for Scarlett at Monash. This playground was huge and best of all free, I don’t know who had the better time Shane or Scarlett.

Next stop was Banrock Station winery, after some very nice tastings I settled on a Pink Moscato, some local Dukkah and Olive oil. This winery is very eco friendly situated overlooking a huge regenerated wetland area filled with birds. I would love to have sit here all afternoon drinking wine and eating good food if I didn’t have a 5 yr old hounding me to move on.

We stopped in at Brookfield Conservation Park just out of Blanchetown. This park was purchased by the Chicago Zoological Society in Brookfield USA as a wombat reserve to study the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombats. It’s now managed by S.A. National Parks, and it’s the first time we took the caravan seriously off road. When we parked this evening and I went to get a jacket out of my wardrobe and discovered that everything that was once hanging up was now on the bottom in a huge pile. We didn’t see any wombats….

Further down the track Shane had a lovely idea to take me for a drink in at the Gungellan Hotel (at Freeling) out of McLeod’s Daughters, it was so cool. Pity that show took a nose dive; I really enjoyed the first couple of seasons.

This evening we settled into a free camp, again on the Murray River at Mannum. It was a quick spag bowl eaten out on the riverfront, and when it got dark we did some spot lighting. It didn’t take long before we were seeing possums in every tree. Scarlett had a green apple and was hand feeding them, they were so tame. One poor possum was coming down the tree to get a piece of apple from her, when the little bugger slipped straight down the trunk and onto her, she got the fright of her life. Kept her cool though and stood still and he just ran back up alongside her again. Don’t know what it is with this kid and freaky animal encounters at the moment, tomorrow at the Monarto zoo should be interesting……..

Day 13. Renmark

Barefoot Bushman in Renmark

Today was another exploration day. We decided early that we were going to visit "Bredl's Wonder World of Wildlife" here in Renmark. This is the home of the Barefoot Bushman - a very iconic Australian.

Although a small park in comparison to many other wildlife parks, we discovered that this park was to be a very hands on experience, where we ended up close and personal with the famous man himself.

On entering the park, we were greeted by a very young doe that was only a couple of weeks old, and Scarlett instantly fell in love! We then walked outside and straight into a close encounter with a capuchin monkey. After a short walk around the grounds, we watched the animal show given by Rob Bredl himself. The show started with an introduction to the Betong, a beautiful little macropod. Then, Scarlett handled baby leopard tortoises, bearded dragons, reticulated pythons, frogs, the doe and then the capuchin monkeys. What a day. After the show, we hung around and chatted to Rob and his wife for a short time while Scarlett bottle fed the doe. Magic!

It was then lunchtime, and we moved down to the riverfront to enjoy a great 'fish and chips' in the park.

We returned to the caravan park, where Bec left myself and Scarlett to our own devices while she went back into town to do some shopping and have some 'Bec time'. Scarlett and I hired a pedal bike and spent the next hour pedaling around the caravan park and along the river. We then ditched the bike and went for a well deserved swim in the pool.

When Bec returned from her trip into town, Scarlett talked her into 'visiting' the jumping pillow and playground here at Big4 Renmark. A very full day for Scarlett indeed.

....................

Day 12. Mildura to Renmark

The swan incident

We left Mildura today, and I must say it was a great stop off. Scarlett managed to avoid her school work this morning and played with a little girl she met the afternoon before in the pool. They were catching grass hoppers (they are in plague numbers here at the moment) and frogs. I must admit it was nice not having to entertain her while trying to pack up.

I decided to help get rid of the last vegies I would do a big casserole in the thermal cooker. With a beef and red wine base, I browned off my meat, and threw it into the thermal cooker on the stove to simmer for 20min. I added potatoes, pumpkin, corn, cauli and everything else I could find that needed to be used before going across the border. After 20min simmering it was placed into its thermal housing to finish off the cooking process, not to be revealed until dinner time tonight. This cooker doesn’t require any electricity - the heat from the simmering continues the cooking process throughout the day in its thermal housing.

When Shane opened it up this evening at 6, yummy! The meat was so tender and the vegies cooked perfect.

We stopped at the quarantine control point at the South Australian border at lunchtime with no incidents, the man looked in my fridge and asked me a couple of questions then we were back on our way.

We could see a really large dust storm building on our left, and were glad when we got ahead of it. With the big winds Scarlett was very amused with the tumble weeds rolling down the road, she was continually telling Shane to run them over.

We are staying at the Big 4 in Renmark, and this park although a little more expensive at $42 a night you can see where the money is. We have a lovely grassy, shaded spot right on the river’s edge. The pool is a resort style with a spa and waterfall. They have a lovely kiosk, paddle boats, canoes, and pedal cars. We have booked in for two nights although this could easily be extended.
We did a quick trip into town after set up and a couple of hours of school work, to check out the tourist information centre. There is a really cool lookout, Reptile Park and play ground here, along with a great farmers market on Sat. Plenty to keep us busy for the next couple of days anyway.

We spent the afternoon in the pool playing games and reading on the deck chairs. Unfortunately the clouds rolled in at 5 so it was back to the van to put on a DVD. After dinner we pulled out the brollies and braved the rain to walk up to the kiosk for an ice cream. Scarlett got a slushy, and I had my favourite Monaco bar.

This evening while Shane and Scarlett were watching Avatar, Scarlett saw a black swan out the window and ran out to have a closer look. The thing was really brazen and ran up the embankment straight at her, it must have thought she had some food. Well Scarlett who is a little too brave when it comes to animals turned and ran back so fast she nearly fell over her feet. Shane managed to get her to come back to have another look and the swan took one small step towards her and again she totally crapped herself. I got a great pic, our big brave girl finally met her match.

Day 11. Mildura

Gaol house 'rock'

This is our third and last day in Mildura, and we are only now just starting to unwind. Unfortunately it was a hot one (about 38 deg C), and we certainly felt it, so we had to relax more than once today in the pool while sipping a nice Mudgee white port!

We tried to visit Orange World but it was closed, so we took pictures out the front and then moved onto Wentworth. This is where the junction/merger of the Murray and Darling Rivers occurs; the river is 4mtrs above the normal height at the moment in flood, so it’s a pretty spectacular sight. Unfortunately the lookout was also closed due to the flooding. We had a look – as best we could, and then moved on down river to check out Lock and Weir No 10.

As we had a little time on our hands, we stopped in at the Old Wentworth Gaol. It’s the oldest standing gaol in Australia. Reputedly the notorious bushranger ‘Captain Starlight’ spent some time here. Shane was very interested, as his family history dictates ‘Captain Starlight’ robbed an ancestor of his for a pair of leather boots he was wearing. Wonder if this was one of the crimes he was in here for???

The day was really warming up so we headed back to the caravan for the air conditioner and lunch. After lunch we made our way across the other side of Mildura to check out ‘Woodies Gem shop’, which was surprisingly very interesting. We played in the playground, explored Aladdin’s cave which was filled with gem displays, checked out how jewellery is made, and watched rocks being cut open and polished. Scarlett was rewarded with a Crystal gem, as she was on her best behaviour, and loves to collect rocks! She was in her prime today.

We returned to the van and jumped straight in the pool where we spent most of the afternoon. It was great just to relax, talk and play for a change. We even chatted to other holiday makers, some escaping for a few days, to others who are also travelling around Australian like us. This park is very quite at the moment, it is only about a quarter full, just nice.

Tomorrow….ditch the fruit and veg as we are bound for South Australia!