'Wherarwee' in Oz: Log 15-02 Kangaroo Is.

Well, Whyalla turned out to be a disappointment after the beautiful places we have stopped at lately. Although we had a beachside site, the tide went out at least ½ K. We moved on to Port Augusta for a look around then started south down the York Peninsula. Our first break was at Port Germein who’s claim to fame is the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. We walked it of course, all 1,676 mts of it. No photos, how do you snap such a huge edifice?

We stopped for the night at Port Pirie, a nice country town, reasonable size, but not up to other coastal towns. The next day we decided not to continue down the peninsula but to cut across country towards Adelaide. We stopped on the way at a nice little roadside stop.

We arrived Adelaide early on Wednesday, went for a drive through town & then settled into a small caravan park that backed onto the Torrens River & close to the town center. We stayed 2 days & we went into town, walked around checking out the magnificent architecture that Adelaide is noted for & it seems to be every second building, even the houses around the c/van park were impressive. We then caught the tram to the historic Glenelg. Beautiful beachfront, lots of little craft shops, interesting museum on it’s history & cafes & restaurants by the hundreds. The beachfront is like Manly with pines all along the foreshore & Fremantle with the shops.

The next day we moved on to West Beach, a suburb on the coast & stayed at the most impressive c/park we have seen to date, it was huge & it was 4 star. Although it was right on the beach our site was at least 250mts back (& we were in the middle). There was a huge camp kitchen, 2 ovens, 2 microwaves, 4 electric sets of hotplates & 4 gas ones, there was 8 sinks, tables & chairs etc. etc. The laundry had a row of washers that seemed to stretch to eternity. There was game rooms, TV rooms, activities rooms, playgrounds & 2 swimming pools. We were impressed!

Moving on we travelled South to Cape Jervis, what a trip. We tried to take the Southern Expressway, only to find that the on-ramp was blocked off, so we travelled for 75 mins down the Main South Road which winds through every hamlet & village on the way down, this got us to where we could, once again, access the expressway, only to find the ramp still blocked off. NO detour signs, NO alternate route, NOTHING. Back to the old road where we arrived at Mybonga in time for lunch & the local markets. Talking to a stall-holder there I discovered that the expressway (only 2 lanes) is one-way Northbound in the AM & one-way Southbound in the PM????? Finally arriving at Cape Jervis we camped for the night behind the lighthouse ready for the ferry next morning. During the night we experienced yet another wind storm which shook & rattled the van for hours.

Sun morning saw us embark on the ferry by having to back in, although the wind was still up it was a fairly smooth ride across & we arrived at Kangaroo Island just in time for the monthly markets of local produce which we liberally sampled, unfortunately, the rain which had been threatening since last night, started bucketing down & we beat a hasty retreat. The fares on this ferry are very strange, hugely expensive when compared to the Tasmania ferry but, if you book a night in the c/park, it is $70.00 cheaper (inc. the cost of the park). If 4 people book 2 nights they save $115.00 each!

Kangaroo Island measures 155K’s by 55K’s, there are 1600K’s of roads, mostly gravel & has a population of 4,400 souls. Wildlife abounds (as does the road kill), there are Wallabies, roos, echidnas, koalas, seals & a smorgasbord of birds. Traveling along the road one day we came across a koala sitting in the middle of the road in the rain, we tried & tried to get it to safety but it just kept walking along the road, eventually we gave up. The weather has been less than perfect with showers every day alternating with sunny breaks. Temp range 12º to 22º. The locals say summer missed them this year.

There are many wonderful bays & beaches around the island as well as places like Seal Bay where the beach is littered with seals, koala walk, & Flinders Chase N.P. where there is the whole gambit of wild animals as well as the Admirals Arch & Remarkable Rocks. Some bays are restricted to vehicles 5mts or less so, once again, we wish we had a car. Tourists are well catered for with wineries, honey farms, wilderness lodges etc. Camping is prohibited anywhere except designated campgrounds. Penneshaw & Kingscote are the two main villages on the island & are a delight to see. We spent 10 days investigating the island & relaxing on the way before returning to the mainland. This is definitely a must return venue!

So, once again backing onto the ferry we proceed back to the mainland.