Day 60 - 12/01/22 - Kangaroo Island, Australia

 Good things are worth waiting for and today was one of the finest climaxes to waiting for something to occur on a cruise.  Back in 2016, we were unable to stop at Kangaroo Island because of bad weather.  We were so disappointed but figured that one day we might be able to return.  When the current cruise that we are on was first announced, we signed up for the first two legs which comprised 51 days with a lot of snorkeling.  Initially I didn't give much thought to the next segment until I realized that it would allow us to visit dear long time Australian friends in Tasmania and Melbourne and include another opportunity to visit Kangaroo Island.

With that excitement, I booked the 3rd leg and initially also booked an independent shore excursion on the island.  When I inquired of the tour operator what their policy was regarding the ship not making the port stop, the operator replied in a very negative tone.  So I cancelled the shore excursion.  Many of the good ship sponsored shore excursions were fully booked, so we decided to go with our normal plan: just show up.  That's our official first rule of traveling.  Because if you don't show up, nothing more can happen.

So I even psyched myself up to get up early to be on the first or a very early tender and see what we might be able to book on shore.  We were on the second tender and reached shore and started walking into town.  We came across Abby & Rick who had booked a Viator tour the night before so we followed them to their bus in the hopes that maybe there might be another couple of spots open on the tour.  Their guide wasn't there, but they mentioned that people they knew were renting a car and they might be interested in sharing it.  So we immediately headed back up the hill in search of Kent & Karen.  I was already quite close to the car rental agency when Angela said, "Here's Karen and they do want to share a car."  Karen asked if we were up for hiking and I said yes.  Her response was, "I thought so, by the speed you walked up the hill!"  So we ended up sharing the car and splitting the rental and gas expense.

The car rental clerk pointed out what should be the first thing to aim for and that was Flinders National Park with Admiral's Arch, Remarkable Rocks, and Weirs Cove.  This is located at the far other end of the island and about 100KM away.  So we headed out that direction and I sort of served as navigator.  We also got to know each other better and discovered we have a lot in common about travel styles.  Also, Kent is a Chartered Accountant like me being a CPA.  

Eventually we reached the entrance to the National Park, used the rest rooms, and paid our $25AU per person entrance fee.  When we asked the ranger where could we possibly see koalas, she replied, "In the tree right next to this building and across the driveway from the rest rooms.  We easily found the mother koala and her 7 month old billy, and we took a number of pictures.  Soon we were joined by a number of others since we were among the earliest people to reach the park.  Mark that sighting off our list and it reduced the need to go to a wildlife sanctuary to see a koala.

Inside the park it's a really pretty drive down to Cape du Couedic (Admirals Arch).  There's ample evidence of the bush fires of 2020 but the vegetation is growing back and making a comeback.  When the fires came through, the eucalyptus trees were filled with oil and provided a terrific accelerant. 

At the Admiral's cove we parked in the upper parking lot near the lighthouse and did a bush walk down the hill to the arch.  It was a pathway on very old volcanic rocks and low scrub brush.  It was quite windy and we learned that the plants have to have some way of ridding themselves of the accumulated salt.  At the edge of the cliff we could see the resident seals sunning themselves on the rocks.  This is prime courting and mating season, and the whole area is protected.  The final pathway down to the arch is wood planked with stairs.  And the arch was really pretty.  I helped some German tourists by taking their pictures and we would see them at various stops later in the day.

We hiked back up stairs and boardwalk to the lower parking lot where we found the other half of the Red trail that would take us back up to the upper parking lot through the bush.  About half way there, Karen spotted some wild brown kangaroos not far off the trail.  We stopped and took pictures of them.  They didn't seem to mind our presence. There's now two reasons to not visit a wildlife park.  After a while, we continued our bush walk back up to the car.

Weirs Cove was our next stop.  This was the original light keepers house and the unique attraction here was the "FOX". Essentially it's a lift mechanism that they used in the early 1900's to lift supplies up from a dock some 500-600 from the top of a steep cliff.  All that remains are pieces of the dock and the channel in the rock where the rails once were located.  This device was put out of service by the introduction of land based truck transport. 

Nearby were the Remarkable Rocks.  These granite rocks are certainly remarkable and they are very pretty.  We took lots of photos and climbed all over the rocks.  

At this point we figured we had just enough time to drive back a different route and see Kingscote.  But at this point we didn't know exactly why we needed to see it.  But that was soon to change. We used the West Coast Highway and the Playford Highway to travel back towards the port through the center of the island.  In the nearly 100km (60 mile) stretch there was only one principal town: Parndana.  We pulled in there in search of a quick lunch.  We found the bakery and the proprietress convinced most of us that her meat pies were worth eating.  So she prepared meat pies for three of us and Angela and I also had a salad and a Coke Zero.  They were yummy and hit the spot.  The proprietress figured out we were from the cruise ship and highly recommended a stop in Kingscote to see the mulberry tree which marks the start of settlement in South Australia.  So off we headed to find it.  And we found it about a half hour later. We also met up with another couple from the cruise ship, Albert & his wife, and we chatted a bit before heading back to the port area.

From Kingscote we took the Hog Bay road back to Penneshaw, refueled the rental car and turned it in before walking down to the pier for the tender ride back to the ship.  At the pier it was around 4:15pm and there was quite a line.  We caught the 2nd tender back to the ship.  But there were at least 5 more tender rides needed to get all of the passengers back on the ship.  While waiting for our tender we saw a couple of dolphins and once on the tender we saw a couple more.

Back on board, Angela and I dropped off our backpacks and went to deck 3 to watch the tendering operation until all guests were back on board.  The Captain gave his departure announcement and noted our passenger covid count was up 7 guests to 30 guests in isolation and 3 crew members.  Later he came back on the PA system to advise us that there was a repair needed on the tender platform and that was why we were delayed in departing.

We then ate a quick dinner in the LIDO before heading for the Main Stage to hear Annie Francis, an Australian singer we've seen many times before.  Her set was all about songs from the 70's.  She's good. Afterwards, we watched the game show, Call My Bluff in BBKing before watching the comedian, Jim Short, perform before a largely Australian audience.  He was on the ship a month ago and we felt he was funnier telling jokes (many were new to us) to an Australian audience.  

Yes, it was a good day.  We got to meet new friends and enjoy their company.  We spotted two key uniquely
Australian animals.  We saw lots of sheep.  And we were able see some magnificent scenery.  Yes, Kangaroo Island was worth the wait.

Tomorrow is a sea day and it'll be a full one based upon the program we received tonight.  But more about that tomorrow.