The Long Overdue Walkabout: Day 10 – Kangaroo Island, Appropriately Named
Up to this point, I had tasted more of Australian’s wildlife than seen them in the wild. Thankfully, two days in Kangaroo Island made up for that.
The continuing trend of diminishing tour vehicles were in effect when we were finally picked up in a van with a trailer. Adriane and I were one of the last people to be picked up.
And such was the beginning of a beautiful safari. Here are some of the wildlife we saw:
Tourist girls – As I drowsily got in and looked around at all the half-awake passengers (it was like 4AM or something), something was wrong. I somehow ended up being the only male on the tour group, other than Danny our tour guide.
Unlike the previous tours, I barely remember or interacted with the most of group. There was just a lot of bonding/clinging to do with the friend I flew halfway around the world to see. But being the only guy in the tour group provided plenty of hilariously awkward moments throughout the tour.
Crazy tour guide – I think his name was Danny, but I just realized I didn't write his name down anywhere. Anywho, dude was insane and totally reckless in the best way possible.
Not the model of professionalism, but extremely entertaining when paired with a tour group of fussy European girls. Gravely voiced, tatted up, with the vocabulary of an experienced skater/surfer, Adriane and I had a good time hanging out with him. Energetic was kind of an understatement to describe him. I think he appreciated that we were a little more gung-ho and adventurous. As we talked on the ferry ride over, he told us how he usually guided tours of Kakadu in the wet season and then makes his way down to Adelaide in the off-season to guide tours of Kangaroo Island and generally be a surfer bum. Not a bad life. Being the only guy in the group, I happily volunteered this time to ride shotgun the rest of the tour.
This dog – So there was about a two hour drive down the South Australian coast to Cape Jervis in which Danny drove way too quickly (a sign of things to come), where we would board a ferry to Kangaroo Island. The sun rose over sprawling green hills to our left and a coastline on the right. This was fertile Australia, where amazing wines are grown and produced. This poor dog greeted us at the ferry terminal, waiting obediently for its owner to leave with a ticket in hand for it.
Not that many people go to Kangaroo Island in general, but the majority of the ferry passengers were older empty-nesters and retirees who go to Kangaroo Island as a place to fish, relax, and escape the mainland. An Australian Martha’s Vineyard, of sorts.
The ferry ride was rough. I tried to walk up the stairs to the second level with a few older ladies and the boat rocking so far over, knocking all of us down the stairs. It was kind of fun until the sea sickness set in.
Upon landing, the first stop was obviously to climb an enormous hill. It's not really a tour with some physical exertion to start the day.
Up at the top was a nice panorama of the island. There were some displays along the railing showcasing KI’s unique wildlife. The only one that really stuck out were tiger snakes, one of the deadliest and venomous snakes in the world. Lovely.
Baby Wallaby – This little guy was being raised by the owners of a eucalyptus farm, the first stop on our tour. Inside a small room with a television and antique carriage, we watched a forgettable movie on the benefits of eucalyptus and history of the farm. I don't remember a thing about the movie except Adriane and I sat aboard the vehicle. The rest of the visitor center was just a regular tourist trap store with plenty of eucalyptus related soaps and products. And the adorable baby wallaby that made the trip to this place totally worth it.
Australian Sea Lions – A park ranger ushered our group down the boardwalk onto the sand so we could all get a closer look. The first one spotted wasn't even on the beach, but laying by the bushes a foot away from the wooden path. That large mass of blubber called a sea lion. This was the misnamed Seal Bay, a secluded beach littered with a colony of Australian sea lions. They share Kangaroo Island with a rival gang of sea lions of the New Zealand variety who inhabit the opposite end.
The life of the Australian seal is pretty ideal if you ask me. They go out to sea for three days swimming out far and wide catching and eating some fish. Then, physically exhausted, they go back onto the beach and sleep for three days. Three.full.days of sleep. Who wouldn't be jealous? And when fully rested, they do that same thing until they die of old age or get eaten by a shark, I imagine.
We were told to stay together and not to make too much noise as to interrupt the sea lions' beauty sleep (a sleep-deprived sea lion is one facing certain death out in the waters). We were that tragic distance of "so close, yet so far."
It's embarrassing the amount of times I was tempted to escape the group and cuddle with one of them.
Tiger Snake – “TIGER SNAKE!” Danny yelled excitedly as he slammed on the brakes. What followed was the ear-piercing screams of abject terror by a dozen females…and me. Up until that moment, it was a relaxing drive down a windy, bumpy, hilly road on our way to sand dunes, if relaxing was Danny driving way too fast while we all clutched to our seats and experienced at least 1G in gravitational pull.
It could have been because we were all nearly thrown out the front windshield, but I’m going to guess it was more likely our tour guide just yelled out the name of a Top 10 venomous/deadliest/don’t-fuck-with-me snake without any further clarification. In a blink of an eye, Danny had bolted out the driver’s side, grabbed a poking stick out of the trunk and ran in front of our Groovy Grapes van. Bewildered screaming still continuing. In the middle of the road was a fairly large tiger snake, maybe 3 feet in length, being picked up on a stick by our INSANE tour guide. The screams got louder with each inch the snake lifted. There was a beckoning motion for us to get out of the van and take a closer look. No one left the van. It all happened so quick, I don’t even remember anyone emotionally stable enough to snap a picture. The only thought running through our collective heads when the screaming subsided is, “Does Danny know what he’s doing?” We were all just waiting for that snake to lunge toward his exposed legs. And then what?
Luckily, it didn’t. He placed it off to the side of the road, came back into the car ad was greeted by 13 whitewashed faces, each mouth agape of a “Why the hell did you do that?” look. We drove on.
I don't have a photo of the tiger snake on account of trauma of actually seeing a tiger snake. This photo from flickr user dbeck03 is about what I saw.
Goanna (tracks) – A goanna is an Australian monitor lizard. Boogie boards in hands, our group was making our way to the massive sand dunes of Little Sahara. Close to a natural border of scrubs, curvy line with small dots on either side were imprinted in the sand by our feet. It kind of looked like an aboriginal sand art. Unfortunately, this lizard had eluded our sights.
But who cares, it was time for sand surfing. As we approached, we could see a handful of other families and tourists expertly ripping down these enormous sand hills on surf and boogie boards. We made our way to the top of the first one, panting from the one-step-forward-two-steps-back challenge climbing up sand. A quick lesson by Danny on how to wax our boards and sleds, steering and stopping with our hands, and it was time to have at it.
Two-in-one sled, face first, stand up surfing, we tried and failed it all. The best wipeout was Adriane and I on a tiny sled barreling into a group of people at the base of the hill. It was great feeling 5 years old again.
Koalas – After a few hours playing in the sand, we drove over to a small koala sanctuary. We walked a path lined with eucalyptus trees with our head cocked upwards. Koalas being sound sleepers and nonexistent movers, it was a lot of staring up at the branches and trying to decide if we were looking at a koala or just a furry bush of leaves. After our necks were sufficiently strained, our attention was turned to a ground level disturbance.
Echidna – "ECHIDNA!" Danny yelled excitedly as he slammed on the brakes. We had been through this before and it wasn't great last time. But this time, it wasn't a deadly reptile (which for Australia, is saying a lot) in the middle of the road, but a cute, spiky monotreme. We got out of the van this time. Danny scooped up the echidna with the bottom of his shirt as the poor creature curled up into a spiky ball.
We walked into the bushes where Danny plopped the echidna down. Its four webbed feet kicked sideways, clearing dirt away as it began to burrow, almost like a reverse snow angel. Slowly but surely, it was digging itself deeper into the dirt while flat on his stomach trying to escape the paparazzi gawking and clicking their cameras.
Kangaroo – The first one was spotted in the koala sanctuary a mere feet away from us, eating the grass and minding its own business. We did the Bugs Bunny game of Freeze where you tiptoe silently closer and closer until the kangaroo looked up at you and wondered if he was imagining something. Kind of an exhilarating moment, seeing my first kangaroo in the wild, but it was only a precursor what was to come.
Lots More Kangaroos – Our overnight cabin was tucked away in this sprawling green prairie littered with yellow poppies. When we returned from the sand dunes, the sun was starting to set. As our van cut a path through the fields, one was spotted grazing…
then another…then a group of 3…and soon we realized this prairie was littered with kangaroos picnicking on the grass.
I stood on the porch and took in the vista of the fields change colors as the sun slowly dropped. The herd of kangaroos didn't move too much given the plenty of things to eat around them, just enough to tell you they weren't a rock in the distance. Breathtaking.
Fairy penguins! – After dinner at the cottage and some beers, the moon was firmly in place in the night sky. Danny offered to drive us all to a small harbor to witness the fairy penguins returning to their nests after a long day at sea. I mean, how could we say no…well, some of the tourist girls actually were reluctant…and also really drunk, the kind of drunk that makes you wonder if this was their first time drinking…and that’s about the moment they were officially dead to me. Everyone eventually agreed and we piled in the van again. At the harbor, only one or two streetlamps kept the area somewhat lit, enough to see a late night dock worker packing up for the night. Otherwise, we were standing by the water in pitch black waiting for who-knows-what. Finally, a splash, and a small blue’ish blob emerges from the water and waddles into a burrow. I might’ve coo’ed over the cuteness of it all. I think we saw two of them. No one could really take a good photograph because we were told not to use flash as it would disorient the penguins. But then Danny went ahead and picked one of them up, so I’m not sure I followed the logic. That memory is forever ingrained in my head of these blue penguins, a few inches tall, waddling on shore and putting on a show for a group of drunk college girls, and me.
A re-enactment of spotting my first fairy penguin in the wild from Flickr user Kratzy.
So the cottage was really a dormitory full of bunk beds with a wood-burning stove to keep everyone warm. It definitely looked cozy but the idea of trying to sleep in the loft overlooking a dozen drunk, chatty tourist girls was not my idea of a good night’s sleep. Adriane and I were having a good conversation in front of the fire outside with the Swiss girls (the only pair of mature, down-to-earth girls worth getting to know) and had the bright idea to just sleep in front of the fire under the stars. Danny was all for it and lent us some swags. Then the really drunk German girls wanted to join us…but I think they lasted about an hour before they went back inside. I think one of them hooked up with Danny…
Possum – Anywho, I slept like a baby, but Adriane apparently got attacked by a hungry possum in the middle of the night. This is a Kangaroo Island possum picture from Flickr user tschlagi