We were up early the next morning to return the rental car and get to the airport for our flight to Adelaide. The rental car place opened at 8:00 a.m. and we needed to be at the airport (20 minutes away) no later than 8:30 a.m. to check-in for our flight. Thank heaven we made it with three minutes to spare. (Both Stacy and I decided to never ever cut it that close again!)
After a short flight we landed in Adelaide - in the middle of quite the rain storm. We found a ride to the bus station (where we would later catch a coach to Cape Jervis) and stowed our giant bags in a locker (it was like a real life game of Tetris).
In spite of the rain we wanted to see what we could of Adelaide so we donned our wet weatehr gear and set out. Our walk took us past one of the reasons why I love Australia... just kidding I don't... just kidding I do... just kidding I don't...
We found a great little cafe in Victoria Square for breakfast and while we ate we watched the weather outside grow continually worse.
We didn't have much time in Adelaide and with the weather deteriorating we decided to stick to one stop and that was the South Australian Museum. We had about five blocks to walk down one street and three blocks over another. I think we made it one block before we had to take cover in a doorway to let the torrential downpour pass. We made it another block or two before having to stop again. Then three blocks to the end of the street. Only three blocks to go!
We made it about two blocks up before having to duck away, then half a block more. Finally we decided to just make a run for it since the sheets of rain weren't letting up. When Stacy and I arrived at the museum, we were soaked to our shins and our rain jackets were completely saturated! Hooray for coat checks! We peeled out of our wet jackets and went to explore the museum.
There were many amazing Aboriginal artifacts and art pieces. It is incredible how advanced the cultures here were before the Europeans arrived. They learned how to live within the means of the environment and how to read the seasons and changes in climate cycles. Europeans imposed their system on the continent and many of them died trying to make Australia something it is not.
After only a few short hours at the SA Museum we had to return to the bus station to board our transportation to Cape Jervis and the ferry to Kangaroo Island. The bus ride wasn't bad it just took about two hours. The countryside was beautiful and unexpectedly green. It continued to rain our entire trip down and when we got off the bus to get onto the ferry it was in a high gale!
We made it across the straight and onto Kangaroo Island! It was POURING rain and we had to find our tour operator who was taking us to our hotel. Keith (the tour operator) was in the passenger bay with a sign saying Ms. Sarah-Mae Nelson and Ms. Stacy Hawkins. First time I ever had someone holding a sign with my name like that!
We dropped of our things at our hotel which was only a block from the ferry. The room was incredible! We could have stayed there for weeks but we had to run to dinner and our nocturnal little penguin tour.
Dinner was amazing! We had fried halumi and zucchini fritters for an appetizer. I had lamb chops and Stacy had fried gnocchi for main with a chocolate pear torte from dessert (which they delivered to our room because we had to run to our penguin tour!).
We met Simone at the Penneshaw Penguin Centre at 8:30 p.m. for our tour of the little penguin nests. The adults are at sea searching for food all day and come home at night to feed their chicks. Not a whole lot more I need to say except that we saw three week old baby chicks! The pictures speak for themselves.
We got back to the hotel around 10:30 p.m. and crashed.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast and took in the ocean view from our window. Keith (the tour operator) and Robin (who he says was learning to be a tour guide but Stacy and I both thought was also his girl) picked us up at 9:00 a.m.
We set out for the hour-long drive that would take us to Seal Bay to see the Australian sea lions. Along the way Keith told us all sorts of interesting things about Kangaroo Island and how it came to be settled. At one point we passed the American River (which is not a river at all but a tidal inlet) and learned that the beach used to be called American Beach but after 9/11 they changed the name because they were afraid of terrorist attacks (yikes!).
It had been raining in the morning when we started the tour but it slackened as we drove. We got to Seal Bay with stormy skies but no rain falling. Keith said we could give it a go if we wished and Stacy and I are pretty much up for anything so we went. It was super windy but no wet.
There are only about 1,000 Australian sea lions left on Kangaroo Island. Their numbers have been declining over the last decades as the New Zealand fur seal populations grow. No one knows exactly why. We got to see females and males and a pup! The beach was beautiful and wild. On our way back we had to stop in the path and wait out a young male sea lion who decided the path was his.
That is also when the weather started to get more interesting ;)
After a short flight we landed in Adelaide - in the middle of quite the rain storm. We found a ride to the bus station (where we would later catch a coach to Cape Jervis) and stowed our giant bags in a locker (it was like a real life game of Tetris).
In spite of the rain we wanted to see what we could of Adelaide so we donned our wet weatehr gear and set out. Our walk took us past one of the reasons why I love Australia... just kidding I don't... just kidding I do... just kidding I don't...
We found a great little cafe in Victoria Square for breakfast and while we ate we watched the weather outside grow continually worse.
We didn't have much time in Adelaide and with the weather deteriorating we decided to stick to one stop and that was the South Australian Museum. We had about five blocks to walk down one street and three blocks over another. I think we made it one block before we had to take cover in a doorway to let the torrential downpour pass. We made it another block or two before having to stop again. Then three blocks to the end of the street. Only three blocks to go!
We made it about two blocks up before having to duck away, then half a block more. Finally we decided to just make a run for it since the sheets of rain weren't letting up. When Stacy and I arrived at the museum, we were soaked to our shins and our rain jackets were completely saturated! Hooray for coat checks! We peeled out of our wet jackets and went to explore the museum.
There were many amazing Aboriginal artifacts and art pieces. It is incredible how advanced the cultures here were before the Europeans arrived. They learned how to live within the means of the environment and how to read the seasons and changes in climate cycles. Europeans imposed their system on the continent and many of them died trying to make Australia something it is not.After only a few short hours at the SA Museum we had to return to the bus station to board our transportation to Cape Jervis and the ferry to Kangaroo Island. The bus ride wasn't bad it just took about two hours. The countryside was beautiful and unexpectedly green. It continued to rain our entire trip down and when we got off the bus to get onto the ferry it was in a high gale!
We made it across the straight and onto Kangaroo Island! It was POURING rain and we had to find our tour operator who was taking us to our hotel. Keith (the tour operator) was in the passenger bay with a sign saying Ms. Sarah-Mae Nelson and Ms. Stacy Hawkins. First time I ever had someone holding a sign with my name like that!
We dropped of our things at our hotel which was only a block from the ferry. The room was incredible! We could have stayed there for weeks but we had to run to dinner and our nocturnal little penguin tour.
Dinner was amazing! We had fried halumi and zucchini fritters for an appetizer. I had lamb chops and Stacy had fried gnocchi for main with a chocolate pear torte from dessert (which they delivered to our room because we had to run to our penguin tour!).
We met Simone at the Penneshaw Penguin Centre at 8:30 p.m. for our tour of the little penguin nests. The adults are at sea searching for food all day and come home at night to feed their chicks. Not a whole lot more I need to say except that we saw three week old baby chicks! The pictures speak for themselves.We got back to the hotel around 10:30 p.m. and crashed.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast and took in the ocean view from our window. Keith (the tour operator) and Robin (who he says was learning to be a tour guide but Stacy and I both thought was also his girl) picked us up at 9:00 a.m.
We set out for the hour-long drive that would take us to Seal Bay to see the Australian sea lions. Along the way Keith told us all sorts of interesting things about Kangaroo Island and how it came to be settled. At one point we passed the American River (which is not a river at all but a tidal inlet) and learned that the beach used to be called American Beach but after 9/11 they changed the name because they were afraid of terrorist attacks (yikes!).It had been raining in the morning when we started the tour but it slackened as we drove. We got to Seal Bay with stormy skies but no rain falling. Keith said we could give it a go if we wished and Stacy and I are pretty much up for anything so we went. It was super windy but no wet.
There are only about 1,000 Australian sea lions left on Kangaroo Island. Their numbers have been declining over the last decades as the New Zealand fur seal populations grow. No one knows exactly why. We got to see females and males and a pup! The beach was beautiful and wild. On our way back we had to stop in the path and wait out a young male sea lion who decided the path was his.
That is also when the weather started to get more interesting ;)
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