The Purple Penguin

For Boxing Day and the 27th Kathleen booked a land tour and boat tour. So Boxing Day was our trip around the island with a professional guide. (K: with Kangaroo Island Wilderness Tours.) We were picked up from the hotel after breakfast; while we waited for collection we watched the glossy black cockatoos have their breakfast. Once we’d been picked up (and the guide had admired the cockatoos – she was thrilled to see them out of the nature reserve and behaving normally with lots of people about) we drove to the airport to collect the other couple on the tour.

From the airport we drove down to Admirals Arch. It’s a lovely walk down a boardwalk, the walk takes you down the steep hillside and you can look down and see seals. It was a bit chilly as the wind was strong and coming straight off Antarctica. It’s not until you’re at the bottom of the walkway that you actually see the arch – it’s hidden from the top. There are also two islands just offshore (The Brothers) with seals and birds. We also saw seal pups (so cute) and watched the seals play. When we were underneath the arch the guide pointed out where they were trying different materials on the boardwalk as the wood under the arch was degrading and they weren’t sure why. The rest of the boardwalk is fine and the structure under the arch is sturdy, but the wood is going all fuzzy.

You can also see Remarkable Rocks from the walk down to Admirals Arch and that was where we went next. We parked in the car park for the rocks and the guide talked us through the different sorts of eucalyptus and other plants that grow on the coast. So we got to smell all sorts of eucalyptus and herbs!

We followed another boardwalk out to the Remarkable Rocks which were remarkable. Heavily weathered volcanic rocks which have been weathered into unusual and beautiful patterns and shapes. You can climb on them – just warning signs toward the edge not to go too far and fall off! The rocks sit on a dome of rock, which clearly shows how the magma bubbled up. We walked among the rocks, got lots of photos (we promise a photo update soon. Ish.)

After the rocks we drove back to the entrance of the park (the visitors’ centre) where we had a very nice lunch (barbecued steak and trimmings and pears poached in wine for pudding). We also spotted our second koala of the day (the first was on the drive down to the rocks).

In the afternoon we drove to two more spots, one to see koalas and one to see kangaroos. They were both former farms, the first is Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and the second is being rewilded and is down a private road, so you need to be on a tour to get into it. (Kelly Hill and Grassdale Road I think). Hanson Bay has bunches of koalas, which aren’t native to the island. There is some thought that they shouldn’t be there as they damage the native eucalyptus. But this sanctuary keeps them and there were loads of baby koalas. The other area was interesting with lots of kangaroos. And lots of birds! Unfortunately, it was getting late so we didn’t stay too long.

We got dropped off back at our hotel. On the drive back we saw a goanna crossing the road. It must have been the chicken’s day off (that was Joe’s joke, nothing to do with me!) I would have liked to have stopped for a closer look but we kept on! Once back at the hotel we had a lovely dinner finished off with a local Kangaroo Island walnut and honey liqueur.