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| A beautiful dawn! |
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| Amazed that the french sailor's wrote on a rock!! - in 1803!!!! (the original is on display in the Penneshaw Visitor's Centre) |
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| Penneshaw from Frenchman's Rock |
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| The ferry loading up for its morning run to Cape Jervis |
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| Matthew Flinders was a very busy man!!! |
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| The original Frenchman's Rock on display in the Visitor's Centre |
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| How the inscription got on the rock and what it says |
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| They met at Encounter Bay Victor Harbor - the large island was of course KI |
Our first stop was American River, a quiet fishing village nestled on a hillside in native bushland. Countless Tammar Wallabies live here apparently - none came to say hello today. It isn’t American, nor does it have a river! It’s named after a group of American sealers who landed here in 1803 and mistook the inlet for a river. It’s a bird watches paradise here! Prospect Hill is the highest point in the area - we intend to climb it on our way back to Penneshaw for the trip back to the mainland. Looks like we’ll get a great view from up there of American River, Pelican Lagoon, the Southern Ocean and Pennington Bay - after we climb the 512 steps!!! They say on a clear day you can see Mt Lofty in the Adelaide Hills. It was first climbed by Matthew Flinders - he surveyed the island from the top.
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| Lots of Black Swans! |
Next explore was the capital of KI, Kingscote - a lively town and obviously the commercial hub of the island. Half the KI’s population live here - it’s where the “action” is!!! It overlooks beautiful Nepean Bay, studded with yachts and fishing boats. There are lovely galleries showcasing the islands artwork and outlets for some of KI’s gourmet products - honey, local wines, sheep cheeses, lavender products and seafood.
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| The busy main street |
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| Lots galleries |
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| The Aurora Ozone Hotel has a fabulous view over the beach and Nepean Bay |
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| The historic PoliceSstation cells and stables |
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| Kingscote back beach |
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| Front Beach |
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| Beach, Beare Point and the jetty |
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| The Swimming Pool The sea water is pumped in and out |
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| The remains of the old jetty - a sea bird was sitting on top of every post. The water was so clear! |
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| Looking back to the harbour at Kingscote from Reeves Point |
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| The taste test!! |
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| Our favourite! |
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| The Honey Comb Ice Cream was a big hit! |
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| The famous Ligurian bees Amazing creatures bees! They have 4 wigs that stroke at 11,500 times per minute in flight! They have 5 eyes! A hive of bees needs to fly approximately 90,000kms to produce half a kilogram of honey! 30grams of honey would be sufficient fuel for a bee to circumnavigate the earth! |
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| hard at work! |
Kingscote is also a very special place in SA’s colonial history, as just north of the town is the important heritage site of Reeves Point - SA’s first European settlement.
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| The beach were they landed |
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| Beatrice Point |
Pretty Emu Bay on the north coast was our next stop, with its beautiful white sandy beach and clear, blue water! Very picturesque!
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| An Alpaca Farm in Emu Bay area |
We did a bit of cross country road tripping next to get to the south coast and found ourselves in Seal Bay Conservation Park watching the Australian Sea- lions casually “hang out” , roll around the beach and laze in the sun. Awesome! We loved it! They are very friendly and playful and don’t mind you getting up close to them.
They are one of the rarest seal species in the world, inhabiting isolated coastal areas of mainland Australia and southern offshore islands. During the 19th century they were hunted in large numbers and their population reduced significantly. Sea- lions were still being used for shark bait in the 1950’s! 80% of the remaining 10,000 animals in the wild live and breed in SA with the remaining 2% located in WA. The key breeding sites are Seal Bay, KI, Dangerous Reef and the pages islands (all in SA). These colonies account for about 43% of the total poulation. Sadly, the colony at Seal Bay is in decline! Research is being done into why this is occurring. Visit www.naturefoundation.org.au
What amazing creatures..................
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| 800 metre of boardwalk has been constructed through the sea lion habitat |
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| Humpback whale skeleton in the dunes of the sea lion habitat |
What amazing creatures..................
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| This little pup woke up and went looking for his mum........it was neither of these ladies! |
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| He kept looking out to sea. The National Park Ranger said the young pups have to get use to mum's feeding cycle - when they go to sea to and when they return - he knew she was due back and so had started looking for her - he was probably hungry and wanted to suckle!!!! |
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| The length of the beach was littered with relaxing bodies! A third of the colony is on the beach at any one time. |
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| A pup and mum readying to suckle |
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| Hi! |
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| So relaxed! |
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| This seal just returned to the beach from its fishing expedition - 3 days they are away Each individual has there own times that they leave the beach and when they return - they never vary from it. There is one female who always leaves at 3.30pm and returns religiously at midday three days later. |
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| Great view of the beach and dunes the sea lions call home |
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| Sperm Whales are rarely seen near shore |
Vivonne Bay is where we finished our scenic and fascinating exploring today! Famed Vivonne Beach,with its white sand and turquoise water ,it is breathtaking and has earned the accolade of being Australia’s Best Beach! (for sand quality) - that’s saying something with all the lovely beaches Australia has!
So excited about our backyard today - we have a resident koala in the gum tree!!! Gorgeous!:)
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