Planes, ferries and automobiles. Kangaroo Island in these unprecedented times

[bPeteb]

Just pulling up to the gate at BNE after a way too short trip to KI. Stay tuned.

This morning’s J breakfast

 

[Bundy Bear]

Your trip reports remind me to finish one I started before Covid.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[randompunter]

Also staying tuned, heading down to KI in a few weeks' time from NQ. Cheers bpeteb

 

[Major]

The mandarin looks nice

 

[Pushka]

Weather on Sunday arvo here in SA was a bit rank. Like it is today. Next week - will be perfect.

 

[bPeteb]

The mandarin looks nice

Not a mandarin guy. Bigal said it was nice.

Brekkie was quite nice. Much better than the muffin that I presume was handed out in Y (if our BNE-ADL flight was anything to go by).

 

[bPeteb]

Weather on Sunday arvo here in SA was a bit rank. Like it is today. Next week - will be perfect.

It was horrid. We ended up soaked to the skin but we had things to see and do. Our phones proved themselves to be VERY waterproof.

 

[bPeteb]

Away we go.

We booked flights in late Feb using the Amex travel credit. We'd both always wanted to go to KI. We wanted to put some money back into the fire ravaged KI economy and had a spare long weekend so it was a no brainer.

Y direct flights BNE to ADL. We priced though to KI but the timing just didn't work for us. We originally booked KI Seaside Inn at Kingscote but not long after we booked the flights and hotel the world changed....

In June I received a call from Qantas Hotels advising me that the hotel was not reopening. Offered a credit or refund and took the refund. Three days to land back on the ccard. Car rental was booked, also through QF, crazy price of $107 for a Yaris for four days through Budget.

Didn't like anything else in Kingscote and didn't want to self-cater and decided on some new glamping tents at Penneshaw. We booked Great Escape Package 2 Night Great Escape Package + Ferry | Seafront Kangaroo Island with an additional night ($250) for total of $1040. 3 Nights accommodation, buffet breakfast daily, a $30 meal voucher and complimentary drink voucher for the Penneshaw Hotel along with return Sea link travel for two people and your vehicle.

First flight change in late June. Advised via email by Amex. Our return flight back on Tuesday changed from 7:10pm to 10:10am. That didn't work for us so we changed to next direct flight - Wednesday 4:25pm. Extra day in SA Mid-August another advice from Amex of flight change. Flight to Return pushed an hour to 5:25pm.

I kept checking flights. Flight to Adelaide changed from 7:00am to 9:00am. No advice from Amex. I contacted the hotel to change ferry. Pushed from 1:30 to 4pm. Sep 24 I noticed return flight had changed. To be honest I can't even remember what to. I bet I posted something on here. Amex again hadn't been in touch. Our only direct option was 6:30am on the Wednesday morning. Called Amex and there was acknowledgement that we hadn't been contacted about changes. Changes made.

The only other thing we arranged before we left was snorkelling with seals/dolphins. Two options - one from Kingscote that was three hours, included morning tea (!!), departed at 9 $190. Second was two hours out of Penneshaw at 12 $150. We took the latter because if we were cold we could get back to have a shower in less than five minutes, not 45. More about that later.

A surprising number of people at BNE last Saturday morning. J lounge was reasonably busy. I asked if we could sit in a row on our own and what I thought was someone sitting beside me was actually a shadow. The CSR at the desk said to me "the flight is pretty empty".

Retro Roo II from BNE to ADL



Planes lined up in storage at BNE





I didn't bother with a photo of the Y 'meal'. A small rectangular 'muffin' and a coffee.

Arrival into Adelaide and border pass check took a fairly long time. Quite a lot of flights arriving at the same time. The terminal was busy. I wish I'd timed it but had to be close to 45 minutes from walking off the flight to walking out of the terminal. Carry on only. Asked by Budget where we were travelling to and when I said KI she said here are the restrictions and once you've read them please sign here. No driving on unsealed roads and no driving after dusk. That was going to be problematic.

We drove the long way to Cape Jervis, we had plenty of time to get to the ferry, but it was nearly our undoing. We stopped in Strathalbyn for a relaxed lunch at the Robin Hood Hotel.





Lamb with too much beetroot



Butter chicken, quite nice actually, but way big



As we drove through Victor Harbour I asked bigal how much further. Just over the hill was the reply then with horror he looked up from his phone and said 45 minutes. It was 3pm and we were supposed to check in for the ferry by 2:30. I drove fastish. We called Sealink and they said we'd be fine even if we got there at 3:50 because they'd now be waiting for us.

We pulled into the boarding lane at 3:40. Al raced in to the office, got the boarding passes, handed me the car pass and I drove on to the ferry just after 3:45. Three more vehicles came on after me!





Super smooth 45 trip across to Penneshaw.

 

[bPeteb]

Return ferry on it's way back to Cape Jervis



Now I'm a great researcher, usually, and I still hadn't quite worked out where these tents were. The pictures from the tents showed expansive sea views so I assumed that they were somewhere above the beach at Frenchman's with maybe a park between them and the beach...

Yeh, no



Oh well.

The instructions that I'd been sent by the hotel said to go to the Penneshaw Hotel to collect key. We did that and no, not actually correct, check-in was at the KI Seafront Hotel back down the road. Original info had also said breakfast would be at the Penneshaw but again no, it was at Sorrento Restaurant at Seafront and we were handed order form for following morning and forms for the next two mornings. Booking was also made for dinner at the pub for the following night. Bookings essential. KI was full!

Tents one and two have uninterrupted views of the ocean. We were in three. We could see it, but the view wasn't really what I'd thought it would be. Saying that, the tent was fantastic. Same tent structure as we'd stayed in Kakadu exactly a year to the day earlier with the addition of aircon, and ensuite and a kitchenette. It was to take a literal beating from the weather over the weekend.

Our tent the one to the left second back











Last morning with wall unzipped. Hello neighbours



you could see the sea. if you looked around the trees. A public path also ran along the edge of the property and a surprising number of people walked along it. One reason being the sculpture trail encircled the camp ground



We had a wander around town, had a couple of drinks at the pub (lovely staff) and then bought some local booze (Dudley red bubbles and KI brewery beers) from the bottleshop, and cheese and crackers from the IGA. Dinner sorted

 

[VPS]

This new layout I had posted a comment a couple of days ago and it was still in draft because I hit preview instead of Post Reply.

Anyway - looking forward to your thoughts on KI

 

[bPeteb]

This new layout I had posted a comment a couple of days ago and it was still in draft because I hit preview instead of Post Reply.

Anyway - looking forward to your thoughts on KI

I keep doing the same thing VPS

 

[bPeteb]

The advance weather forecast had us prepared for Sunday. It didn't hit overnight as we expected so it gave us time to get up to breakfast relatively unscathed. We had a chat to who we presumed was the owner/proprietor of the KI Seafront Hotel (and Penneshaw Hotel) who warned us about the approaching weather front. We chatted about not being able to drive on unsealed roads and he thought the way around was just to do it and then have the car cleaned when we got back to the mainland. Rental car risk takers we are not... He did confirm though what we had already decided, the drive to Cape Borda lighthouse should be crossed off our list. He did think we'd have no problem getting to Cape Willoughby lighthouse though. More on that later...

Our new sealed road only plan was to drive across the island via the Playford and West End Highways. Then into Flinders Chase National Park to visit Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks. Then along the South Coast Rd visiting Vivonne Bay for a whiting burger before driving down to Seal Bay and then back to Penneshaw. 359 km that would take us most of the day, weather permitting.



The rain started while we were having breakfast and it varied between showers to the KI equivalent of a tropical deluge (bloody freezing and windblown) but we had a great day.

KI is so incredibly picturesque. Gorgeous beaches, emerald green farmland, bushland as far as you can see.

Wallaby alley - so many dead wallabies!





We climbed the amazingly engineered steps of Prospect Hill. Those steps should literally last forever!







Highest point on the island with a fantastic view





bigal spotted a mother and joey at the bottom of the steps and we got our first wildlife shots of the weekend

 

[bPeteb]

I missed the turn for the Playford Highway so we ended up doing the reverse trip. Seal Bay was the first stop. Seal Bay Conservation Park - Seal Bay - Department for Environment and Water

You can pay extra for a guided tour Seal Bay guided tour - Seal Bay - Department for Environment and Water that takes you much closer to the seals but it was pouring rain and the wind was howling so we chose to race down the boardwalk on the diy Boardwalk self-guided tour - Seal Bay - Department for Environment and Water

Miraculously both of our cameras, and our mobiles, stayed dry enough to to get some ok shots of both Seal Bay and the seals.



















It wasn't very far from Seal Bay to Vivonne Bay and VB was not what I was expecting. SA tourism Vivonne Bay General Store Bottleshop From this I pictured a little village on a photogenic bay with the store selling the famous whiting burgers looking out across it. Nope. We actually drove straight past the store, it was not anywhere near the water. It was only 11, the burgers were $19, so it was an easy decision not to purchase. We bought a couple of coffees and continued on our way west.

 

[Pushka]

So many people get caught up on that lengthy drive. Even us locals!

 

[bPeteb]

The further west we drove the landscape showed more evidence of the devastating fires.



One thing we'd read about was that locals hadn't realised how many grass trees there were. With the undergrowth burnt away the grass trees came to life and they were incredible. I think of anything the roadside landscape was my highlight of the whole trip. I have loved grass trees since I was a little kid when we used to wander around the bush up near Lucas Heights.

Flinders Chase National Park Flinders Chase National Park and Ravine Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area is now charging and we hadn't thought about buying passes. Big signs as you approach prompting you to pull over and buy them online. The ranger who checked the pass advised us to go to Admiral's Arch first then Remarkable Rocks.

The grass trees on the way into FC National Park









As well as the grass trees coming to life it was amazing to see the life sprouting out of what looked like dead trees. We drove through forests of these



The ranger had also told us about a group of Cape Barron geese who had nested near the burnt out visitors centre. The chicks were nowhere to be seen but the adults were wandering along the side of the road

 

[bPeteb]

Of all the pictures many will remember after the KI fires, it will be the before and after shots of the long rolling straight across Flinders Chase. You look down onto it from a decent height and where once there was kilometres of forest into the distance the fires had left blackened trunks and ash covered sand. It's now returning to green...







Cape de Couedic lighthouse, near Admiral's Arch









looking towards Admiral's Arch and the Casuarina Islets

 

[bPeteb]

While we were reading the info displays of the lighthouse (sheltering from the wind and rain) a fellow intrepid traveller (crazy person) stopped and said to us to make sure we go right to the bottom at steps down at Admiral's Arch. He said that he'd watched people turning back but going to the bottom was worth it. It was.

Just a short drive down from the lighthouse to the carpark for Admiral's Arch and then a windy, cold and extremely wet walk along the boardwalk and then down and around to the arch.







the seals were everywhere in the water around the rocky shore. I did take a few videos but don't upload them anywhere else so no way to link them



We went down some fairly easy steps, even in the pounding rain, and turned a corned out of the wind and there were seals everywhere. To be honest, even though there was a sign saying it was a NZ Fur Seal breeding area, I have no idea if they were all fur seals, or some might have been sea lions. They were great whatever they were.



then a little further around was the arch. Just incredible. With the crashing waves and barking seals and looking through to the pouring rain while se stood in the calm and dry it was quite surreal









a very sobering sign. We saw these all over the place and on the way back across the Playford Highway I saw the roadside memorial to the two people who lost their life in the fires.



Neither of us was sure about how are cameras were coping with the rain. They are both IP68 rated so we kept taking pictures and hoping for the best. If the Samsung hadn't been repaired (cracked camera module finally replaced under warranty) it would have been left in the car.

On the way back up to the car we passed a few groups of people that included people in shorts and thongs. One had a plastic shopping bag on his head. Idiots.

 

[bPeteb]

It wasn't a long drive to Remarkable Rocks and they were quite remarkable.



even in the carpark



this looked like sand but it was the top of what I can only guess is a ginormous rock













yes, those pants are completely soaked through...

 

[Pushka]

Sounds like you really made the most of our appalling weather. Well done!

Guess you dont want to know that today and tomorrow here are bright and sunny and in the mid twenties.

 

[bPeteb]

and a few more remarkable rocks.



there was no way I was going to be walking around the back of those rocks or get any closer then this to the edge





plants are so amazing. From seemingly dead scrub new growth is sprouting







we drove back out through the chase





more life returning



even the commercial forests looked like they was coming back to life



we stopped at Parndana for a late lunch and this place couldn't have been better. Hot coffee (they are certainly not baristas!) and great pulled pork sangers. The ladies who run this place were so incredibly nice. If you're driving the Playford make sure you call in Parndana Bakery, Cafe and Groceries - Kangaroo Island Food and Wine Association