Well, we've just come back from our whistle stop tour of the island. What a great place - and we probably picked the worst weekend ever to go down... By the time we'd passed "the border" into the southern suburbs, it was hammering it down. By the time we stopped off in Seaford for our little reccie it was still going (we'll go back another day, as we couldn't really form an opinion on Friday :chuckle: ).

We stopped off at Victor Harbour (a little detour along the way) just after the tour-down-under had packed up. Granite island was veiled in mist and unfortunately we only had time for the tram trip over and straight back :( It was worth it as we still go to see the dolphins playing in the bay. Apparently (as the rather wet driver told us) we were the first cutomers to venture onto the top of the tram that day :)

By the time we got over the to hill above Cape Jervis, the rain had stopped but we couldn't see that island. The jounrey over was smooth and went really quickly and we had a short (hour's) drive over to Kingscote. By the time we'd sorted the rooms out (don't ask, but the lets just say there may have been some germans staying in the hotel and one of the guests could have been a major... ;) ) we managed to get some late dinner (8:50pm!) from the bar - it closed at 8.30! :ph43r:

I don't think we've ever slept so well - the fresh sea air certainly knocks you out! An early wake up later, and we were off down to Seal Bay. What a great experience - walking with a very knowledgable guide though the seal colony for an hour. Then it was down to the south west to see the rocks, and boy there were remarkable! The sun kept popping out and thew different hues on the rock colours. The MIL is taking home a picture and is going to tell people she's been to Uluru :D It was VERY windy though, and Beth's hat blew clean off and was never seen again :( . A short hop later and we were down the boardwark to sea the sea lions and admirals arch. The kids may have complained, but they secrettly enjoyed it all! On the way over we ticked the boxes for Kangaroo and Echidna by the roadside (yes, living ones) and had the pleasure of stopping to let a Koala cross the road. Seeing them in the zoo is one thing, but to get a glipse of one in the wild is always exciting. We motored it back and after fuelling up were just in time for the Pelican Man at Kingscote. Very entertaining for all and blow me if he's not a Yorkshire man. I tell you, you can't go anywhere these days... Later in the evening we went on the tour with the red torch to see the Little/Fairy (delete as appropriate) penguins. Again, very good. So that was Saturday...

On Sunday, we headed to the wildlife park. It was cold and damp when we got there (just after 10am) and we had a walk around. To be honest, we left after an hour - it was ok, but we've been spoilt by better. I think it's mainly a sanctuary that doubles as a park? Anyway, in better weather it may have changed our opinions... So a little deflated, we headed to "Paul's Place", and we got the Rav dirty because it's 15k's off the main road down a dirt track! Got there just after 12 and the cars where queuing up to get in. Paul appeared a few minutes later apologised for being late (one of the hands hadn't rocked up). And then he was off, running here there and everywhere calling us all over and I can honestly say it was the best all reound thing we've done since we came over! He had us bottle feeding kangaroos, feeding all manner of native and farm animals, posing with koalas, possoms and snakes, being pecked by emus and being thown into wool piles... It takes 75-90 minutes for the tour to finish, which culminates with a laughing kookaburra. And with that we headed back to Pennshaw and the ferry... We managed to see the island and the mainland at the same time this time, whilst catching the ealry evening sun! 2 hours later we were home - and we didn't take much rocking...

So KI is a lovely place - there was enough to do to keep the kids happy enough for the weekend (and it would have been even more so if the weather had enabled us to play on the beaches - next time...). We did some of the sites, but it'll be great to come back again to do some of the walks especially round Flinder Chase. If you do go, make sure you see Paul and the Pelican man - you won't regret it.

Sorry Mods - I've posted this in General rather than Travellers Tales to try and show those thinking about coming over, or just about to make the move (and starting to get a little jittery) that it's not all "high costs of living", "lower wages" and "dodgy suburbs". Being able to go to places like KI is one of the main the reasons we came here. Roll on the next adventure :D

PS I'll try and upload some photos later (in the correct place ;) )

what a lovely post!

Really enjoyed reading it - cant wait to get there

Lindsey

Fantastic Post!! Can't wait to go :sign61:

Hi

We visited KI on our reccie trip last Feb and I could see it all again reading your post - lovely, especially the seal colony at Admirals Arch.

Many thanks for a lovely trip down memory lane. You're right it's good to have a balance of positive and negative posts and there is so much to discover over there.

Cheers
Lesley :) :cool shake:

Don't be sorry Merrys - I always think it's better to have this sort of thing in general view, then we can move it once it slips over the page to prevent it drifting into oblivion.

Glad you enjoyed KI even in the rain. We loved it when we went over there - and Paul's Place was a highlight for us too :lol: