KI, day one.

But let’s fast forward to something more interesting. I decided that as it was Easter, I’d go away. So I booked a trip to Kangaroo Island (with the same tour company as I went to Uluru with). Pick-up was only from the centre of town, so I would have to drive as there’s not a lot of public transport at that time of the morning. No pick-ups near the RAH where I’d have to park, so I was told that I’d have to walk down North Terrace (just over 1/2 mile) to the Stamford Plaza at 0620. Which meant getting up at 5 to give myself enough time. Grrr.

I left OK (having hardly slept as I knew I'd be getting up at silly o'clock), parked, walked to the hotel and got there in time. You wouldn’t believe how rank North Terrace smells at that time of the morning. It had obviously been a good night, the night before. A bus drew up, the driver got out, went into the hotel, straight out onto the bus and left. As he drove off, I had a horrible feeling, even though it the bus belonged to another company. Anyway, it got to 6:40 (good job it was a warm morning), and I’d watched the traffic increasing, flight crew being taken to Adelaide airport and the morning cakes being delivered, so I decided I’d better do something. Given there was a ferry to catch. So I phoned the tour company office who suggested I phone the ferry company who were doing the pick-ups (would have been nice to know that in the first place). So I phoned them who said yes that had been the bus, but I’d been down for a pick-up near the hospital so I wasn’t on the list. Aaarrggh.

So into a taxi, two roads down to the bus station (the only cautious taxi driver in Adelaide!) and I was almost last in the queue, except for an American family who’d also had a similar problem. I made the last bus, anyway

We drove down to the Fleurieu Peninsula. The most beautiful moon-set as we left Adelaide, the parchment yellow moon hanging large in a lilac and blue sky, the sun coming up as we drove down Main South Road over O’Halloran Hill. Out of Adelaide so parched and yellowed, so different from when I drove up in August. The sea, a dark velvety blue until you looked closer and saw the white horses. Oh good, a Force 4 probably.


We arrived just before the ferry left. It turns out that the Ferries, the pick-up / shuttle coaches and the tour company are all owned by the same company. Given the wind, it was straight up onto the top deck, out of the fumes. The wind was cold, and it was lovely.

The ferry was fairly full. On deck lots of I got talking to a couple of retired American ladies who’d been just in front of me in the queue at the bus station (I haven’t seen so many travelling Americans for years, actually it was quite nice), one of whom had done a PhD working in a SCBU in the US looking at mothers of babies with developmental delay after medical intervention. Why is the instant reaction when I say I’m a Doctor (as opposed to a nurse) “Oh, Good for you”? Anyway they were quite interesting.

I tend to spend that sort of thing trying to spot who else looks as though they are on the same tour as me. Not many so far, maybe a couple of single back-packery-type travellers from the bus. The American family and another girl and two tall lads from the bus were on my tour. There were 21 in all, and many were like me – on working holidays in Aus, just on an Easter break. Of the tourists there were the lanky lads who were Danish, and a couple of Swedish brothers – all quite young. Then there was a Swiss couple whose names I never knew but were friendly, and a blonde girl who was quiet. A Dutch couple in their fifties (she was a Haematology specialist nurse, he was something engineery) were good value – got to love the Dutch sense of humour. So sarcastic. Sorry, ironic. Then the Americans. Dennis is a student over here, and his parents were visiting. Finally of the tourists was a guy from Hong Kong called Raymond.

Of the rest of us there were two girls from Sydney – Karen, a Canadian accountant and Naoko, a petite girl originally from Japan but now an Aus permanent resident. Then there was Beth a Canadian who was studying teaching in Wollongong (which I think is pretty much Sydney, too) and Sonya who was Brazilian and has been here 3 years, but I’m not sure of her job. Of the blokes there was Ian (great accent, and a good laugh) an Irish guy who was in IT and very disillusioned with working in Canberra. Then there were two I'd seen on the ferry who were from Sydney. Russell was from New York, an easy going bloke who has shaven hair in an effort to persuade people that he isn’t really blond. And his house-mate Jason. From London, and bizarrely went to Southampton while I was there. Actually, thinking about it, it's more surprising that I haven't bumped into anyone I know (until last Thursday when I met the vascular Reg, who looked familiar, who'd worked at Addie's).

The tour guide was a guy called Simon. Originally from Brighton, although you wouldn’t know it. Slightly older than most guides, (probably early forties, although fairly weathered so difficult to tell). But an interesting, knowledgeable bloke.

The first stop on the tour was Pennington Beach which is at the neck of the island (it’s vaguely animal shaped). Actually I’m lying. The first stop was the supermarket and the loos behind the Post Office in Penneshaw. This was more of a tour of toilets of the island (or “Holes in the Ground I have Known and Loved).”for the ladies”. We were at the beach for only a couple of minutes; which had a very bizarre rock formation that looked more like bone.

After that was lunch, which was at the Eucalyptus distillery – one of only 3 in Aus, basically in a tin shack with a gift shop. I’m not good with corporate videos (too cynical), so instead of watching that I volunteered for doing dinner. So did Jason and Russell, so I got a chance to talk to them. The distillery were doing wine tasting, so I tried some of the rose. Or orange maybe. Actually it was good and locally grown.

After the eucalyptus factory we went to the Sea Lion sanctuary where you get a chance to actually walk on the beach; although there is a limit of 10m distance, we got to stand much closer. Not as fragrant as I expected, probably because of the wind. So although the sun was out, the temperature was pleasant. And you just get to sit on the powdery sand and watch as they sleep, roll down the beach (to damn lazy to walk, I guess) and the young play in the waves.

After that was Little Sahara to go sand boarding. (I might give the snow boarding another go after that - this was marginally more successful sans hangover.) The most beautiful dunes, white and tall, and it was a laugh. Even if I am slightly bruised after. That’d be worth another go at sometime.

Then another beach, (with another hole in the ground). The water was freezing, but crystal clear. So beautiful. Dennis was swimming, but that’s OK, I know the names of some psychiatrists. It was just about warm enough to stand in the water and say you'd had a paddle. Even the sand was cool as we stood around talking.

It was getting towards sunset and the air was starting to get cooler. We drove towards the campsite via a koala sanctuary for 10 min animal spotting session. Not just koalas (several of them), but wallabies and birds too.

The we finally got to the farm where the accommodation was. There were cabins with dorms, warm showers, the usual type of open air kitchen / dining room with barbecue, and a bonfire. There were a couple of other families there, one had kids of several ages including some teenagers.

We’d bought beer already so while some cooked, several of us got to sit around the fire (thankfully no fire-ban). I can think of worse places to sit as the sun goes down. Dinner was a barbie (the Aussies don't barbecue as we know it, they just cook outside). Loads of food – including fried onions which were wonderful. Then we were taken on a short walk around the farm to watch lots of furry animals – including a group (herd? Pod?) of kangaroos feeding themselves from grain bins. Proper large kangaroos. Plus possums and wallabies. Back for pud, and then we sat around the fire talking again before going to bed.