Kangaroo Island Part II

Back to the island.

Know that there are often long drives on unsealed roads between attractions. In hindsight, moving accommodation as you progress around the island is probably a better option that our plonking in the one spot.

Various friends and family had given us the hot tips but pretty sure we covered it all.

• Pelican feeding at Kingscote - very funny and informative

     

• Cape Willoughby Light House - again, an informative, friendly worth while tour - and bonus, not far from Dudley Wines!
• Clifford's Honey Farm - long way to go but the honey ice cream was delicious
• Stoke's Beach - where you walk through what feels like a secret passage through the rocks to get it - quite magical (Also where you get the great food at the Rockpool Cafe)
• Seals at Seal Bay - the tour is expensive but it also supports conservation so fair enough

                    

• Flinders Chase National Park (below) - windy as all get out, but with rock formations like we'd never seen 
• Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was one of those rural parks run by people who are dedicated to animal conservation and welfare - friendly and happy to have a chat - a great stop

            

• Island Pure Sheep Dairy, We arrived just before closing time at 4pm and didn't we know it! In spite of buying 3 cheeses and a gorgeous wooden tray, the staff grumbled that it has been such a long day (they opened at 10...) and weren't that welcoming which was a bit off putting
• Admiral's Arch (below) was spectacular. Watching the seals in the incredibly rough water and over the rocks was mesmerising. The surf is huge - and they just love bouncing around in what we mere mortals would find terrifying. This may have been the highlight of the trip. It's so good.

• KIS - Kangaroo Island Spirits, a small distillery where you can taste their gins, vodkas and other offerings. We had trouble getting their attention because it was one of the staff's birthday and they were more interested in presenting a specially labelled bottle of something to her than serving us... We did persist and they had some great products, buying a bottle of their SLAP vodka with Samphire (a salty succulent that's prevalent on the island), Lime and Pepper

So all in all, lots to do and see, some great food (and sadly, some not so great) and a successful trip.

When we got back to Robe, we discovered I had a cracked wheel rim so had to travel back to Melbourne on the space-saver wheel at 80km... seems my car is cursed here!! You might recall the drama when the keys got locked in it - also at Robe.

The Bike Ride

This is the beach smack in front of my parents' house at Robe in South Australia. It's called Long Beach (so imaginative!) and runs for 11kms around the bay. Aside from the first few hundred metres, the rest is deemed highway and you can drive your car on it, so if you don't like the surf or people nearby, you can simply keep going around the bay to find a spot away from everyone.

Those are cars in the distance.

A few days ago, I came up with this hair brained idea that I'd ride my bike to the end of the beach and back. Having done some riding a few years back, I thought it would take me a bit over an hour for the round trip. I borrowed Elle's bike, which is (appropriately!) a bit of an old lady's model which seemed better suited to the terrain than my thin-wheeled road bike.

Off I set.

It was a little harder than I thought but okay - until I ran out of hard sand. A few times the bike literally came to a grinding holt as I chose the wet sand that had been vacated by the tide merely moments before over the dry sand that offered no traction at all. Hmmm. At those points I had to get off and push until I got back on to a firmer surface. And the wind was starting to pick up.

Anyway, I made it to the end and here's the proof!

The seaweed did NOT help my progress here either.

It hadn't taken half an hour to get there - more like an hour - so I decided to ride back on the road. I had to push the bike over the 4WD trail and then peddle my way down a track, with deep trenches caused by soft earth and heavy rain, to reach the road. There was a combine-harvester working a paddock nearby which was vaguely reassuring that if I did collapse someone might eventually notice.

As I moved away from the beach, the temperature rose but perhaps it was due to the track being somewhat sheltered from the howling gale. I made it to the road and started peddling, consoling myself that the trip wouldn't be much further now. There were few cars which was also good. And then I reached a T-intersection. The sign post showed I'd come 6kms from the beach and had 16kms to go to get back to Robe. 16??? How could that be?

This road was much busier and the wind now a dry, blasting heat like a fan-forced oven. I did have the sense to actually appreciate the breeze as I knew if it dropped off I'd suddenly be aware of how baking hot it actually was. On and on I went, clinging to the edge of the bitumen as large vehicles towing boats and trailers shot past me at speeds in excess of 110kms with centimetres to spare. (In fairness, some did slowdown and I gave them a courtesy nod. I'd have given the speedsters the finger if I'd been brave enough to take my hand off the handles.)

At one point, a large piece of agricultural equipment was heading towards me, with about 5 cars backed up behind. On this occasion, I did seek refuge in the driveway of an olive farm (for sale, about 5,000 trees and about 7kms out of Robe should you be interested) and consumed the last 3cms of simmering hot water from my bottle.

Finally, I saw another sign - 5kms to Robe - thank the lord! As I pressed on I wondered if that was 5kms to the centre of town, 5kms to the Long Beach, 5kms to the Ski Lake? Anyway, it was getting closer! Having been sure I'd knocked over at least one more 'k', I saw another sign approaching - Robe 5kms. WTF?? Damn you sign. I wanted to rip it from the ground and would have had I had the strength.

I did make it back and once off the bike, collapsed into the foetal position to recover while Eleanor laughed and took photos and mimicked my 'it'll only take about an hour' claim - I'd been gone nearly three. Over the remainder of the day I drank about 3 litres of water and didn't wee once! I suspect I was a tad dehydrated.

Relaying my adventure to the others later, and showing the photo on my phone that proved I'd made it - my brother asked; 'Why didn't you just ring and we could have come and picked you up?'

Because that would have been defeat my friends!!!!


I'd like to dedicate this post to my amazing proof reader Penny, (if there's ever a typo it's because I have by-passed the service, it's not PB!) who pedalled an amazing 800kms through Thailand to raise money for tsunami orphans. I have a whole new respect for you PB!!

'Fancy' can suck

I love my fancy European car. But I didn't love it when we were in regional South Australia for Mum's 80th and the keys got locked in it.

The small person responsible is very sad about the incident and doesn't like me to tell people. And fair enough, Sass - I won't mention it.

We rang the RAA and hours later, the guy showed up to demonstrate how many security features my car has that clearly no-one, including the RAA guy, knew about. The old wedge open the door and slip a wire in to open the handle doesn't work. Nor hitting the 'unlock' button. The car deadlocks. Which is great if some is trying to steal it - not so great if you're trying to get into it.

Plan B. The RAA tried to track down a locksmith. They couldn't make contact. And without casting aspersions on country-folk - after all, I'm one of them - I wasn't holding by breath that there'd be one within 300kms that would be able to get in.

At dinner, with Mum, Dad, their 93 year old friend Jess, my siblings, their partners and kids, we brainstormed options:

• Hire a plane, fly back to Melbourne, get spare key, fly back, drive home
• Drive Dad's car to Melbourne, get spare key, drive back and then drive home....
• Drive Dad's car back to Melbourne, post spare key to Mum and Dad and have them drive my car when coming down in about 10 days (I confess, I was NOT keen on this idea...)
• Have the car towed to the nearest town of size where by some miracle, they'd have someone who could get in
• Call the windscreen people, have the windscreen taken out, get keys, replace windscreen (I thought this was gold - until I called and they explained they can't remove a windscreen without getting into a car - damn)
• Smash a window

We decided to smash a window.

I called a relative who is a dealer of fancy cars to seek his advice. He said the back cargo window would be our cheapest option. We did a template to make sure the small person responsible could get in to retrieve the keys if necessary - all good. So we called the police (there are none in town but just so the nearest knew in case anyone thought we were stealing it), all drove into town and started taping the window.

A car pulled up behind. My brother who lives locally, gave a quick explanation. 'Yeah - I heard,' the guy said. Don't you love a small country town?

A crowd gathered, the hammer was swung - and about 50 strikes later it finally exploded. I put my arm through and discovered yet another new security feature - it alarms if locked and you reach in! Brilliant!

Thankfully, we could reach the keys from there - even if it was noisy.

That was 3 weeks ago. And I still have plastic taped over the window. Apparently that was NOT the window to break. It's expensive, there's none in the country and it needs to come from Germany - still waiting - but at least I know it's secure!