One of the best aspects of traveling is meeting so many wonderful people who seem very obliged to share their generosity. I have met so many people who have provided me with aid, especially their time; that made my journey's a tremendous experience. I was at Ayer's Rock in the middle of Australia when I met this one particularly nice lady (Glen) at the Alice Springs Hostel. This new friend give me her address in case I visited Adelaide; I warned her that I would come by....... After an excellent visit with these new friends (Glen, Max, and their children) I set out for Kangaroo Island, Australia's third largest island. Once the ferry landed on the island I went down some rocks to the water and found a cute little penguin hiding among the rocks.
I met yet another great local couple (Fred + Dorothy) who called me over to their house from the road, they had a nice view of Penneshaw and the coast from their back deck.
After some conversation and a snack they offered to take me to a few places for stunning views like the sand dune Mt Thisby (highest point on the island), from where I could see the southern ocean and Pelican Lagoon. Once I descended the dune I saw so many Australian Pelicans, which I watched for a few minutes. Fred and Dorothy then took me to their friends house who feeds wallaby's.
I was amazed at the site of over 50 wallaby's who were very timid when the man made the dinner call. Some came quickly while others (with a baby in the pouch) stayed peeking out of the bush until they felt comfortable. It was an awesome experience to watch these marsupials getting fed in the winter season; this man had names for most all of them. That night I went to the church concert which showcased some local acts and a band from the mainland; it was a lot of fun and there was some great food afterwards.
In the morning of the next day I went to Pelican Lagoon to get photo's of Blue Penguins and Australian Pelicans before I started to hitch hike to Seal Bay. After my first ride I walked about 8kms., only 4 cars went by. Kangaroo Island is desolate in the off season and although the local population is most welcoming to tourists, there are not many of it's citizens on the road. I walked and walked; since it was winter all the paddocks were green, and there were many different birds around; turned out that I covered about 20 kms. to get down south to Seal Bay.
When I arrived at the beach I was amazed again for the second time in 2 days. There were over 100 sea lions on the beach and not a person in sight.
Seal Bay has one of the largest colonies of the Australian Sea Lion, there are approximately 500 of them........on this day so many laid out to bask in the sun. The pups are born every 18 months and suckle until the next baby is born. The adult females weigh about 150 kilo's and have silvery grey coats. Adult males weigh up to 400 kilo's and the coat for them darkens with age; the average sea lion lifespan is about 12 years.
I walked over to different bay and saw another 50 sea lions laying in the sand; it was unforgettable. Although I now live close to seals and sea lions I will never forget the hours of sitting beside, and walking among the sea lions at Seal Bay. I know how much it meant to me at the time because I wrote "FANTASTIC" in my journal. After about 5 kms of walking back from Seal Bay I was picked up by Barry and his two grandchildren, he ended up inviting me for dinner and then I took him to Fred and Dorothy's to introduce them.. I ended up sleeping over at Barry's place, which was excellent, so much better than the hostel. In the morning I walked about 10 kms to Fred's place, him and Dorothy took me to Antechamber Bay which had a beautiful beach. We then traveled around looking at lagoon's with many beautiful birds. I spent that last night at Barry's, I will not forget the hospitality of all those people I met out on the road, such as my friends in Adelaide and on those on Kangaroo Island. I was feeling very lucky and appreciative...........Kangaroo Island is a great place !!
such friendly people and it must have been awesome to be among all those animals! How nice of that couple to feed the wallaby's, sound like my kind of people.
ReplyDelete