Flinders Chase National Park

We heard stories about Kangaroo Island of having to fend off over-aggressive kangaroos. Without that experience so far, I walked into the Flinders Chase National Park Information Center and asked where we could maximize our chances of seeing wildlife. The patient national parks worker behind the desk sighed and explained that since they began discouraging persons from feeding the roos, those days are over and we shouldn’t expect to see anything, except some funky geese on our hikes. We headed out for Platypus Waterhole without much hope and some whining from the boy-who-reopens-skinned-knee-scabs-weekly in whatever parking lot is available.

Funky geese abounded and we also laid eyes on a wallaby, mamma and young kangaroo and another wallaby. Success by all measures. Maybe you can just make out the wallaby behind the kids (between Molly and Charlie, really) in this photo? The photographer couldn’t quite get the camera to focus on the back- and foreground.

Next up, the Cape du Couedic in the Park at the far south west corner of the island. I’m sorry to say we couldn’t capture the vastness or the beauty of it in photos. You walk down the boardwalk, turn and keep going down.

To your right, the New Zealand Fur Seals are perched on the rocks

and to your left is Admiral Arch:

Daniel, our faithful sign reader, tells us one day this will collapse and fall into the ocean as an island – not one day soon though.

We decided to brave the Weirs Cove Hike from the lighthouse to the house where the three lightkeepers lived (all together with their families in one little house). Our braveness didn’t come from the part of the map labeled “Cliff edge”, but rather whether the kids would drive us crazy. Not too far into the walk, Mike ran ahead, ducked behind one of the large shrubs and scared all three kids by jumping out of them. Thus ensued more than 1 hour and 3 kilometers of the three of them running ahead, “hiding” and jumping out at us yelling “BOO!” It was one of our best hikes yet and once more we were grateful it is winter and the national park is not very populated.

Is it true they cannot see you if you cannot see them?

The parting words from the pessimistic park ranger behind the desk in the morning were to try the Hanson Bay Sanctuary if we wanted to be guaranteed to see wildlife. So, about 4PM, we pulled into the parking lot of Hansons, deposited our $2.50/person on the honor system (many people don’t, so we were told, who would believe the economists would miss a chance to free ride?).

Many animals were moved to Kangaroo Island to help prevent their decline on the mainland. Koalas are one of them and did so well on the Island their numbers grew to 30,000 and the eucalyptus trees they feast on for the 4 hours per day they’re awake started to suffer. So, they took steps to make sure that fewer baby koalas are born and the population has shrunk back to 14,000. Anyway, the sanctuary is a place where you can be sure that you can see some of those flourishing animals and suffering trees. We counted 8 or 9 koalas. Even though it was still daytime when koalas are almost always sleeping, Molly spotted one that we all saw take up a new spot to snooze and heard make some loud grunting noises. Mike spotted this one that jumped from one branch to another.

Can you see it?!

Another rainbow on the way home to dinner followed by a dessert that included two, count them, two cookies each – life is good.