Kangaroo Island

We started this morning with a serenade from a flock of loud but colorful lorikeets in a tree right next to the bed and breakfast.

Today, we drove with our guide, Brian, to the opposite side of Kangaroo Island to Flinders Chase National Park, named after the British cartographer who explored and mapped this area. Kangaroo Island is the third largest Australian Island and is named after the abundant kangaroo that Flinder and his crew ate when they landed here.

We stopped at several points on the way overlooking the Pacific, which is bright blue and turquoise with white caps where the waves break. We saw the area where the lobster boats bobbed in the waves and several scenic outlooks. We stopped at a place where the abundant eucalyptus leaves are distilled into eucalyptus oil and learned about the process. While there we saw a tame orphaned baby kangaroo (that will be released back into the wild when she's old enough) and an emu. We also stopped at Koala Walk, where we spotted several koala high in the trees, a wallaby, a kangaroo, a grey and pink cockatoo called a Galah, and several colorful rosellas. On the way, we saw several large goanna lizards sunning themselves along the road.

After a picnic lunch at the park entrance, we drove to a site called Remarkable Rocks, where erosion from the sand, wind and water have sculpted several large boulders into fantastic shapes. We went to a lighthouse area where New Zealand fur seals play on the rocks and swim in some incredibly rough surf.

After the long drive back to the bed and breakfast, we strolled on the beach, had another wonderful dinner and watched some tennis on TV. Tomorrow, we are off to explore the other side of the island where there is a large colony of sea lions.