2015/11 Australia trip - Cape Gantheaume |
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We were heading for the afternoon ferry out of Cape Jervis, traveling through pretty country and towns. Myponga was a much nicer place than it sounded! We were stuck for a while just outside Yankalilla before we realized we were in the lineup for the Yankalilla Cruise, a parade of fancy cars. Then we were into an area of dry and dusty hills until we took the long straight drop down to the ferry terminal at Cape Jervis.
We had a 3pm reservation, but they were running an extra boat and we got on the 1pm crossing. The boat only had one ramp so I had to drive on close to one side 
and take a sharp U-turn around the pillars to be ready for the exit.
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Kangaroo Island ferry (0.13) |
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Sandie was taking her usual seasickness defence by stuffing herself with 
crisps, but the crossing was calmer than we’d thought. The 50 minute crossing across the Backstairs Passage ended at Penneshaw.
I thought that Kangaroo Island’s hills looked much like the mainland’s, not surprising as they were connected during the ice ages. The island is quite large, about 100 miles by 60, with lots of parks and wildlife and interesting geology. Penneshaw is on the east coast. 
The most famous park is Flinders Chase (yes, that Flinders guy again) on the far west coast, but for this night’s camping we were going partway to Cape Gantheame conservation park on the south coast, notable for its rugged beaches.
There was little traffic as we headed towards the park and even less when we got there. We found D’estrees Bay and its camping area, a number of campsites just off the beach. There were yellow wattle bushes everywhere. Signs told us that the
area was a whaling base for a while and then a farm, before becoming a park. There was also the usual shipwreck story. There are a few relics to see like this threshing floor and some oddities like this rock, the Tadpole. We met this goanna along the way.
I wanted to take a look at Murray’s Lagoon, the park’s other camping area. For once John’s book failed us and the coordinates it gave us were of a road junction miles away from the lagoon. 
While we were arguing about which way to go, we spotted this strange animal rambling up the road. It turned out to be a koala in the process of changing trees. When it saw us, it promptly climbed a tree and sat in the fork gazing down at us with a “can’t get me” look. We didn’t know the island had koalas; they apparently were introduced to provide a safe haven for the species.
Another book gave us the road name so we eventually found Murray’s Lagoon just before dark. Along the way we saw shepherds on ATVs rounding up sheep, perhaps for shearing. We also met an echidna that didn’t stay around long enough to get a picture.
Murray’s Lagoon is an odd place, nothing like I expected. It once was a farm, but now is an office for the rangers. There were three campsites on a hill overlooking the lagoon, with not a soul around, definitely peaceful.
I’d envisaged sitting under a palm tree watching ducks swimming amongst water lilies. Instead we were sitting inside while the cold sea breezes rocked the camper. At least we had a flush toilet but it was attached to the old farmhouse, a long walk in the dark.
Monday November 16th
It was noisy in the morning; we were surrounded by sheep.
We set off walking in the morning to explore the lagoon. It was larger than we expected, but the part closest to us had dried to a goopy mush and we couldn’t get through the dense bush to the wet parts. There were trails elsewhere but they didn’t look too exciting anyway, so we drove around to the west side of the park, to Seal Cove.
Seal Cove has a visitors’ centre and there’s a charge for tours; we took the cheaper option for use of the boardwalk, and we walked down to the viewing platform. There were a couple of dozen Australian sealions on beach below us, and some even snoozing in the shade under the platform. They were similar to the ones that we’d seen at closer quarters in the Falklands.
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Sealion pup (0.21) |
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There was lots of activity, comings and goings. The adults were resting on the beach between two-day fishing expeditions, while some of the young had been left behind, anxious for mum to return with some food.