A Taste of South Australia Day 3

Today the sunrise brought with it a drop in temperature, and a howling wind. We were up and enjoyed breakfast of berries and yogurt, thanks to our grocery shop in Kingscote the day before. We packed a sandwich lunch into our travel esky, carved from a fresh loaf of bakery sourdough, remnants from our charcuterie board and dips, and headed out into the morning.

Today we knew we were spending the majority of the day on the south west side of the island, in the Flinders Chase National Park.

On the list of highlights for the day we had:

• Cape Du Couedic Lightstation

• Admirals Arch

• The Remarkable Rocks

The drive down the island was pleasant, mostly well maintained gravel (unsealed) roads. It didn’t take us long to arrive at the National park entry where we bought our day passes and drove on down to the lighthouse. The recommendation we received was to take the walking track down and around the lighthouse, viewing platforms and down to the Admirals Arch. Another pointer we picked up was to ensure we didn’t miss the Weir’s Lookout. Apparently, many people drive straight past it, but we are so lucky we went, it was one of the most picturesque outlooks we had from the whole island.

The sea lions basking in the sunlight on the rocks opposite admirals arch were such fun to observe. We took a few happy snaps and scenery shots before hiking back up the hill against the blustering wind and driving across to the Remarkable Rocks.

We seemed to be incredibly lucky with our timing on this day, as we encountered only a few other tourists and were able to take plenty of photos (all in approved areas of the National Park!) by ourselves with very little inconvenience. The weather was also perfect today, barely a cloud in the sky and despite the wind, there was little to complain about by way of the weather.

Our afternoon concluded with lunch at the Remarkable Rocks, before driving east along the south coast in search of Vivonne Bay and Seal Bay.

Now, I’m not going to blame the driver (me) or the navigator (Siri), but we overshot Vivonne Bay and found ourselves in Seal Bay, despite seeing clearly on the map that we must have passed it.

We watched the seals sleep along the shoreline, occasionally shuffling out of the path of the encroaching waterline, but mostly appearing to have participated in a mass beaching. The team at the Seal Bay conservation park were incredibly helpful, as we also sought recommendations as to where else to find food on the island without driving the 1.5-2 hours back across to Kingscote. The advice was to drive directly up the centre of the island to Parndana, where the local bakery also hosted a small grocery store. It wasn’t a big inconvenience, however, it certainly would have made things easier for us if we had have known before leaving Kingscote that options were significantly limited west of the main town.

Dinner tonight consisted of chicken and three cheese pasta, another glass of our delightful gin and tonic, and after setting the fire, I enjoyed a luxuious bubble bath by candle light. Could it have been a more perfect day?

Notes:

The majority of the roads on KI are unsealed or gravel. Be prepared and be aware of the daylight hours for safe driving. The island is heavily populated with kangaroos and wallabies who will not hesitate to race in front of your car. Having spent a significant proportion of my childhood growing up on a farm or ‘out west’ in the bush, I was very well aware of the dangers of driving in an area heavily populated by our national emblem. If you are unfamiliar with driving with Australian wildlife please heed my warning.
It may seem obvious, but kangaroos are definitley harder to spot between dusk and dawn, so unless you are in a 4WD with a bull bar, avoid driving at night, dawn or sunset.

Reference List:

The Sky House

Flinders Chase National Park

Cape Du Couedic Lightstation

Admirals Arch

The Remarkable Rocks

Seal Bay

Seal Bay Conservation Park

Note: All reference links in this post are unsponsored