Days 16 - 18

 Day 16

Happy birthday to me!!! Woke up in a real bed! Chris brought me a cup of tea and a gorgeous necklace I'd mentioned I loved in December - what a lovely start to my day 😊

Chris cooked me breakfast and then didn't let me wash up. After that we headed over to Seal Bay, stopping off and having a walk along a very windy, gorgeous beach.

Chris cooking me breakfast 🥰

Seal Bay is a sanctuary for Australian sea lions, and is the third largest colony. They are an endangered animal, after being hunted to near extintinction in the 1800s. It is a slow process to get their numbers back up. You can either get a guided tour or walk on a boardwalk. The boardwalk option was $20 each and the guided one was $42 each. I decided I wasn't THAT interested in sea lions to spend that much on a tour, as interesting as it would have been 😉 We saw a couple of big males, lots of pups and one pup even suckling from its mother. My new binoculars came in very handy too!

Mum and pup sea lions

More sea lions

A humpback whale carcass that washed up in the sanctuary in 1984 (a good year. Although not for this whale)

We then headed to Vivonne Bay and grabbed some lunch at the general store there. They were playing a rodeo bull riding competition on the TV while we were waiting. What a mad sport that is! Afterwards, we went to visit the beach - such a gorgeous turquoise sea, it was really very beautiful. On a less windy, warmer day, I would have loved to take a dip! We saw a Rosenberg's goanna on the walk, which was exciting. 

A Rosenberg's goanna

Chris photographing the goanna

Chris looking for more creatures on Vivonne Beach

As another birthday present, the government decided to halve the tax on petrol, so we filled up 25c a litre cheaper today!

We then headed back to camp, I mean cabin, via a stop at a brewery for a quick coldie. We then realised that we needed to get supplies for the next couple of days as we were headed to the less populated west side of the island and it was going to be Good Friday. We then thought why not have dinner out? So we grabbed some groceries, and then went to a lovely Italian restaurant for dinner.

Day 17

We said goodbye to our little cabin and drove to the north side of the island. First stop was Stoke's Bay Beach. Voted Australia's best beach in 2023, i could totally see why. To access the beach, you have to walk through a natural rock tunnel, which brings you out to this gorgeous stretch of beach, with cliffs one side of you and roaring waves the other. It was stunning. There's even a sheltered tidal pool for swimming in.

Chris entering Stoke's Bay Beach via the dramatic rocky caves

The sheltered swimming area

Gorgeous

We walked to the rocks on the other side, hoping to see some fun sealife in rockpools, but didn't really see much at all. As we were walking back, a couple mentioned there was another area you could walk to through a gap in the rocks, so we took our shoes off, rolled up our trousers and waded in. It was very cool. We couldn't get to the end bit as you'd have to swim and we weren't equipped for that!

Rock pool hunting

The view from the other end of the beach

Me in the dramatic cave entry bit

Next stop was Snelling Beach. People were starting to arrive for Easter, and a few families had driven  onto the beach and were fishing. There was something rolling about in the waves, and after much deliberation, we realised it was a dead ray. At first we thought its fins had been cut off, but actually they were still there. We thought then that maybe a shark got it? We saw the head of a dead shark too, so that answered that we thought. Then a bit further down the beach, we came across another dead ray, and then another one, smaller than the first one though. Our new theory is that the rays get caught in the shallows when the tide goes out. I think a more fitting name for Snelling Beach is Dead Ray Bay. I shall start a petition.

Amazing rocks and scenery

They're so unusual!

Those good looking roosters again!

We then drove to Western River Camp Ground, which was to be where we were sleeping that night. We had some lunch and it was still quite early, so we decided to drive all the way over to Cape Borda Lighthouse at pretty much the most western point of the island. The corrugations on the road there were ROUGH! The lighthouse itself is short and square, which is unusual, but it didn't need to be tall, and therefore it didn't need to be round (the strongest structure for tall things!) We did the cliff top walk, which was, in all honesty, a bit disappointing. We walked TO a cliff top, rather than along one, and saw no wildlife whilst doing so. My new walking boots did make me feel like a gazelle though - I was hopping over the rough terrain with no slipping care in the world! The only saving grace was that we saw a whole pod of dolphins hunting fish in the choppy waters. Did I have my binoculars though? Of course not!

The short, square lighthouse

We got back in the car and headed to Harvey's Return, which promised a very steep walk down to a cove with zebra schist rocks to look at. This was the track that the old lighthouse keepers would get their supplies up from the sea, and that walk was STEEP! I felt very sorry for those men! So I didn't feel quite so gazelle like this time 😉 but it was a good clamber down. Chris reckons that for every 1m we went across, it was 2m down if that helps anyone visualise the incline. Once we got to the little Cove, we had to scramble over a few more rocks to get the zebra schisms. Look how cool they were!

The zebra rocks

Such fun patterns!

The cove itself

We reluctantly made the climb back out (what goes down must come up, or something like that) and I startled a baby snake! We have seen so little wildlife I kind of forgot to be careful. I either stepped on it, or stepped on a rock that it was under and it slithered off into the undergrowth. It was maybe 30cm long and black. No idea what it was and we didn't get a picture.

I'm the king of the castle

And you're the dirty rascal!

We endured more corrugations to get back to our camp-site. Two families had rocked up in the meantime with big 4WD and trailers, kids and dogs - the whole caboodle! Or should I say cavoodle, cos I think that what the dogs were 😂 They were cute, but not on leads, so they'd wander into our area, and then start barking at us. Like, you came into our space dudes, you can't bark at us! Anyway, we sat on the beach for sunset, made some dinner and then went to bed.

Day 18

After some cereal for breakfast, we packed up and headed to the south western part of the island, the Flinders Chase National Park. Due to algae bloom, the parks have waived entry fees until after Easter and have all been free to visit for our trip, which is nice and helps offset the cost of the $57 honey 😉 First stop was the info centre, with lovely flushing toilets and nice soap in the sinks. (Did I mention just how gross last night's longdrop was? No? Well, it was the worst one yet. By far 🤢)

Second stop was Remarkable Rocks, which, I must say, are aptly named. They were pretty remarkable. They're this cluster of oddly shaped rocks, worn by salt and wind and water, atop a bigger, round rock. They honestly look like sculptors have been in and chiselled and sanded the rock into these cool abstract shapes. We got there just before two bus loads of tour groups arrived, which was really lucky. I must also note, it was freezing this day. The wind was very strong and made it feel even colder- brrrr!

The West Coast Eagles fan under a rock that looks like an eagle. Such poetry!

Me under the eagle rock

Fascinating shapes

Third stop was another lighthouse - Cape Du Couedic Lighthouse. A much more traditional looking one this time. There are the ruins of the storehouse still there, and you can see the remains of the jetty where boats would land every three months (weather permitting) with food and other supplies.

The tall, round lighthouse

Fourth stop was Admirals Arch, a scenic view through a rock arch. There was a board walk to get down to it and on the way, we saw masses of sea lions lounging on the rocks. There were also some at the arch, swimming in the rough waters there.

Admirals Arch

There were seals playing in that water!

Lots of seals down there!

Fifth stop was a walk called the Platypus Walk, which was a 1.5hr long loop around little lakes and creeks where platypus live and are often spotted. Platypus are on my list of animals to see in the wild, and they are still on my list. We saw absolutely zero. Oh well, it was a cute little walk at least 😉

We then made our way to Emu Bay, our spot for the last night of our KI trip. The place was full to the brim of Easter camping families. There were some very impressive looking campervan/caravan/4WD set ups. With us in our little Jimny, and the swag that Chris has to get off and onto the roof each day, I can't help but wonder if those guys are impressed and a bit jealous of our simple set up, or if they are just looking down on us. Chris reckons the latter, but with fuel prices as they are, we are on a much better wicket...

The wind did not really let up all day, so by about 7.30pm, we'd had food and just retired into the swag to get out of it. And there we stayed until morning!