Friday, December 24, 2010

Kangaroo Island

Last weekend we went to Kangaroo Island and stayed there for 2 nights. This is our first trip to this island and we stayed at Seal Bay Kaiwarra Cottages, the nearest accomodation to one of the island main attraction ~ Seal Bay Conservation Park. It is supposedly summer but the weather was like winter. Fortunately we brought many warm clothes along to this trip. This is the cabin that we rented which is connected with a farm and many bottlebrush plant growing here. We did saw some wallabies hopping at night at the surrounding area of this accomodation.
The closest grocery shop and petrol station from this accomodation is Vivonne Bay Store & Bottle Shop. I highly recommend to bring many food stock to Kangaroo Island as not many shops around and place to eat. Most of the shops close very early about 5 PM and of course the price are more expensive. Luckily we brought along many snacks and food to prepare along this trip as our rented cabin is fully equipped for cooking.

Since most of the attraction is closed at 5PM, on our first day we went to Vivonne Bay which was proclaimed as the best beach in Australia. Although it was cloudy and sometime raining, the water was still very clear at dusk. Since the water was cold and we cannot swim in the water, we did some fishing instead.

 We managed to catch a calamari in just 5 minutes after we started fishing and the most fun thing is I can actually see the calamari swimming try to catch the bait because the water was so clear. That was the biggest calamari we ever caught. Not all place in Kangaroo Island are permitted to fish so do check the fishing guideline of Kangaroo Island. I think we were the craziest tourist that did fishing when its raining and windy. Vivonne Bay jetty and a lone fisherman (my husband).
In Kangaroo Island there is a place called Little Sahara where you can do sandboarding.
As it was raining on the second day of our trip in the morning, we went caving at Kelly Hill Conservation Park.
The highlight of our Kangaroo Island trip is the visit to Seal Bay Conservation Park where we took the guided tour walking near Australian Sea-lions at the beach. Seal bay is one of the few places in the worlds where you can closely obseve sea-lions swim, play and rest on the beach.
A big male and its harem.
A sea-lions mother can swim to the sea for 3 days without coming back to land to feed herself 30% of its weight for her baby milk supply during this duration the baby is left to defend for itself. A very tired mother sea-lion just came back from sea.
Rayyan was sleeping half through the tour initially but when we heard a mother and a baby sea-lion calling and searching for each other, Rayyan woke up. The mother and baby sea-lion can recognised each voice and that is how they reunited again. A very hungry baby sea-lion suckling. Did Rayyan understood the mother and baby sea-lion communication?
 Two very adorable juvenille.
One happy family.
Keeping warm under the bush protecting itself from the cold wind.

There is also a boardwalk for self-guided tour but it is not accessible to the beach. So I highly recommend the guide tour it is an experience you won't forget.
Even though we had a wintery like weather during this trip, we had so much fun. This is our first family trip after giving birth to Rayyan. It is not easy travelling with 2 very hyper active small boys but with my mother and sisters together it was so much enjoyable. Our trip started with Ilhan had a black-eye when he banged his face to the chair when the ferry was rocking so much due to the weather. Before that he was saying 'pirate ship' many times and running around won't sit down even though I tried many time to catch him. Ilhan started to cry and then he became sea-sick, it was a bit stressful during the ferry journey to Kangaroo Island for the little pirate. However, after reaching Kangaroo Island and a few minutes drive we were greeted with beautiful scenaries.
Happy Holidays!

10 comments:

cikmanggis said...

salam.Ohh menariknya.Tentu seronok berpeluang pergi ke tempat tempat begini.Semasa muda muda dulu Cm sangat suka dengan aktiviti lasak tapi bila dah jadi warga emas ni lebih suka tinggal dirumah saja hehe

miruku said...

Beautiful scenery. Looks like a quiet town, but with lotza activities can do. Is the little pirate now understand why mama asked him to sit down? lol. Happy weekend, and Merry Christmas :)

Sue Garrett said...

Lovely animals such large expressive eyes.

p3chandan said...

Seems you and your family had so much fun Diana in Kangaroo Island. The seals are so adorable and I cringed when I saw on TV how these baby seals were killed for their fur! How cruel!

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

I have never seen sea lions so close..... maternal instinct in animals can be very pronounced and obvious. In a different mood, i can still remember how mother hens were ever ready for fights if the little chicks were disturbed... Ryann is too young to know. But he loves his mother the same.. haha.

kitchen flavours said...

Lovely place for a holiday. Would love to see the sea lions up close! Merry Christmas to you and family. Happy Holidays!

rainfield61 said...

I only see sea lions, no kangaroo in the Kangaroo Island.

Happy Holiday to you.

Autumn Belle said...

This is great bonding time for the family. A family that travels together stays together. These are the kind of memories that lasts a lifetime. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, Diana!

Unknown said...

The sea-lion are so beautiful. Great post.
And Merry Christmas to you.

Malar said...

It's very nice to have family outing together! It hold special moment in little heart for the kids!
I never seen Sea lions so near like this before! They look so adorable!