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The kangaroos didn't bother us during the night, though I did
notice one of them bound away into the bushes close to us when
I rolled over in the morning. It was the birds, of course, which
woke us up at about 4:30am. They quieted later, and we woke up
to a completely overcast, uniformly gray sky. Flies buzzed around
the tent constantly, but never got inside. As I sat in the tent,
I saw Kangaroos all around us, blissfully eating in the early
morning.
It didn't get too cold at night. It got down to as low as 59 degrees
inside the tent, even without the rain fly on. When I finally
emerged from the tent, three or four kangaroos bounded away. We
had a breakfast of oatmeal, pop tarts, and hot chocolate. Afterwards
Jean decided to go back to sleep for a while before we started
our day. While she was in the tent I walked beside it and hopped
up and down, pretending I was a kangaroo. Jean didn't like that.
As we drove off to our hike, we noticed that they were starting
to build fences around some of the camp sites. Kangaroos seem
to be a problem with campers, and so they're building fences to
keep them out of the sites. The fence posts are two-by-fours,
and they're fenced off with thin rigid wires. Not as ugly as a
chain-link fence, and probably effective enough. But they'd only
finished it for a couple of the sixteen sites.
We stopped briefly at the visitor's center so Jean could get some
coffee (which unfortunately spilled in the car), and then we went
off on West Bay Road, a dirt 4-wheel drive road. We were definitely
glad to have the SUV. We traveled on the bumpy road past Eucalyptus
trees for about 13 kilometers before we reached the trailhead
for the Breakneck River Hike.
After the hike, we decided to have a picnic at the trailhead.
I took out the camping stove and we made some very good soup from
packages. Jean had some noodle soup and I had a Dutch curry soup
which was delicious.
We then headed back along the West Bay Road for about 4 kilometers
before reaching the parking lot for Snake Lagoon, the start of
our next hike. There were just two other cars in the parking lot.
We were both tired so we decided to rest for 5 minutes before
going off on our hike. Somehow, those 5 minutes turned into an
hour. I don't think that's ever happened to me before. We stumbled
out of the car and started off on our hike along the Rocky River.
After the hike we drove back to the visitor's center to get water
for cooking that night. We hoped to get there before 5pm, which
is when they closed. We did get there before 5pm, but unfortunately
they were closed anyway. Fortunately, I remembered the ranger
saying there was rain water in a reservoir behind the visitor's
center, and I was able to get some water from the faucet in the
back.
The skies definitely looked ominous, so before we headed off to
Remarkable Rocks, we stopped by our tent and quickly put on the
rain fly. We felt much better after we did. The road to Remarkable
Rocks was newly paved, having been completed earlier in the year.
This was a welcome change after driving on dirt roads for most
of the day. We turned left and soon came upon a, well, remarkable
view. The road undulated off into the distance, where Remarkable
Rocks was clearly visible hovering over the stormy Southern Ocean.
Remarkable Rocks from afar
The rocks are large rocks gracefully carved by erosion, sitting
on top of a granite dome, only the top of which is exposed above
the dirt. It all lies some hundreds of feet above the ocean, on
the edge of Kangaroo Island. I've never been to Scotland, but
from what I've seen on television, this approach under a stormy
sky completely made me think of Scotland. The view was breathtaking.
We stopped at a lookout across the road to take some photographs.
Unfortunately I should have taken the photographs from near the
car, as that viewpoint was better than my pictures from the lookout.
My newly acquired Brunton Sherpa barometer indicated that a storm
was brewing, and it was quite evident from looking at the sky
that rain wasn't far away. So we quickly got back in the car and
drove down to the Rocks to try to beat the rain.
There was only one other car in the large parking lot. There are
interpretive signs posted along the walk from the parking lot
to the rocks. It exhorted people not to get too close to the edge.
One person actually fell into the ocean sometime in the 1990's.
Amazingly enough he lived to tell the tale, but he was extremely
lucky. We were certain to be cautious.
Jean in front of Remarkable Rocks
The wind was picking up as we walked along the paved walkway to
the rocks and I took a few photographs (not too close to the edge).
Jean in front of one of the Remarkable Rocks
Looking west from Remarkable Rocks
We packed up and walked back to our car along the wooden planks.
Along the way signs described the geology behind the rocks. We
made it back to the car and made the short drive to our next destination,
Cape du Couedic. The wind was really blowing as we started down
the walkway. We were the only ones out there, walking out toward
the edge of nowhere. The wooden walkway descends toward the ocean.
Remarkable Rocks is visible far off to the left.
Eventually the walkway reaches a viewing platform for Admiral's
Arch, a natural arch formation. Nearby is a breeding colony of
New Zealand fur seals. Unfortunately the light was fading and
I still had 50 speed film, so I didn't take any pictures. We walked
back up the stairs in the cold and wind. Back near the parking
lot is a lighthouse and a few buildings. The lighthouse is now
fully automated, so the former lighthouse staff buildings are
now rented out to tourists.
I had a brilliant idea. Instead of trying to eat by our camp site,
where the kangaroos would be sure to bother us, we'd eat near
the visitor's center. As luck would have it, we drove around and
discovered that there were about 8 picnic tables underneath a
roof and fenced off to keep the kangaroos out. No one was using
it, and there were even overhead lights that we could turn on.
Which was good because the sun was just setting.
We happily used this picnic area to cook our dinner. Tonight it
was garden herb rice, baby corn, carrots, and salmon. And hot
chocolate and cookies to top it off. We also enjoyed a fruit juice
cordial mix. And the kangaroos didn't bother us at all.
Afterwards we cleaned up in the nearby lighted bathroom. We then
returned to our camp site. We had human company this time -- a
group had set up their tent in a campsite a couple dozen yards
away. But those were our only other neighbors besides the kangaroos.
As it turned out, we only felt a few sprinkles fall that day,
but we were still glad to have put the rain fly on earlier. We'd
be even more thankful later.
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