Day 14 Another Town and Another Hat
Got off the train and it’s freezing. I went from 108 to 53 in 24 hours. My hotel did not provide a pick up so I hitched a ride with Annie’s Place’s bus and they were cool enough to drop me off. I didn’t sleep a wink on the train so I’m in serious need of a nap. My hotel is in the CBD above a rowdy Pub (kind of a bummer on a few levels) so rest was not in the cards at least while happy hour was on.
I dropped my bags and went in search of a place to buy a light jacket. I found the world famous Adelaide Central Market right around the corner from the hotel. I had read about it and knew I would be able get some good deals on a jackets, souvenirs and food. Sure enough I found a nice fleece jacket for $20 ( an amazing price for Australia) and the owner threw in a wool stocking cap for free.
Some of the more perceptive folks may have noticed that I am wearing several different hats in the photos I have posted. I brought 3, my wool “Outbacker” (which was too hot for the Outback!) a leather one for the rain forest and a baseball cap from New Iberia La.
I purchased a lightweight white cotton jobby for the desert and now I had a new stocking cap. That makes 5 hats in my bag. 5 hats and 4 cameras, I’m all set.
I grabbed some fruit at the farmers market and headed back to my room for the bag swap and to ready for my trip to Kangaroo Island. Not at all stoked on the hotel they are much more concerned with running the pub than they are taking care of their guests. Oh well I have my own room albeit in a bunk bed.
Day 15 Kangaroo Island!
The second biggest island in Australia is way down South and is named after a specific sub-species of Roo that is found only on that island. The island is 80% National Park and is pristine and unspoiled .It is also home to wild Koalas! (I keep making the mistake of calling them Koala Bears much to the disgust of the locals) and two kinds of endangered seals.
The tour left at 6 sharp and I was ready to leave the hotel by then. The guide was a hippy dippy type with long hair named Nick. I was the first pick up and for a while I thought I would have the tour to myself. Alas we picked up 5 Americans, 2 Brits, 2 Dutch and 2 Germans.
We drove 2 hours South to the ferry and I swear we were in Nor Cal. The landscape is nearly identical to Pt Ryes and Marin County above San Francisco (minus the kangaroos of course) it’s uncanny.
We hop on the car ferry for the crossing and I sit next to the Brit girls. They were from Birmingham and one of them grew up not too far from Rob Halford! Of course she was a rocker so we had much to discuss.
Our first stop was a eucalyptus oil plantation. We got a tour and I bought some gifts for me Mum. It was pretty interesting and the oil (not unlike Hemp) has a thousand uses.
Next we visited Seal Beach for a stroll with the highly endangered Australian Sea Lion. Many of the seals are with pups and were very grumpy. A ranger led us right out into the middle of them despite the fact that there had been an attack the day before when a girl got her kneecap bitten off. This would never happen in the States! He was clearly nervous and not happy to be leading us onto the beach. Sure enough, a big male came loping toward us in attack mode, I though he was being curious and stood there snapping pics, the ranger grabbed me and rushed us up to safety. We spent the rest of the time watching from the boardwalk. :)
Next stop was a grove of eucalyptus and wild Koala!! (bears) This was very exciting but the guide warned that they would be asleep and not moving much at all. Much to my delight I found a big male that was (by Koala Bear standards) a virtual jumping bean. He moved from branch to branch, looked down at me several times and pretty much hammed it up the whole time. I got some terrific pics of him. In the next tree was a mom and baby but by then it was too dark for pics of them.
We stayed at an old farmhouse that night and had a fire both inside and out. We dined on chicken, sausage and yummy Kangaroo steaks.
That night I was asked since I was from So Cal if I had met any famous people (since that’s what we do in So Cal) J Of course I said I had and told the guide to pick a rock star. One girl chimed in “Steven Tyler” oh brother
Nick the guide thought about it and said “Perry Farrell??”
Un-freakin believable.
I did a triple take, like this had to be a set up. So around the campfire, 26 thousand miles from home with fruit bats overhead and kangaroo on the barbie, I told the now world famous “Perry Story.” Oddly enough right about that time Perry was playing a show in San Diego and all of my friends were at that show, some with backstage passes. I found out later, when asked, Perry still remembered me and staying at my house.
After dinner and a bottle of wine, I was coerced into telling more stories (twisting arm) so I recounted a few Yosemite Bear Attack stories and a couple of good old American Ghost stories. Once again I’m getting ribbed for my “accent.”
Day 16 Remarkable Rocks and Platypus Myths
I was up for the sunrise and walked about by the barn to catch the good light. There was a family of kangaroos grazing and the baby hopped right over to me. He checked me out for a while and hopped away. Pretty soon Dad became interested and started making his way over. I got a few pics and retreated away pretty fast. A large male kangaroo can kill a man easily and they often do. The Roos on the island are dark chocolate brown and as mentioned before very rare and they show well on “film.”
First stop Remarkable Rocks I will let the pictures do the talking here. The rocks were truly… well, remarkable! We hiked a natural arch and saw some rare New Zealand Fur seals.
The big hike of the day was to some water holes were there was the (remote) possibility of seeing a duck billed platypus. Not a chance. After an hour I gave up and headed back to the bus. I did get to see an Echidna (looks like a porcupine) another egg laying mammal related to the platypus, I guess that’s the next best thing.
Got some good shots of the sunset and we were back to Adelaide by 9:00 PM. I fell in love with KI and vowed to return.
Day17 – 19 Rest!
The next three days were very mellow. I spent one entire day posting pictures and updating the blog. I was able to catch up on my Charger news and was happy to hear they beat Oakland – Go Bolts. Even The Lightning are doing well and are undefeated. Cool. Much laundry was done and I purchased and shipped some souvenirs back home.
The last night in town I found an Absinthe Bar (I do love me some Absinthe!) and proceeded to get very relaxed. J (to those I sent rambling incoherent emails that night I apologize)
Thankfully, I awoke with both ears.
Back to the train for the day ride down to The Great Ocean Drive. Goodbye Adelaide, I will be back!
