We stayed a few days in an apartment in Adelaide before collecting our motorhome. A Mercedes Sprinter conversion that made the cabin on the Ghan feel spacious. It is, however, well suited to our purposes. The van is little bigger than some cars. This type of vehicles often find use as delivery vans. I have become a white van man. We can tackle cities, use ordinary car parks and generally get around quite easily. If we do not feel like sleeping in the motorhome we can easily park up at a motel or similar. It offers a lot of advantages even if you do not sleep in it every night. For a start, you always have a backup. If you cannot find somewhere to stay then you can sleep in the van. Means you can be a bit more adventurous in exploring because you do not need to ensure finding accommodation for every night. You also have somewhere to cook or make a brew wherever you go. And you have a toilet and shower in case of emergencies. The bed can be perfect for a mid-afternoon power-nap if you start feeling sleepy.
We headed north to the Barossa Valley, a famous wine making area. It rained. It rained as we drove there and it rained when we arrived. It rained all day so the next day, when it was still raining, we pushed off and headed further north.
Ended up in a curious one-horse town called Morgan on the Murray River. One general store, a campsite, a few houses, two bars and a paddle steamer. There was also a ferry across the river. We had passed from the lush, temperate grasslands of Barossa into a much wilder, semi-desert area in just a couple of hours. The change was quite remarkable. Lovely place to spend a day. The 1907 paddle steamer, called Canally, had been dug out of the mud in 1998 and restored by a group of local enthusiasts. They were clearly enormously proud of it and quite justifiably. We took the ferry and explored a nature reserve on the other side of the river.
Back to Barossa, where it was still raining. We spent a night there, visited a vineyard and then headed for Kangaroo Island. We hopped onto the massively over-priced ferry first thing in the morning.
First thing that struck us about Kangaroo Island was how many dead kangaroos there were. Dozens of them. Roadkill. Incredibly sad to see so many carcasses scattered along the roadside. Dead Kangaroo Island would probably not go so well with the tourist board.
We stopped to climb a series of metal steps up Prospect Hill. It was a good climb but well worth the effort for the view. On the way down, I spotted our first live kangaroo of Kangaroo Island way off in the distance, hopping across a field. It occurred to me that kangaroos might be presented as proof for the non-existence of God. The reasoning would involve something about God’s creatures and the necessity for intelligent design. However, something as ridiculous as a kangaroo that bounces as a means of locomotion, defies any notion of intelligent design and could only come about through a totally random phenomenon like evolution.
We spotted a sign for a seal colony. Following this, we came to a car park where we could pay to go and visit the seals. We bought tickets because we quite like seals. I spotted a lovely blue Superb Fairywren hopping around. The weather was cool and sunny. There were very few people about. Ideal seal visiting conditions. A series of wooden walkways brought us down to the beach. There were a few juvenile seals here. Most of the adults were off on extended fishing trips. The disaffected youths had been left behind and were larking around in the surf. It was a pleasant way to spend an hour.
On the road back we saw an echidna. This was particularly exciting. We had only seen them in zoos before. Funny little creatures, sometimes called Spiny Anteaters, that snuffle around in the leaf litter eating ants and termites. This one appeared unconcerned by us and I managed to grab a couple of photographs before it slunk off into the undergrowth. Echidnas are monotremes. Mammals that lay eggs. Male echidnas have a four headed penis. It is 7 cm long and covered in penile spines. In the mating season, a single female may be followed by a “train” of up to ten males. Youngest at the end of the line. Later, when the egg hatches, the baby echidna, a puggle, remains in its mother’s pouch for 50 days feeding from the pores of two milk patches. The mother builds a nursery burrow once the puggle starts to develop spines. Here the puggle lives, being fed every few days, for seven months until weaned. Random evolution for the win.
Late afternoon, we rolled up at a campsite at the far side of the island. This proved to be a bit of a wildlife hotspot. Kangaroos and Cape Barren Geese roamed the camping area. Koalas watched us from the trees and many types of small bird skipped between the bushes. We stayed here a couple of nights. This gave me plenty of time to wander around and attempt to photograph the wildlife.
Koalas are another fascinating and strange example of Aussie wildlife. They spend a lot of time up a gum tree doing nothing. From a distance, they often appear like a beach ball in a furry sack stuck in the tree branches. I have yet to see one move more than just the gentle stretch of an arm. They sleep, very contentedly, in a tree. If I tried this then I am pretty sure I would doze off and fall out. They must have special types of muscles that they can lock off.
Next day was a bit rainy, windy and occasionally, stormy. We continued our exploration of Kangaroo Island. It is all very well organized for touristing. Drive a while, spot a brown sign, pull into the car park, follow the boardwalks. This technique brought us to a wide variety of viewpoints, strange looking rocks, light houses, caves and a large grain silo with a kangaroo painted on it.
In the evening, we camped close to the ferry terminal. Fairy penguins come ashore here. We went out just after nightfall for a look round but failed to spot any.
