Arrival at Kangaroo Island

 

Kangaroo Island (known simply as KI by the locals) is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It's only about 70 nm from Port Adelaide, but we split it into two days with an overnight anchorage in a tiny little inlet beside the golden hills at Myponga … gotta get our sea legs back. The night in Myponga anchorage was calm and pleasant, despite the the rain that continued to fall. A grey, wet morning greeted us and though we were anxious to move on, we had to convince ourselves to get up and get going.

The 12-15 knot SE winds that were forecast never materialized and we motor sailed most of the way with light winds and a complaining jib. The few dolphins we saw were working and had no time for playing with us. We watched some sea birds arguing vehemently over a fish. We hugged the coastline, watching the blades of the wind turbines on Salt Creek Hill spin, wishing we had a bit more of the wind they were taking advantage of. Visibility was poor and as we crossed the strait between KI and the mainland, we could still barely see our destination. Fog, mist and a hazy outline of what could potentially be an island lay before us.

We chose the more protected northern coast and anchored in Eastern Cove just outside of American River. The entrance to American River is narrow and shallow with a strong current based on the tide state. Local knowledge (Carol at KI Radio) advised waiting till the top of the high tide to enter. There were, however, no moorings for our size boat available inside and the anchorage was reputedly grassy with poor holding. We opted to stay in calm Eastern Cove where the holding in sand was good. That meant a longer dinghy ride to town, but it was preferable to dragging at anchor in a strong current.

The timing was not ideal because of the fridge compressor delay. The biggest event on the island is the Kangaroo Island Cup. We do enjoy horse racing, and we knew the event was soon, but lost track of the fact it was happening on this particular weekend. That accounted for no moorings available in American River, lots of tourists (as if we're not), no rental cars available for hire on our inquiry and limited tour availability. Our choices: 1) delay the visit another week, 2) see less, but at least see some of the island or 3) skip KI altogether. Having snagged a KI travel guide from the Visitor's Info in Adelaide, we made up our minds to see what we could see in the time available.

It was the British explorer, Matthew Flinders, who named the island “Kanguroo” in 1802 after the grey kangaroos he and his crew found here and feasted upon when they arrived. American River is neither American nor is it a river. It was named after American sealers who arrived in 1803 and camped along side what they thought was a river, though it's actually an inlet from the sea. Today it's a small fishing village midst native bushland. There are more Tammar wallabies in the area than people (~250), we're told. We're hoping to explore tomorrow and find out for ourselves.

As for our Valentine's Day celebration ... a fine chicken dinner (no fish, no crabs), champers, a movie (Love Actually) and a shared chocolate bar for dessert. Life is good.

90 Day Rule Kicks In

 

Remember when I talked about our 90-Day Rule? Something unexpectedly wonderful happens to us about every 90 days when we're aboard Nine of Cups. Consider this, if you will. In July 2011, when we were visiting Fiji, we sailed to Palmlea Eco-Farms and Resort to visit with SSCA friends who own it. By chance, while there, we met Pauline and Denys, an Aussie couple who were visiting with their son and his family and enjoying time at the Palmlea Resort. We chatted, became friendly and exchanged contact information.

Fast forward to austral Spring 2012 when Nine of Cups and crew were in Kettering, Tasmania. We received an e-mail from Pauline and Denys. They were visiting another son and his family in Tasmania and happened to be only one town away. We had a great lunch together on Nine of Cups and caught up on each others' lives. They're a busy couple with extensive travel, family visits and major house renovations, as well as biking and competitive swimming, on their usual agenda.

Fast forward once again to Port Adelaide, South Australia … here and NOW. Pauline and Denys, we found out, don't live far away and they've been keeping track of us on our blog. Pauline called and offered use of her washer, a beach with no jellyfish, a local vineyard visit, a ride around the area and dinner at their home. How could we resist? Talk about fortuitous … and me just complaining about the laundry situation and jellyfish. Somebody reads … somebody listens! Wow!

We met at Saily's Pub at 0930 (no drinks, just a meeting place) and headed off for parts unknown to us with Pauline and Denys as our local guides. There's nothing like touring an area with folks who were born and bred here. They know all sorts of things you can't find in a guide book. We headed down along the coast through quaint beachside towns like Semaphore and Glenelg. It's still summer holiday for the kids here and lots of families are on vacation. At Glenelg North, we took a circuitous detour up sidestreets to visit the Old Gum Tree, the site at which South Australia was officially proclaimed a colony in 1836. It's a red gum tree that probably had large spreading limbs at one time, but now it's more of a memorial arch. The tree, long since decayed and dead., has been been encased in concrete.

We continued south along the coast, then turned inland to wine country. South Australia is noted for its wines and the McLaren Vale area has dozens of wineries with Cellar Doors (tasting rooms). We chose Haselgrove Vineyards for no particular reason other than it tickled our fancy. It turned out to be a fortuitous stop. The temperature outside hovered around 105F/40C and it hit us like a hot brick as we left the air-conditioned car. We were met by a gracious and knowledgeable host, Ryan. He offered a tour and, despite the heat as we traipsed up and down steel ladder-ways through a field of stainless steel vats, we learned more about wine-making in our 30 minutes with Ryan than we ever had before.

The barrel room was deliciously cool after the heat of the outside. Returning to the tasting room, we sampled a Pink Lady cider, then whites and reds and finally a lovely port decanted directly from the tasting room cask. We bought wine for dinner (and then some) and headed, on Ryan's suggestion, to a light lunch at Blessed Cheese in the town of McLaren Vale.

Rejuvenated and rehydrated, we headed down the Fleurieu Peninsula in hopes of finding cooler temps. The temperatures weren't much better, but the views were great.

We stopped at beautiful Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot Beach and forced ourselves to have an ice cream cone at the Flying Fish Cafe in an effort to keep our bodies cool. We licked and lapped and marveled at the energy of young kids jumping off the pier … over and over again.

We drove to Land's End at the tip of the peninsula where the Port Jervis Lighthouse stands sentry. We watched the SeaLink Ferry depart to Kangaroo Island, but the island, usually quite clear, could only be seen faintly in the distance. We attributed the haziness to the heat and the residual smoke from recent bush fires.

On the way home, we had our first view of kangaroos grazing in a field. What better way to say welcome back to Australia?

Back in Adelaide at our hosts' home, I did a load of laundry and hung it out on the line while Pauline prepared dinner, Denys barbecued and David supervised. All in all, an outstanding 90 Day Rule kind of day.