She wanted to make sure I mentioned that the lady that you can hear in the dolphin video had told us that the crossing to KI is indeed a particularly dangerous one. It didn't surprise them one bit that the ferry was having a tough go of things and they can very rarely make it there without some maneuvering.
Good thing you only had to do that once!
Wait...... you're not still there, are you?
Also... those driving videos: "Stay on the left." <5 minutes later> "MOM, stay on the LEFT!!!" <turns the signal on, but the wipers go instead (yes, the wipers and turn signal are on the opposite sides)> "
" "Shut up." <does it again 3 minutes later> "Oh my God, Mom, stay on the LEFT!" "I'm TRYING!"
I also forgot the story of when we were checking into our AirBnb and our hostess was a Kiwi and had this super thick accent that we had a hard time understanding at times.
Oh, I
completely get this.
We have a kiwi working in our office. He's learned to slow down and is usually understandable when he does.
But when he gets enthusiastic about something, or tries to make a joke, or...
No one understands him.
"There's "ighs" in the fridge". Anara, doesn't miss a beat and asks (out loud!
) "That sounds interesting, what are "ighs"? After a couple more tries we finally understood she was talking about EGGS! Buahahahahahaha!
(I apologize in advance, again. This, and the next chapter, is very bird heavy.)
Makes sense. Emus are native to Australia and they're a heavy bird.
Nearly at eye-level I spotted an entire flock of Little Pied Cormorants basking in the branches of a eucalyptus.
Okay.....
It’s hilarious that they can do that with webbed feet!
... oh!
Pretty shot.
(I tried not to scare him this much. Look closely)
Well poop! Some might think that's a crappy shot, but I think it's the sh*t!
There were a smattering of other gulls and terns floating around in the little bay
Gulls are bossy. Always making the other birds wait their tern.
I was a bit surprised that the tide pools really didn’t have anything in them like starfish or even shells.
Huh. I'm not very familiar with tide pools, but do know they often have marine life in them.
I still needed to get some coffee on board and get Anara moving.
Usually people throw
cold water on people they're trying to roust out of bed...
But you chose coffee... I'm sure there are regional and familial differences everywhere.
On the way back I was treated to the incessant squawking of the resident flock of Galah (or Rose-breasted Cockatoo). These are ubiquitous in Australia, and we saw them in several of the places we visited; the novelty of such a lovely bird, despite the racket they make never wore off.
That's so cool. I don't think it'd wear off for me too quickly either. Only cockatoos I've ever seen have been in captivity. (pets or zoos)
Our hostess provided a really wonderful variety of breakfast items including cold cereals, instant oats, yogurts, fresh fruit, and even eggs if you wanted to use her community kitchen to cook them.
Yum! Even some ighs!
I was just getting the hang of driving again when we realized we’d forgotten to grab all of our food from the fridge for our meals for the next couple of days. UGH! Luckily, it only added about 30 minutes to our day and we didn’t arrive hours later that night hungry and totally out of luck.
Whoops! Good thing you remembered sooner rather than later.
Here is a map to orient you to the route for our day:
Not too bad.
Pretty.
While I was entertaining myself with the camera, Anara found a termite hill to diddle around with. No, there was no explosion of insects as she’d hoped. Maybe that’s for the best.
Lucky. North American termites... gentle, placid, slow.
Australian termites... designed for all out war, killing machines, will go after you and your family.
At most US “State” campgrounds you pay around $20-$30/night and get (this is a generalization and most of my camping experience is in Oregon) a picnic table, and metal fire ring and/or a raised BBQ, a water tap but it’s usually one shared between 10 or 15 sites and you have to walk a bit to it, and maybe some grungy community showers.
Wow! I've only been to a handful of campgrounds, myself, but... this does sound wayyy better.
The several we saw in various part of Australia included PROPANE (WTHeck?!)
!!
a nice picnic table, a food prep counter that was COVERED (say, what?!),
Covered?!?!?
I can also tell you that there are TONS of FREE camping areas with many of the same amenities that we came across as well. Again, this is just an outsider’s perspective, but color me impressed!!
Free is
very good!
Getting blasé about those yet?
(Australian White Ibis)
Great shot!
Me too. I have great regret over several things.
You rarely see the Red-faced heron as they're too embarrassed to be seen.
Still? Covid restrictions still enforced, huh?
In WWII alone: “Australia lost 34,000 service personnel during World War II. Total battle casualties were 72,814. Over 31,000 Australian became prisoners-of-war. Of these more than 22,000 were captured by the Japanese; by August 1945 over one third of them had died in the appalling conditions of the prisoner-of-war camps.”
It was a terrible time in humanity's history for many nations.
(These Eucalyptus Tunnels never got old!)
Another beautiful shot.
The visit to KI was very intentionally added so we’d have the best opportunity to see as much Australian wildlife as possible.
You're certainly getting that!
even Anara got a bit enthusiastic when we made our way to the duck blinds at the little lake. “Mom, did you get that one?!” “Over there, that one is new.”
Very similar to the magpies I see up here.
(Black-tailed Native Hen)
Really like the blue on it.
(Juvenile Superb Fairywren- trust me, they are AMAZING when all growed up.
)
I Googled.
(Scarlet Robin)
On the other hand...
very different from our Robins!
(Galah/ Rose-breasted cockatoo)
Again... so cool to see these in the wild.
You rarely see the Red-fa... whoops! Already did that one.
Did you know that eucalyptus oil is still used in medication, cleansers, pain relief, insect repellant, and mouthwashes to prevent dental disease?
I knew some of those.
There is still a commercial operation on the island at Emu Ridge
And it's an operational still. Still... it's too bad this still is still still.
Again we were rather smitten with the quality of Aussie campgrounds and… okay, bombshell… had I to do another Australian tour someday, I would 1,000% rent a camper van and do that.
Not a bombshell. That doesn't surprise me one bit. I've seen some of the places you've stayed at on your TRs.
That
is a really nice setup!
We heated up our meager, not-so-great dinner of a frozen pizza paired with a nice beet salad and lounged the rest of the evening. Anara was probably on Instagram and I contented myself pouring over the several gorgeous books they stocked the cottage with. There were some photographic histories of the place, bird books, and books on things to see and do on KI. I also took photos of the photos from the bird book going back through my own and comparing so I could get names and information on the ones we’d seen so far. And with that we drifted off to sleep in a very comfy bed.
