Kangaroo Island with Baby M.

After 22 hours of travel time and a short overnight stay in Adelaide, the road trip through South/East Australia begins. 

The camper was picked up and all the luggage loaded, the child seat set up at the rental station (apparently Australians have a different system than in Germany and German car seats don't fit every seat), baby M was placed in the child seat and off we go – to Aldi. 

Finally, we set off towards Kangaroo Island. We had spent two nights acclimatizing on the mainland. And then it was off to the ferry. We bought ferry tickets, but since the next ferry was already full, we queued in the standby lane and just made it as the last car onto the ferry. Woop woop. This also made us the first to go back down.

The first stop on Kangaroo Island was the lavender farm just before Emu Bay. 

After that, Baby M and I headed to the beach for a nap and a walk. The next morning, we admired our new neighbors before continuing on.

On the second day, we moved on to Stokes Bay. Google Maps took us the shortest route, but unfortunately not the fastest. Thus, we traveled along an unpaved road with many potholes directly from Emu Bay to Stokes Bay. We covered 20 km, mostly at 20-30 km/h. Sleeping was out of the question for Baby M with all the bumps. 

The Stokes Bay Beach is somewhat hidden. You have to walk between some rocks to reach the beautiful beach. There is also a natural swimming pool where the water is nearly still. However, Baby M found the water temperature not good and preferred to stay outside despite the wetsuit.

The campsite at Stokes Bay was one of our favorites. There were also curious kangaroos that came right up to the car and inspected us closely. Very sweet!

The next day, after our morning visitor, we continued to Flinders Chase National Park. Here we want to see the Remarkable Rocks, which are truly beautiful. Since Baby M was sleeping well during this time, we also went to Admiral Arch, where we could watch a few sea lions sunbathing. However, it was a bit windy, so only Tobi went to the Arch while Baby M and I stayed above.

In the evening, we searched for platypus, but since all water holes accessible by car were dry at this late summer, we were unfortunately unsuccessful.

However, we had a koala neighbor again at the campsite, which was a good compensation for us.

On the last day, we went to the Little Sahara, a walking dune. However, as we passed by around noon, we only made a short detour. Also, Baby M's mood was not great at that time. 

Thus, we drove to the next campsite, which was a bit off the road. We had hoped to encounter some kangaroos or koalas there, but unfortunately without success. 

Before we headed back to the ferry, we visited Seal Bay and were able to observe some Australian sea lions. Under the lookout platform, a particularly large sea lion had found its spot and attracted attention with loud sneezing.

The next two nights we will spend in Normanville, so Baby M can have a bit more time outside of the car seat and carrier/stroller before we make our way towards the Great Ocean Road. 

How has Baby M been doing since then?

She laughs much more often than in Germany, looks around with curiosity, eats diligently, sleeps longer and better at night, and even naps during the day without fussing on Daddy. So far, it’s been a complete success.