Day 181 Kangaroo Island Stokes Bay

It is time to explore Kangaroo Island: for this day we wanted to enjoy the sunshine and go to the northern part of the island. As we were curious how the island has changed due too the fires in January 2023 we drove from Kingscote to Parndana in the center via some dirt roads to get an impression: one can see lots of dead trees, which were burnt but not completely burnt in the fires. There is lots of green, e.g. bushes growing back, but the old dead trees are still sticking out. There were no kangaroos or koalas around but at least a goanna was crossing the street, so there is some wildlife back.

At Parndana Stuart enjoyed some passionfruit cheesecake before we drove on to our first stop in the north of the island: Western River Cove. Over a small bridge you can walk to the beach. Although it was sunny that day the cool temperatures and the strong wind blowing the sand around didn´t made it a beach day, so we drove on.

On the way to Stokes Bay we saw a koala warning sign and started to look around in the hope to find some koalas. But all we could find on our search were some kangaroos resting in the shade of the trees.

On the drive to Stokes Bay one could see the beach with the white sand and the blue waters, so Stuart got very excited. Before the walk to the beach Stuart needed some lunch, so we stopped at the little cafe for some fish & chips. The way to the Stokes Bay Beach is a little bit hidden, so Stuart was very proud to have found the entrance and enjoyed the relaxing time at the beach. As the weather was still pretty windy and cold, we just had a walk to the end of the beach, where you can find many rocks, but no wildlife such as seals.

On our way back to Kingscote, there were again no koalas around, just another goanna making its way across the street. So Stuart was hoping that we will discover some koalas the next days.