Kangaroo Island

The first real destination on our journey around Australia was Kangaroo Island. It is located off the coast of South Australia, northwest of Adelaide. Over a third of the island is a nature reserve and home to native wildlife such as seals, koalas, and various bird species. It is slowly recovering from the bushfires that ravaged the island in 2019/20. We divided the drive down to the southern tip below Adelaide into several days. During this time, we familiarized ourselves with our new way of traveling. We quickly fell in love with this new life, but there was much to learn. We had to take care of and maintain Hugo and learn to live together in tight quarters. This was new for both of us, but we quickly found our routine. Throughout Australia, there are many places to refill drinking water and stay overnight. We were recommended an app (WikiCamps) that displays everything you need for traveling in Australia on a map. This app has proven to be indispensable. We reached the ferry without any major problems. By now, we had enough time to adjust to Hugo, so parking on the ferry deck was easier than expected. As the name Kangaroo Island suggests, there are significantly more kangaroos on the island. However, I was not prepared for how many dead kangaroos there were. In Australia, unlike in Germany, it is uncommon to drive with a car during and after dusk as the likelihood of hitting a kangaroo or another animal is very high. This can be very dangerous for people in the car and especially for the animal. During the daytime, the likelihood is much lower. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see dead animals on the side of the road. Apart from that, the island became my favorite place. If you were to ask me today which part of Australia I liked the best, it would be Kangaroo Island (so far). There are many breathtaking beaches and places. Especially memorable to me are:

Stokes Bay: An unassuming rocky beach hiding a passage that winds its way through the rocks, leading to another secret and beautiful sandy beach.

Pennington Bay: A stunning bay popular with surfers due to the strong waves.

Flinders Chase National Park: The national park was particularly affected by the bushfires. It covers the entire western part of the island. We visited the Remarkable Rocks (distinctive rock formations) and the Admirals Arch (a cave arch covered with stalactites).

Point Ellen: At the western tip of the island is the beautiful beach Vivienne Bay. From there, there are spectacular views of the coastal landscape. We swam in the (freezing) rock pool and visited the large sand dunes Little Sahara, which are not far away.

During our time on the island, we took our first job in American River, which we found through Facebook. We picked grapes for wine production for 2 days. It was a sticky and tiring affair. For me, the intense Australian sun was a particular challenge. After 7 days, we had circled the island and bought a ticket for the ferry back to the mainland. From there, we continued along the Great Ocean Road along the south coast.