Kangaroo Island - Many animals, but where are the kangaroos? (Australia Part 9)

For three days we took the ferry to Kangaroo Island, an island in South Australia with a population of about 4300, making it the third largest island in Australia.

The ferry took us along with a rental car to Penneshaw, where we also had our first overnight stay. Since there is only one loading hatch for cars, you have to drive on and off there, which meant that you either had to drive backwards onto the ferry or turn around there. The cars were parked so close together that no people could pass through with the mirrors unfolded.

After a small exploration tour through the town, we took part in a guided walk to the nesting sites of the little penguins in the evening. In the dark, the parents return to feed the chicks that stay on land. Equipped with flashlights, we found several penguins of the population, consisting of twelve pairs.

For the next morning, we had booked a speedboat tour to observe dolphins and seals. We were even the only guests on board with our captain, who also told us a lot about the animals and sights in the area.

We saw many cormorants on rocks decorated in white by them, sunbathing or looking for the next fish.

At first, there were few other animals in sight, so we thought we wouldn't see any more dolphins. So we were happy about the first seal that stretched its flipper out of the water to warm up. We then saw several more New Zealand fur seals and Australian sea lions, which also sunned themselves on the rocks.

Shortly afterwards, we spotted some fins in the sea and when we got closer, we saw a school of dolphins. The animals came closer curiously and swam around our boat.

After a while, we had to sit down again because the journey back was starting. On the way, we still saw a sea eagle, so the animal sightings on this trip were a complete success.

In the harbor, there was still a pelican waiting for us, which was decoratively sitting on a rock and stayed there while we walked over the jetty to take pictures of it.

Afterwards, we went for a hike on the 'Wallaby Track' in Penneshaw - but unfortunately we didn't see any wallabies there...

On the way to the west, we made a stop at the cafe near Seal Bay to have something to eat. At the parking lot, we saw a large sign with the inscription 'Can you find Kyle?' in front of two eucalyptus trees. So we searched the trees and then saw a cute koala lady with her baby sleeping at lunchtime. 

Refreshed, we continued to the beach where we could observe Australian sea lions. The animals spend up to three days at sea before returning here to rest.

From a wooden platform, we had a good view of the animals resting here after their hunting trips. Mothers come to this beach to suckle their cubs, who are waiting for them there.

On the way back, we then saw a spiny anteater, with which we spent as much time observing as with the sea lions...

From a viewpoint above the coast, we had a nice view of the beach.

We made a short detour to 'Little Sahara', an area with several sand dunes, where you can also go sandboarding and ride bicycles or quads. Unfortunately, we were there shortly before closing time, so we had little time to climb and admire the sand dunes.

In the evening at the hotel, we finally saw the first living wallabies (on the side of the road we had already seen some victims of traffic). However, we did not encounter them during the hike through the hotel's surroundings, but directly on the hotel grounds. In the evening, six wallabies gathered here, who - regardless of the hotel guests taking pictures of them - eagerly ate grains from the lawn.