Kangaroo Island

After the Great Ocean Road, we were left with only two days remaining in the Hines family vacation. One was dedicated to exploring the culinary wonders of the Barossa Valley (north of Adelaide) and the other to catch wildlife and natural Australian landscapes at Kangaroo Island. 

Kangaroo Island sits off the southern coast of Adelaide and represents a piece of mostly unspoiled Australia nature. With a name like Kangaroo Island you might expect to see the marsupials dominating the island. They may do so, but only in the evening. Most of the wildlife in Australia comes out at night and is very quiet during the day. We arrived Kangaroo Island in the morning and drove the length of the island to some beautiful locations including Seal Bay and Flinders Chase National Park, but sadly the only kangaroos we saw were dead on the side of the road.



Seal Bay



Remarkable Rocks



Dana and Heather at Remarkable Rocks

Heather loves to be a model



New Zealand Fur Seals around Admirals Arch



Admirals Arch



On our drive back to catch the evening ferry, we finally caught a glimpse of the island’s namesake alive, hanging out in an open field. The wild ones aren’t all that excited to get close to humans, so they stayed at a distance. But even with distance between us, it was a magical sight.

After Kangaroo Island, it was a long trip back for the Hines family to the US: Adelaide to Sydney to Auckland to LA to Phoenix. I was very thankful they made the long journey to visit us on the other side of the world. After having a week in both New Zealand and Australia, they unanimously concluded they preferred New Zealand over Australia. Aussie has some impressive and lively cities in Sydney and Melbourne, but it’s tough to beat the beautiful landscape of New Zealand. And no, I’m not on the New Zealand tourism board payroll.