Sunny, windy, and in the low 60s here today on Kangaroo Island, with a cold breeze that is making me feel like a human kite at times.

Pennington Bay

We had breakfast at a cafe near our hotel and then headed out for our day of Island fun. Our first stop was the beautiful Pennington Bay. In addition to being a popular surf spot, this stunning beach is also supposed to be a good place to watch for dolphins and whales. Our swim plans were thwarted by weather today, and evidently we were not alone in that thought because the beach was also nearly deserted. No whales or dolphins spotted, but we did have some gorgeous views!

Driving Sights

Driving around KI was unlike any other place we have been. It’s such a mix of a desert, scrubby feeling but also so many trees and cliffs and beach and…! I definitely don’t have the words to accurately describe it. Many of the roads were dirt/unpaved on the island. As we drove, we passed these giant mounds which we are assuming were ant hills given the numbers of ants scrambling around them (or maybe termite mounds??) but these suckers were HUGE!

Clifford’s Honey Farm

Kangaroo Island is home to the world’s only genetically-pure population of the renowned Ligurian honey bee. Interestingly (to us), they seem to have more honey farms than restaurants on this island. 😂 Most farms have gift shops and tastings, but some also have beekeeping tours. I’m all for beekeeping, but I am NOT all for Betsy-in-proximity-to-more-bugs (even the “good kind”), so we passed on all but the samples. Tried some chocolate blended honey, pumpkin honey, honey mustard, and more, with the grand finale being their famous “honey ice cream.” Pretty tasty!

Seal Bay

KI has a population of endangered Australian sea lions that make their home in the Seal Bay Conservation Park. The park has several overlooks and a long boardwalk that takes you to platforms directly over the sea lion beach so guests can watch them at a safe distance. The ranger told us that the Australian sea lions were “less smelly and quieter” than their California counterparts. That tracks. 😂 They have had many pups born there this season, so we were happy to get to see some of the mamas and babies who make this beach their home.

Pardon the sound on this video! It was a windy beach day for seals and sea lions, including some babies:

For a laugh, watch this little guy rolling down the beach into the water:

Flinders Chase National Park

At the far southwest corner of KI, Flinders Chase NP has some really lovely sights including rock arches, seals, and a lighthouse. We reached the park in the later part of the afternoon, so it was already pretty chilly and a little drizzly by the time we arrived. After checking in to the Visitors Center, we headed out to Cape du Couedic (Admirals Arch), with a few ‘roos waving us along. We walked the boardwalk all the way to the arch at the end to admire the seals lounging on the rocks. It was so, so lovely! We did some picture taking around the lighthouse and “Remarkable Rocks” areas as well.

More seal videos:

The last area of Flinders Chase that we wanted to hike was called the Platypus Waterholes. They built a walking path all the way around a lake where they have several platypus living there. As Aussie weather seems to change constantly, we had sunny and dry weather for this part. We weren’t lucky enough to see a platypus again, but it was a pretty walk and we saw a wallaby, some lizards, and the largest kangaroo we have ever seen up close and in person. We happened on him drinking from the lake as we rounded a corner. Safe to say we were ALL equally surprised. He stopped drinking and stared at us, and we slowly and quietly backed away from him so all was well. It was pretty exciting!

We made it safely back to the hotel without adding to the “cars versus wildlife “ problem, although we did have some Roos jump out right in front of the car! Dinner in the pub by us, and then repacking so we can head out tomorrow morning to catch our ferry back to the mainland. Tomorrow begins our Great Ocean Road section of the drive!

Thanks for adventuring with us!