Flinders Chase NP

Later… we had a great day today at Flinders Chase NP. It’s a bit of a drive from Kingscote, but down a nice track view some nice views along the way. The Visitors’ Centre there is really pretty good, with some information about how Kangaroo Island used to be covered by sea thousands of years ago, and a big sandpit with examples of fossils buried underneath that you can dig for. We spent a while there digging away, then drove further on to the very aptly named Remarkable Rocks (see some attached ‘angles photos’ taken specially for you Dave). They were created when rocks deep down melted, cooled and pushed their way up through the rock above, ending up bumping out of the ground right on the edge of the sea. They have since eroded in really interesting ways and just look really cool. The kids had a good time climbing around on some while we ate our sandwiches, then we drove further down to Admiral’s Arch on Cape Du Couedic – there’s quite a few French place names here since Nicolas Baudin stopped by for a few months after meeting Matthew Flinders in Encounter Bay  nearby. Apparently he left behind a sow and boar plus some chickens to try and provide food for the next Europeans that came past, and now there are a whole lot of feral pigs on the island… Conor also read about how the Heath Goanna ‘saved the day’ by eating up all of the rabbits that the Europeans introduced, so now there are no rabbits or foxes on the island, making it a lot easier for the native animals.

Admiral’s Arch itself was pretty cool – the land is gradually eroding because of the way the waves wrap around it and erode it from the sides, so the arch will eventually collapse and it will become the third Casuarina islet. There are also loads of NZ Fur Seals there including quite a lot of pups, and we even saw one nursing which was really cool. Mostly they were just lying on the rocks with the occasional tummy scratch but the pups were really cute. It was all very rugged coastline (seems to be the theme to our trip so far) with stunning scenery, and I think not much between us and the Antarctic. On the way home we stopped at the Island Beehive which makes organic honey from the island’s pure blood ligurian bees which were imported from Italy in 1880-something and have remained the only bees allowed on the island thanks to a special British act of parliament passed soon after. Anyway at the place we went to they have honey tasting (very popular with the kids) plus this amazing honey comb ice cream (very popular with everyone). We’re staying with our old friends Bron and Mike and their kids so all four boys are having a great time with lego wars etc etc. I can see how you could easily fill a week or more here, lots to do and see and a stunning background to do it against.