Monday 13 January 2014

Kangaroo Island–the nature parks

There are so many wonderful sights to see on KI - we spent a few hours at the Flinders Chase National Park which houses so many things - I walked and walked and walked.  The following photos are from "Remarkable Rocks", a natural rock formation that is like massive man made sculptures.

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There are no fences, and you are in danger of simply falling off onto the rocks below.  We had a very firm eye and grip on our kids, but some parents scared me silly with their lack of attention to their children - I had to just take big deep breaths and leave them to it.

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It's so windy there that it felt as though you would be picked up and thrown off all by yourself.  I stayed firmly in the middle.  It was fairly amazing though at how they were formed.  It was all rather complicated - all to do with different sorts of rocks millions of years ago, with a bit of volcanic activity thrown in for good measure.  My husband tried explaining it to me.  I didn't really listen.

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I never tire of gumtrees.  Filled with colour and light and birds - just lovely.  And everywhere.

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I think these are younger trees.  The size of the trunks is small compared to those around here.

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I tell you, so many quilts in my head after this trip.  So many quilts.

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Also in the national park was the walk to Admiral's Arch.  You'll see how it got its name later down.

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You have to climb lots of boardwalk to get to the lookouts.  The wind is so strong that you literally cannot talk, it takes the breath from your mouth.  Amazing.

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 So you walk and walk and walk, see lots of major rocks, see many seals sunbaking on the rocks, and then you go down this long steep staircase, and you are met with this:

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Admiral's Arch.  I went to KI when I was ten and I still remember this view vividly.

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That little cove down there is filled with seals.

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And though you can't see them, they are all over the rocks on the left, just chilling.

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A crack of sunlight.  My girls thought it was the cave of a dragon.

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Haven't a clue what these are - some random beach grasses but they really took my fancy.

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After our visit to the wilds of the coast, we moved to another side of the island where we came to Seal Bay. Seal Bay is exactly what the name suggests, seals come and sun themselves while they recharge from fishing.

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We were escorted by a guide who (rightly so) didn't let us get too close - the bull sea lions are not the type to be trifled with if they are in a mood.

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And again, rocks, rocks, rocks.  It was blowing a gale here and it was the height of summer.  I can only imagine how much it blows in winter.

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As we were leaving I had to take a photo of this awesome tree.  I love how nature adapts to its circumstances.

So that was the nature parks.  Tomorrow we visit the wildlife section of our tour of KI.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

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