Sue Frause

Kangaroo Island: Where things are really hopping, The Everett Herald, June 1, 2003

Trying to tackle Australia in 2 1/2 weeks is about as ridiculous as seeing the United States in 17 days. It just can't be done. But that wasn't stopping my husband and me from making our debut on this amazing continent.

Our travel plan was to join our son who had been backpacking there for five months.

So as not to duplicate his itinerary, we narrowed it down to five areas in four states: Sydney, Adelaide and the Barossa Valley, Kangaroo Island, Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays and Melbourne.

To save time, we flew between destinations. Flying within the country is a breeze and airports are slick and efficient.

Admittedly, the toughest part of the trip was the 17-hour flight from Seattle to Sydney ... it was painfully long. The strong U.S. dollar ($1 U.S. = $1.52 Australian) also eased the pain.

So what was my favorite destination down under?

I loved the beauty and big city sophistication of Sydney in New South Wales; visiting and sampling the vineyards and wineries in the Barossa Valley of South Australia; swimming and sunbathing for three blissful days on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays of Queensland; and poking around Victoria's very hip and Euro-feeling Melbourne with its unique streets and neighborhoods and the best restaurants on the trip.

But Kangaroo Island in South Australia gets the top spot in my journal.

Off the southern coast of Australia, Kangaroo Island is the continent's third-largest island, right behind Tasmania and Melville, and was discovered and named by British Capt. Matthew Flinders in 1802.

With a population of a little more than 4,000, its rural character and laid-back lifestyle make it a popular tourist destination, although we saw more kangaroos than people. There are no traffic lights on the island.

To get there, we took a SeaLink Kangaroo Island two-hour scenic coach ride from Adelaide to Cape Jervis, traveling through vineyards, olive groves and rolling farms. At Cape Jervis we boarded the Sealion 2000 for the 45-minute sailing to Penneshaw, a small seaside town on the northeast coast of Kangaroo Island. Round trip for three including coach and ferry was $261 Australian ($172 U.S.), and it's wise to book in advance.

Our posh headquarters on Kangaroo Island was The Lookout, a lovely two-bedroom self-contained luxury apartment owned and operated by Peter Walker and Malcolm Kleeman.

Just a few miles from Penneshaw, the sun-splashed dwelling is on 6 1/2 acres with lush gardens, pools and breathtaking sunrises across the Backstairs Passage to the mainland of Australia.

We booked for three nights and a one-day Outlook Tour of the island with Kleeman that included morning tea, lunch, afternoon refreshments and a four-course dinner served in our apartment.

The affable Kleeman knew every secret washboard road on the island.

For nearly nine hours and 160 miles we took in Kangaroo's highlights with Kleeman at the wheel, beginning with morning tea and biscuits at Browns Beach.

Although it was nearing the end of autumn in Australia, warm winds and sunny days prevailed throughout our stay, and clear skies allowed us to spot the Southern Cross at night. After our tea break we headed for Pennington Beach and on to Seal Bay Conservation Park, a habitat for Australian sea lions that use the beach as an area to rest and care for their young.

There are more than 600 sea lions in the area, and with Kleeman as our guide we were able to walk on the boardwalks through the dunes down to the beach where the lions basked in the sand and seaweed.

Vivonne Bay on the south coast was our next stop, where Kleeman sent us off to explore the long, curved sandy beach while he prepared a gourmet picnic lunch up in the trees. And what a feast, accompanied by peek-a-boo views of the deep blue Southern Pacific: homemade bread, cold cuts, potato and green salads, fruit and cheese accompanied by our choice of red or white wine. Bon appetit!

Back aboard the vehicle (complete with maps and binoculars), we headed for Pioneer Bend, a 3,000-acre farm that's home to 6,000 sheep.

We were off on a koala hunt with Kleeman and for nearly 90 minutes we tromped around the eerily quiet farm, finally spotting one, two and eventually three of the fuzzy creatures high up in the eucalyptus trees.

After a much-needed refreshment break, we drove to Lathami Conservation Park, where we walked under a canopy of casuarinas pines and spotted several Tammar wallabies, which have smaller and finer features than kangaroos.

Kleeman was hoping we'd see the rare glossy black cockatoo, but our only bird sighting was that of a pink and gray galah, or rose headed cockatoo.

As we headed up to the hillside, the sun was beginning to set, while hundreds of kangaroos roamed the fields. The Kangaroo Island kangaroo is smaller and darker and has longer fur than the mainland species.

Driving back to Penneshaw in the dark, I shouted "porcupine!" as a creature waddled in front of our SUV's headlights. Kleeman said it was in fact a short-beaked echidna, an egg-laying mammal that produces milk for its young.

The highlight of our day came at the end, when we visited the fairy penguin colony at Penneshaw. A specially lit boardwalk allows visitors to see the barely foot-tall fairy penguins in their rookery as they waddle along the cliffside rocks into their burrows.

When we arrived back at The Lookout, Kleeman and Walker prepared and served us a delicious dinner including a spinach and feta torte, chicken and roasted potatoes, a melange of vegetables and a to-die-for date and chocolate sticky dessert. And Aussie wine of course.

The remaining two days we explored on our own, logging nearly 250 miles, with our son at the wheel of our rented car. Don't forget, Australians drive on the left side of the road, a skill that takes some time and talent to acquire.

We took in Flinders Chase National Park and the Ravine des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area, covering 185,000 acres on the island. Highlights of the park are Admirals Arch with its large colony of New Zealand fur seals; the spectacular Remarkable Rocks, a cluster of gigantic weather sculptured granite boulders perched on a granite dome that plunges 245 feet to the sea; and Cape du Couedic, with its 1909 lighthouse one of the island's most photographed structures.

Other stops included the 1852 Cape Willoughby Lighthouse. It's South Australia's first lighthouse, located on the island's rugged eastern coastline. There we took a tour with a guide who had me convinced that on a clear day you could see all the way to the tips of the icebergs in Antarctica.

I believed him. After all, Australia is amazing.

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