Flora and fauna on Fleurieu Peninsula, SA

Admirals Arch, Flinders Chase National Park

At the bottom of the Fleurieu Peninsula is Kangaroo Island, filled with kangaroos, seals, koala's and echidnas. 
We booked tickets on the ferry at the Information Centre in MacLaren Vale, for a bus tour of Kangaroo Island for a bus tour of the island..
An alternative, would have been to purchase our tickets at the ferry terminal in Cape Jervis, as long as we were flexible about when we went to the Island, taken our motorhome over on the ferry and spent a few days exploring the island. 

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Bus tour on Kangaroo Island

As it turned out, we had a wonderful driver, who lived on the island farming a mixed farm of sheep, crop and cattle. Her commentary included what living on the island was like. The community life centres around schools, sports and farm life. 
​Tourism is big on the island, but quite laid back. The natural rugged beauty of the island speaks for itself without any promotional hype.

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Australian Wildlife signs top left koala, top right grey geese, bottom left kangaroo and bottom right echidna

The Australian wildlife warning signs displayed here would never all be on display in one place. We visited a koala sanctuary. Their voracious appetite dictates a need for plenty of gum trees to sustain the koala population. The koalas were sleeping rather high up in the gum trees, and yes they do forget to hold on and fall out, sometimes sustaining nasty injuries. The koalas are quite particular about the gum leaves they like to eat. They'll pick a small branch and smell it. If it isn't exactly what they fancy, they simply drop it on the ground. So the secret to finding a koala up a gum tree is to look for trees that have small branches scattered all over the place. 
The sanctuary is also home to echidnas, who come out around 4 o'clock. Echidnas are also known as the spinny ant eater. One was spotted just as we were leaving the sanctuary, waddling across the lawn. They are the size of a large fat cat. The spines are hollow but you still wouldn't want to mess with one. They're quite an inquisitive animal. I'm not an ant fan and thought having your own ant eater could be rather handy. The downside means that you would need to have ants. 
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Baby seals at the seal colony

We visited the seal conservation park and a ranger took us down to the resident seal colony on a boardwalk. From the boardwalk we could watch the life of seals, some returning from fishing and pups finding their mum for a suckle of milk.

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Remarkable Rocks

Our visit to Remarkable Rocks was interesting. There are drop offs to the sea below. and we reflected that in NZ, we probably wouldn't be able to explore the rocks as it would be deemed too dangerous. In Aussie, you are told its dangerous and be careful. 
Our bus driver suggested we look out for different shapes, birds, dinosaurs etc. 

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I see a goofy face looking at me

There are all sorts of shapes and colourings of the rocks and we had a bit of fun exploring the area. 
Walking down to the rocks is a boardwalk through a native coastal planting. 

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Admirals Arch, Kangaroo Island

Admirals Cave was our second last stop on the island. The boardwalk and stairway down to the arch are an impressive site in themselves. 
The area is home to a seal colony and we watched baby seals play in the pools for ages, having fun with each other and rolling in the waves. 
The final stop off was to the National Park HQ which has a cafe and we topped up with a cuppa and muffin before heading back to the ferry and the motorhome. 

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Sunset at Rapid Bay

On the Peninsula we bush camped at Rapid Bay. The area is large and you pretty much just pull up where you would like to stay. We had nearly beach front real estate and could watch the sun setting from the comfort of the motorhome. 
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The new wharf, popular with fishermen and by the markings on it, squid looks like one of the species caught here.

Rapid Bay proved to be an excellent base for exploring the lower end of the peninsula. 
It's one of those "step back in time" places. 
The caretaker comes around each evening to collect the camp fees. $7 per person per night. 
It's a very popular area, and they said even at Christmas time, they always seem to find space to fit people in. 
The place is popular for fishing, kayaking and diving. 

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Rapid Bay's broken wharf at sunset.

The Rapid Bay wharf at sunset provided plenty of photographic opportunities. 

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Park over property

We are members of the CMCA, the Motorhome Association of Australia, the sister organisation to New Zealand NZMCA. 
Within the association, members offer their property for overnight parking at minimal or no cost. Membership has its benefits. 
When we woke in the morning, the mist was swirling around us up on the hills on the northern end of the peninsula. 

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The mist was still swirling about as we got on the road for our next adventure. 
Fleurio, we loved our time here, the bakeries (particularly in Yankalilla}, the wineries and the beautiful coastline.

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