Western KI Caravan Park & Wildlife Reserve

 A leisurely two and half hour drive brings us to the Western KI Caravan Park & Wildlife Reserve. What a wonderful outlook. The park is 42 acres of camping ground and wildlife reserve, servicing campers, caravaners and those requiring cabin accommodation.

Extensive grasses dotted with mature trees are home to Cape Barren geese, KI kangaroos, Tammar wallabies, bushy-tail possums, koalas, magpies, New Holland honeyeaters, scarlet robins, fairy wrens, red wattle birds, black cockatoos, rosellas and galahs. The wallabies and magpies will eat directly from our hands, though the practice of feeding the wildlife is discouraged. The rest of the day is for relaxing and just taking it all in.

 

From this western end of KI, we set out to explore the south coast and central area of the island. We check out Hanson Bay and Vivonne Bay as possible later fishing and camping spots. Along the road, an echidna makes a leisurely crossing ignoring the danger of occasional road traffic to get his (or her) snout into the sand on the opposite side to seek for a further feed of ants. Not much further on a lazy black tiger snake basking in the middle of the road gets the feel of our wheels across the back, only to slither into the bush after the event.

Ahead is the highlight of the day – Andermal Marron, Marron Café, and Two Wheeler Creek Wines outlet, all located at a common location in the centre of the island. Marron are farmed here and classified by size ranging from 60g to 700g, and are reasonably price from $35 to $50 per kilogram depending on size. As we could not resist lunching on these delectable crustaceans, we share a dish of oven baked marron with basmati rice, chilli and lime butter, and a dish of chilled marron with Mediterranean salad, all washed down with a glass of Two Wheeler Creek Shiraz. Best meal ever? If not, then very close.

Last day of exploration from this location is spent in the Flinders Chase National Park, at the western most area of the island. At Cape du Couedec, the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has constructed a network of  boardwalks, stairways and platforms that provide excellent observation areas for viewing the colony New Zealand fur seals dozing on the rocks and diving through the surf.

At the same location, the Admirals Arch archway provides photographic opportunities for capturing the sight provided sea and wind erosion. Just up the road are the Remarkable Rocks, a collection of sea and wind sculptured granite boulders, and our arrival there coincides with clouds moving south and allowing the sun to bathe the landscape in light and shadow. We are thankful that this place is not overcrowded with tourists, and provides the opportunity to take postcard pictures of the attraction.

Back at the caravan park, we dine on our own home cooked curry chicken and rice, accompanied by a local Dudley Pink Bay 2013 Rose.

That’s it.  Time for a bourbon.

Picture Gallery

The Remarkables (Flinders Chase National Park)