What happened to lunch?
Our accommodation at Cloudscape has double glazed windows but cold slate tiles underfoot and the small air conditioner struggled to make any impact before we went to bed last night. We woke a little before 7 am feeling just warm enough and hesitated before stepping out on the tiles. When I checked, BOM gave the temperature as 4 degrees outside.
Once we were up and dressed we warmed up, ate our breakfast of muesli and yoghurt, drank our coffee, and prepared for the day. By 8:15 am we were on the road.
Thick fog blanketed the town and as she drove out Majella commented that we could see little more than we did last night. We could see that the sky above was blue and soon after we left town heading inland the fog thinned and then disappeared. It was a bright sunny day though the road was wet from last night’s rain and we did encounter a few patches of fog as we drove.
For much of the way the roadside trees were dead, evidence of the 2019-20 summer fires. A few were shooting and there were many small trees growing beneath. Occasionally we saw short rows of tall thin trees a little distance from the road. They had survived but we also saw large stacks of similar tree trunks that had evidently been felled and stacked after the devastating fires. Devastation and slow recovery were visible everywhere.
Our first stop was to have been Red Gum Gallery a woodworking workshop. When we arrived a few minutes before 9 am the sign outside said ’closed’. The website advised opening hours were midnight to midnight and ‘drop in’ but we would have felt obliged to buy something and did not need more luggage. We drove on toward Flinders Chase national park.
Everywhere the countryside was in recovery from the fires. As we approached the park Majella stopped a couple of times for photos of vegetation, kangaroo, and Cape Barren goose. At the park entrance signs advised that payment was required for entr but, with the visitor centre gone in the fires, payment was being collected online. Phone service was insufficient for connection but a sign in the car park offered free wifi and a QR code for the payment site. I paid our $28 and we drove on into the park.
We paused briefly at Bunkers Hill lookout and then headed for Remarkable Rocks. We had missed them on our 2018 trip so they were top of our list. A lookout on the way in offered a clear view across cliffs and beach so we paused there before going on to park and walk on the new walkway to the base of the granite knob on which the tumble of rocks sit. We spent time there wandering among the rocks, noticing the colouration added by lichen and the fragments of older sedimentary rock embedded in the granite.
There was a building on a distant cliff top above a scar on the cliff face. On the way back to the main road we paused to take a photo that, when magnified, revealed a ruin. Further along on the way to Admirals Arch we took the side track to Weirs Cove where we saw that the ruin had been a residence for lighthouse families supplied by winching materials up the scar we had seen from a small jetty below.
We parked at Admirals Arch and walked first to the lookout above the rocks where the seals rest. They blended so well with the rocks that at first we could see just one. After a few minutes of watching we realised there were a dozen or more of varying sizes. We watched them and the seabirds for a while before walking back and on to Admirals Arch.
Most of the walk down to the arch was on a gently sloping wooden walkway but the last part involved stairs, mostly wooden but the last part was fibre composite carrying the Wagner brand. We paused on the way down to watch a young seal that had climbed high over rocks and was drinking rain water that had collected in a small depression in a rock. At the foot of the stairs we watched waves crashing under the arch for a few minutes. As we walked back up we saw that two other young seals had joined the one we saw earlier.
We drove east out of the park thinking to find lunch at Vivonne Bay. Not far past the intersection with the road we had followed from Kingscote we found the new Flinders Chase Visitor Centre we had not realised existed. It had opened just a month ago on the site of the resort where we had found our emergency supply of diesel on the 2018 trip. The resort had been damaged in the fires so the location just outside the park was available for the new centre. After browsing the display we bought a package of figs, one of Majella’s favourites, but decided against the package pies for lunch and settled for coffees and a shared brownie. Majella was still thinking of the whiting burger the rental car man had recommended last night. She hoped we might find that for a late lunch.
A little further on we came to Kelly Hill Caves Conservation Park. It was 1:10 pm and a guided tour was scheduled for 1:15 but we opted not to spend the hour to see the cave and instead walked the loop independently. It was an interesting easy walk through bush recovering from the fires and we did see some cave entrances.
When I planned today using an online guide to the island Vivonne Bay Jetty was a recommended stop. I assumed it was in the Vivonne Bay township and we might find lunch there. Not so. The road to the jetty turned off before the one to town and was badly corrugated. We thought about turning back but pressed on and, much to Majella’s delight, found the jetty extended over brilliantly turquoise water. We enjoyed a walk to the end of the short jetty and back. Back at the main road we took the turn into Vivonne Bay but did not think it looked exciting enough to drive beyond the end of the sealed road.
Seal Bay was further along the road and we thought it might harbour the famed whiting burger place that the rental car man had mentioned last night. The sign at the Seal Bay turn off indicated the cafe was 300 metres further on but we turned for Seal Bay expecting we might find something interesting there where our informant had drawn one of his many circles on the map he gave us.
Unlike the Vivonne Bay Jetty road it was good quality sealed road and led us to the Seal Bay conservation area where we found a visitor centre. After looking around inside we hesitated for a bit before taking the plunge and paying for independent access to the boardwalk rather than a guided tour.
The lookout was on a side track partway down the incline to the beach. It offered a wide view along the beach where sea lions come ashore to rest toward a high bluff that we had seen from Vivonne Bay Jetty. In the cleared area behind the beach below we could see a large skeleton that we later found was a juvenile humpback whale that had died and washed ashore. At the bottom of the boardwalk we had a view across the beach where sea lions were resting after their feeding trips to sea. There were more of them among the bushes on the dunes adjacent to the beach.
Back on the main road again we soon discovered that the Seal Bay cafe was closed. Majella drove on to our next planned stop at Emu Ridge Eucalyptus where we hoped to try the local cider. Just before 4 pm we arrived there to find it closed at 3 pm but was still dealing with other guests who had also arrived late. They kindly let us in and ran the video about the eucalyptus oil for us. Unfortunately cider tasting was off but Majella bought some local products before we drove on.
As we approached Kingscote we saw signs for the Kangaroo Island Brewery. A quick check of its website confirmed that it was open until 7 pm and had food as well as beer. We shared a tasting paddle of four local beers and some fries with aioli. The fries were seasoned with a mix of spices and crisp on the outside and soft inside. Excellent. While we shared the beers and fries Majella called the Aurora Ozone hotel in Kingscote to book a table for dinner at 6 pm. The fries had taken the edge off our appetites but having missed finding lunch we were looking forward to dinner.
By 5 pm were were back in our unit relaxing before walking the short distance down the street for dinner at 6 pm. Majella had venison shank with a cider. I had the pasta special – ricotta and bacon linguine – with a glass of shiraz. Both were good but large meals and we more than made up for our missed lunch. Then it was back to our unit to relax and prepare for another day.
