Kangaroo Island

February 15-16

Day 1
Again, got picked up very early and believe it or not this tour had 12 of us ... all girls! 8 happened to be from Germany, 1 French, 2 Austrians and myself. Drove to Penneshaw where we had to hop on a boat to get to KI. Our tour guide, Brendan, announced that we all had to speak English to each other, but that didn't seem to apply to most of the German girls, as they all spoke German to each other, which kind of sucks when you don't understand what they are chatting about.

We drove to Pennington Bay, a beautiful beach, where we played some gay get-to-know-u-games... I felt like I was in grade school. We then headed to the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery, where we learned about all the benefits of eucalyptus and eucalyptus oil. There was also a little joey (baby kangaroo)... who was injured there and being nursed by the staff there... he was sitting in this little wicker basket all bundled up... he for sure thought he was in his pouch. Too cute!

After that we went to the "remarkable rocks" where we saw these rock formations... got some great pics! Brendan has started calling us "his angels" and we call him "charlie" ... LOL
Next stop, Admirals arch where we spotted some seals, and then drove to Flinders Chase National Park--where I saw koalas, kangaroos, wallaby's and tons of birds in their natural habitat. Since this island is totally protected, these animals really don't have any threats, they are disease free, etc.
I learned today that the word "kangaroo" dates back to when the European people came over to Australia. They asked the Aboriginals the name of the animal "pointing to the kangaroo."... They replied, "gangaroo"-- meaning, "we don't understand you." The Europeans heard "kangaroo" and thus named the animal the KANGAROO. I know, useless information, but I actually thought it was kind of interesting.

Back at our accommodations, another group joined us, and one of the guys was from my Groovy Grape tour--a face I recognized! So I hung out with Abigail (from France), Bastien, and this other guy named Mick from LA. Mick was hilarious. Two of the German girls asked him what the name was for an apron.... as they pointed to it.... he called it a "sphincter"...I could not stop laughing as they repeated the word.

Day 2
Seal Bay: got to learn about sea lions, and was able to get really close to them on the beach... so cool.

Highlight of the day: SAND BOARDING!!!!!
First thought, "WOW".... seeing all the sand dunes, this pristine white sand and hills to climb!! Getting up the dunes was a total workout. We first went down on a double board which was a ton of fun.... having to climb the dune again, not so much fun. The steps you take climbing up these dunes is like stepping into fresh snow, your feet just sink into the sand.

I did work up the guts to try the single sand boarding, even though I was scared shitless. The longer I waited, the worse my anxiety got.... so I just had to do it. All I have to say, is MAJOR SPEED, MAJOR WIPEOUT. But so amazing. Even though the sand burned my leg as I took my first wipe!

We also all rolled down the dunes... we were literally covered from head to toe in sand. My last attempt at the sand boarding I took a huge wipe and totally got the wind knocked right out of me--but looking back, totally worth it. I also went down on the double board by myself--on my stomach and that was great. I didn't think I'd see a thing from the sand, but I kept my head up, and it was good.

Brendan took us to this amazing beach afterwards to try and wash off all the sand we had on us, but honestly, it took a few days of showering to be able to say that I officially got all the sand off me. I kept finding it. LOL
For lunch today and yesterday I tried kangaroo meat.... the first day it was a kangaroo sausage... and I didn't really like it all that much. I think mostly because I couldn't stomach thinking that I was eating a poor kangaroo. The second day I tried a little piece of k-steak, which tasted so much better, but I still felt bad. Off to Arlie beach tomorrow.