Kangaroo Island

Well the weather here is crap but that's ok. I'm told it doesn't rain underground. I have ventured out from my accommodation in Kingscote and struck out in the Vectra to Seal Bay, then on to the Birds of Prey display and inevitably the Kelly Hill Cave. I was warned before I got here that the Islanders use a different method of time keeping, it may not be quite geological but Greenwich mean is more of a concept than reality. They are a rough and tumble lot, real back slapping, beer swilling, nose picking, ball scratching kind of guys. 

Seal Bay was truly amazing. The wildlife started before we could even get to the beach. 

This little lady had decided to come up and greet us and was lounging on the pathway to the beach, where the tour was meant to start. Its a little hard to tell from the pic but the dark line across her chest is where a shark had bitten her. There are 10,000 plus New Zealand fur seals along with the 1,000 or so sea lions so I'm told the great whites love Seal Bay as a feeding ground. The sea lion can only do 30kmh whereas the great white can do 45kmh. The only means of escape is to leap out of the water. At least this one got away. As per usual it is man that is the biggest killer of these creatures. We stopped hunting them some time ago but their population has still not recovered (there are only 14,000 left in the wild). Its discarded fishing nets and other detritus of our existence (both commercial and household) that causes them the most danger. 

These four pups (they are about 6 - 8 weeks old) were playing while waiting for mum to come back from fishing with dinner. They were right at the entrance to the beach. These guys, along with their more timid friend who hid underneath the board walk, were cautious but not really scared of us. We were probably standing about 4 metres from them.

It was just at the end of the breeding season. Apparently the cows only get 7 days respite after the birth of their pup before they mate again. We got to see all the classic behaviour, pups playing (obviously), sea lions coming and going from the sea before and after their fishing trips, a fight between two males and a big bull sea lion stalking his next mate who still had her 10 day old pup with her. The attrition rate is pretty high if you're a pup. The bulls kill many of them and others gets caught in cray fish pots and drown. They had over 200 pups born this season and have already lost 80 of them. 

To add further interest there was a hump back whale skeleton on the beach. Fortunately the weather was great and the rain didn't come until after I had done all this. 

Next stop was more impossibly cute (only feathered this time) creatures at the Birds of Prey exhibition. They started with a chook.

The chook was there for colour and laughs it got far more interesting after that. The weather turned on us and it was all moved undercover which was shame as we didn't get to see the birds in full flight. It was still an impressive display and for the "ahh" factor we even got to nurse and pat a couple of the owls.

These were shown along with a number of kestrels and falcons. However the star of the show was eagle that they finished with. Weighing in at 4 kilos and have a wing span of more than 2.5 metres this was one serious mother of a bird. 

The skies then totally opened up as I headed to my last adventure for the day, the Kelly Hill Cave. I'll be quick. Stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, flow stone, shawls and columns all encased in lots of limestone. Here are the pictures.

The weather looks awful for tomorrow so I'm not holding out great hope of seeing the Flinders Chase National Park in the way that I would like to. Wish me luck.