April 9-10 : Kangaroo Island (Day 1)

My travels began with a weekend trip to Kangaroo Island, which is located off the coast of Adelaide, by taking a 2 hour ferry. Our tour company was through Groovy Grape and they were wonderful! Our guide was very knowledgeable and super funny. We only were there for two days, so each was crammed full with as many activities as possible! First stop, was a climb up Prospect Hill to check out the views of the entire island. Learned all about the history and the explorer's who sailed around the island.

Next stop was Emu Ridge, which is an Eucalyptus Distillery. They are also home of the most adorable baby Kangaroo which the owners rescued and now she lives with them. We arrived just as the kangaroo was about to take a nap and it was the cutest thing ever! They are one of the largest manufactures of eucalyptus oil and products in all of Australia and I think even the world. Wow! They also had Emu's on the grounds we could feed. It smelled so good in their store!

From there it was to the beach to view a colony of Australian Sea-lions relaxing on the beach. We took a guided tour which lead us right down onto the beach and probably only 30 ft away from groups of babies, females, and males all resting on the beach. They fish non-stop out at sea for three days then come in for a three day rest, then repeat. The babies were adorable and looked almost like stuff animals! Being right down on the beach was such an amazing opportunity to get that close to wild-life. I took so many photos but will only put a few up on here!

Last stop (and probably the craziest stop) was at the "Sahara Desert" for sand boarding!! The sky was crystal blue and the sand literally looked like we were at a proper desert. After hiking up a very steep sand hill, the fun part began as I sledded down the hill at pretty fast speeds! I think I did about 5 or 6 trips up and down the hill. So much fun! Sand went everywhere and was all in my hair, but it was worth it. On our way back to the bus, a flash rain storm came through and completely drenched everyone in a matter of seconds. It lasted about 3 minutes long and then pasted, leaving a beautiful rainbow over the hill we had been boarding down!

First day on the Island was great!!! We slept in nice quality bunks for the night and needed lots of sleep for the big day ahead tomorrow!

xoxo