Hello everyone! We have some exciting new stories to share from our adventures in Southern Australia and our Thanksgiving down under.
A few weeks ago, we departed on a trip to Kangaroo Island, an island off the coast of Adelaide (the city) in South Australia (the state). Kangaroo Island is barely inhabited and just about crawling with every kind of Australian wildlife you can think of. To get there, we had to take:
- A 2 hour flight to Adelaide
- A 2 hour bus from Adelaide down to the coast (Cape Jervis)
- A 40 minute ferry from Jervis to Kangaroo Island
- And, once on the island, a 2 hour drive in a rental to our stay!
And we are thrilled to say it was completely worth it! KI feels like another planet – just a few 2 lane roads, with Kangaroos around every turn. We spent two nights on the island. The first was in a cozy cottage on a campground, with trees full of koalas!
You couldn’t walk 10 feet without finding a kangaroo friend or some weird bird. The trees were filled with big varieties of squawking birds of all different colors. The kangaroos, despite sometimes being over 1 Emily tall, were very gentle, and certainly didn’t bother us if we got close.
The highlight of our trip definitely came with our hike on the second day. The western half of the island is mostly comprised of national park, and we were recommended a hike called “Snake Lagoon” which runs from the middle of the park to the coast. Along the way, we enjoyed walking along a beautiful dry riverbed and meeting lots of reptiles (should have been called Lizard Lagoon).
At the end of the hike, we were rewarded with a beautiful deserted beach and an amazing view of the ocean.
Up along the cliffs were some cool caves and rock formations, including one that most definitely resembled a spooky skeleton face. We went in a little but not too far, because we were terrified.
Kangaroo Island was a joy from start to finish. Just driving around the island was an adventure – massive fields, cool rocks, and endless wildlife. Our weekend ended with the reverse of our initial journey, plus a 6 hour traipse through Adelaide while we waited for our flight. If you happen to be off the southern coast of Australia, we highly recommend a visit to KI.
The second notable update we have pertains to Thanksgiving! We unfortunately had to go to work on the Thursday of AND the following day (which was turkey day at home). We were both feeling pretty blue that we couldn’t be chowing down and giving thanks with our families, but we hosted a belated celebration at our apartment which was super fun.
We couldn’t find a turkey in our local super market so instead roasted 2 chickens – Erik was in charge of this + gravy and did a fabulous job! Em was in charge of stuffing, green beans, mushrooms, and pumpkin pie. We invited some of our Fulbright friends who brought along some of their friends as well. It was a lovely little expat gathering 🙂
One last piece of news that we foreshadowed in our last post…
WE GOT A CAT!!!
This is Mimi, she is a rescue cat who we have been fostering for a month now. We are tasked with housing, feeding, and loving her so she can become socialized before she gets adopted. She took several weeks to warm up but is now very comfortable around us. Mimi’s interests include pats, snoozes, her own tail, and food. She is an avid hunter and even killed a little salamander that got into our apartment through the screen door. She is so cute!!!
Emily and Erik.au 