Kangaroo Island Part Two: Emu Bay

This is Pearl. She was a baby in the bushfires of 2020 and her ears got singed (you can see the scars if you look closely). She was not one of the very many who got rereleased from their hospital back into the wild. She likes humans too much. The carer, Hannah, said she ran across the pen to be picked up this morning and often she and her coworkers have to act like moms and clean their area while holding one or two of the koalas that got raised there after the fires.

All that to say, I am so glad I got to hold her!

She gets to eat while you hold her. The smell of eucalyptus is so good as she crunches it up, but she also has very big claws, on my neck.

She was soft but a bit wiry haired. Heavy but good at holding on. I asked about how small her eyes were and Hannah said that their smell is much better than her sight. And that yes, her brain is quite small, and has extra padding in case they fall from a tree.

Did you know they have special sacral (butt) cartilage that pads them and is insensate (no sensation) so they can wedge in the crook of a tree all day and not go numb or hurt?

I liked the area for the dingoes. Not big enough maybe, but interesting perches for them to see.

I love the guy looking at me. They so rarely change “trees” it was neat to see him walk. The carers so obviously all knew so much about them and cared for keeping their species going in the face of 1) Chlamydia (18 were introduced on KI in the 1920’s as someone noticed chlamydia spreading from livestock and hurting them on the mainland. And they did really well getting up to 50,000 by 2019/2020 and 2) getting in the way of eucalyptus plantation profits to the point some farmers were managing their land such that they either killed koalas while harvesting or left them without a corridor to food and they starved. Then 3) there were the Black Summer fires and their numbers were estimated at 8,500. They are bouncing back and the government is helping efforts, and it is nice to be supporting a place that keeps the public aware and caring about them. And maintains a hospital that apparently went to heroic efforts in the wake of the fires.

There were actually 3-4 wild koalas in the trees right around the sanctuary.

This was our second lodging we arrived after dark the first night. It also only one stove as a source of heat. But this place was huge and concrete floors and high ceilings. It finally got warm enough to not need a sweater around noon the next day.

Dramatic clouds. We had a lovely dinner and met a server named Danlo. I overheard someone ask “where is your lovely accent from?” And he happens to be from Argentina! So we told him we go there soon and his face just lit up. He was happy to suggest we go south to glaciers and to engage with the art and nightlife of the city. It got us excited about more than just getting better at Spanish.

We went for a walk at a park in American River and saw dolphins! There was a Buddhist monk there also happy to see dolphins. His name is Jampa and we had a long talk, he has lived in a small house near there for 9 months and had only seen dolphins one other time. Prior to that he lived in a Monestary in India for 23 years. He had a calm, kind energy. We talked about contentment, compassion and wisdom. About how to cultivate them and how they can be out of balance. How he is readjusting to living in Australia and the modern world. We watched the sun set and the dolphins play. I feel so grateful to have met him.

Then we went to Stokes Bay Beach, where you walk through a bunch of rocks to get there.

I love this shot. A scene that could be on rolling country hills in the Midwest, or Ireland, or France… except it’s not sheep or deer… it’s kangaroos dotting the hills as far as the eye can see.

And then a sweet walk with pelicans

Another amazing Australian beach. This one reminds me of the Anne of Green Gables series.

The two-tone ocean is so good here… blue, green, blue.

Melaleuca trees (tea tree oil is from them). They make a pretty dappled forest for a picnic.

Antechamber Bay look left

Antechamber Bay look right. Super pretty and lots of birds.

There was a cool sculpture walk right by the ferry back to the mainland. Word to the wise: definitely plan any ferries far here in advance! We had to leave a day earlier than planned because on Wednesday, we couldn’t book a the ferry on the following Thursday to catch our plane flight out of Adelaide Friday. Even in winter.

We made the most of it with another nice hike in the Adelaide hills. They expect a little more than I’m used to for a medium trail sometimes. Definitely hands on the wall for balance here.