Our journey around the Great Southern Land has brought us to Kangaroo Island, off the South Australian coast, this week.
We are camped in Flinders Chase National Park, at the Western, more rugged end of the Island.
First explored by Frenchman Nicolas Baudin, who at once introduced pigs (now feral) and chickens, Kangaroo Island was the site of the first 'free settlement' in Southern Australia. Today there are many old stone houses dating back to that era.
This is an island of extremes in some ways - an expanding tourism effort has the main attractions set up for international visitors in tour buses while the wild, relatively untouched coastal cliffs are not far away. I'm struck, as I always am, by the irony of this necessity.
As campers we are relatively free to do as we please, go where we like an enjoy the 'free' parts of this island. And we're having a good time.
Today we visited Remarkable Rocks - granite boulders atop a lower granite outcrop jutting in the southern ocean. Rosie played hide-and-seek with her grandparents among these metamorphosed beauties.
We've spent several hours in the national park visitors centre looking at local animal skins, learning about Australian megafauna and discovering the genetic differences of the animal species on Kangaroo Island when compared to the mainland (generally species here are smaller, if you're interested).
And oh, the discussions Rosie and I have had - about paleontology, animal extinctions, introduced species, aboriginal culture, geology and ecology. It's a veritable gold mine of educational opportunities.
More of this to come to be sure. Xx
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