Day 12 - Kangaroo Island to Adelaide

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We didn’t really know yesterday how the beach side looked we parked at night, but at 5 am we were woken up by some noises outside the car. We opened the curtain and were greeted by the first light reflecting in dark red by the scattered clouds at the horizon. The ocean was in dark blue and the sky just a bit lighter with the first sunbeams. A magnificent sunrise just started right in front of us.

We were not really allowed to camp on that spot. However, so far we did not camp, but rather just had a nap. We decided to drive towards Seal Bay and half way we stopped at a designated camping area where we got another hour of sleep.

10 meter Humpback Whale that got washed to the shore
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Seal Bay is known for the seals (how else could it be?) that take a snooze on the coast. We arrived at about 10.30 am and it was already hot. Furthermore the flies, which are very friendly, were really getting to us. We took a walk on the boardwalk to the beach and there were hundreds of seals either laying in the sun, fighting with each other, or coming or going into the water. We even saw a seal to surf with the waves. There was also a skeleton of a baby whale that was stranded after a storm. This excursion we can highly recommend.

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According to our ferry timetable, the ferry leaves every hour. Without a mobile phone connection we decided to drive the 100 km to Penneshaw to catch the 12.30 ferry. Upon arrival, we found out that the next ferry only leaves at 2.30 and that one was fully booked. So we were scheduled to leave on the 4.30 - So much for our plans to visit the wineries at McLaren Vale on the way to Adelaide. We mused the time to explore the western, smaller part of Kangaroo Island. We drove on dirt road towards the Eastern Cape with the lighthouse and on the way back stopped to cook lunch near a river. The flies seemed even friendlier and only thanks to our fly net tent we managed to keep them away from the food.

Sea Lions
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After leaving Kangaroo Island, we drove straight to Adelaide. We found a camping ground just outside the city and decided to take a taxi to downtown. We were told that the best place to go is Rumble Street and so we went there. The street has many small restaurants still where we had a Chinese dinner. Something different from the pasta we had. After dinner we strolled by the war monuments and crosses, the library, university and the parliament.