Kangaroo Island: We came. We saw. We ate one.

Spent the last 3 days on Kangaroo Island, the "Galapagos of Australia". It definitely delivers what it promises.... Kangaroos everywhere! The first day we arrived we saw tons of wild kangaroos native only to the island hopping around everywhere. They are so hilarious to watch! Mars and I spent a good hour following them around trying to get pics and videos of them.... more on that later.

When we arrived on the island we went straight to a gorgeous beach where the boys taught me how to kick an Aussie Rules football barefoot. I thought my big toe was going to fall off, but my technique has improved a bit! Next a few of us got to take out some ATVs. The trails were awesome with kangaroos just hanging out as we drove by. I was about 3 seconds away from running over this British grandma who was on our tour... she decided she was going to be adventurous and try the ATV, then drove it (she had to be the first one in the line) like she was taking it out for a freaking Sunday afternoon leisure cruise!! I was NOT impressed! Then, about half way through the ride, my ATV basically died. (I know, only me). So one of the guides took it back and I got to ride his ATV... which was twice as powerful as the ones everyone else gets!! When I first took off on it, Chris, Mars and Glen all thought I was going to kill myself. I had it going at top speed and was taking some corners on 2 wheels... so sweet! After that, we headed to our cottage for the night, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. I was just us and the animals and it was amazing. Over the course of the night, Mars and I got insanely good pics and videos of the 'roos, as well as wallabees, fairy penguins, and possums (one possum ended up in our bathroom that night!). The animals let us get really close to them! We woke up seriously hungover the next morning to find Glen's camera GONE. It was either lost/stolen/put in a kangaroo pouch and we were so devastated to lose all of the great footage we got the night before... what is it with me and the really bad camera luck on this trip?? Will try to post some more pics once we get our disposable camera pictures back...!

We got up early to explore the Kelly Hill caves, which were pretty neat. Then we went to Seal Bay and got to walk right up to the sea lions... there must have been over 50 of them just chillin on the beach. After that it was on to "Koala Walk" where we saw countless koalas sleeping in the trees above us. We got to see a baby koala trying to learn how to climb... so cute!! (I want one!) On the way out, we saw another koala casually wandering across the road!

Our last day was spent in Flinders National Park. We went on a hike through the park and could see all of the areas where the fires destroyed the island (1/3 of the island was completely burned in a Dec 2007 bush fire). The hike ended at a beautiful deserted beach where I though about climbing into a cave, but then decided not to since the 2 snake species that live on the island are both deadly! Next we traveled to the famous Remarkable Rocks. In a freak natural occurrence over 500,000 years these strange rock formations developed. It was fun to climb around them and try to imagine how they formed. After that we went to a rock cliff where we could see a huge colony of fur seals playing around! (and one big guy that was showing off by pooing everywhere! hehe!) The cliff forms an arch called Admirals Arch and the seals hang out under it for shade. Very cool. For lunch, ironically, we had kangaroo kebabs! Mars and I were apprehensive since we had so much fun interacting with them... but they are pretty tasty :) Last but not least we stopped at Pennington Bay where we got to see a pod of dolphins surfing the waves and jumping around... the island really does have an abundance of wildlife! I would recommend it to anyone who is traveling to Oz! Absolutely stunning!