Kangaroo Island - Day 4

Friday, 29 December 2017

Today we had to steel ourselves for more driving as we needed to visit the bits we missed the day before, plus some beaches and run an errand, starting with a drop-off at the Kingscote Tip!

We pushed on from there to Stokes Bay - it starts out at a nondescript rocky bay. Then you spy a crack in the rocks where you walk through nooks and crannies to get to a lovely hidden beach with a big rock pool..

There were no milkshakes to be had at the café (booo) so we headed south, all the way from the north coast to the south, then stopped at Vivonne Bay for lunch. There were lovely limestone rock features and delicious sandwiches. 

After lunch we finally got to Little Sahara dunes which we missed yesterday.  Like so many other facilities, it's been upgraded a lot since we were last there - instead of  nothing but a car park and a board hire place operating out of a couple of shipping containers, there was a whole building with toilets and waiver forms to sign when you hired your sandboard.   
It's funny how it seemed like like the island didn't change at all in the previous ten years, with the exception of the Penneshaw shops which have changed owners and menus every time we visit. 
Then in the last two years so much has happened. We noticed that the Honey Farm and the Island Dairy had also fancied themselves up with new cafes and nicer surroundings since we last visited. 

The sandboarding was fun, and delivered the usual sand-shower as you zipped down the giant dunes.

It was hard to get good photos as there was so much sand blowing around but I got a couple.

Then it was time to head home - the weather wasn't quite hot enough to entice us to stop at a beach on the way to wash off all the sand so the shower at home had to suffer all the sand!

Tomorrow we're heading back to the mainland but not before devonshire tea at the local Art Craft and Produce shop - Granny Stirlings.  

And one last note - we're driving Jon's mum's Magna sedan around the island (which we are grateful to be able to use), but it is amazing how much petrol it is churning through! We are used to our new Peugeot which got us all the way from Hobart to Adelaide with 150kms worth of diesel left in the tank. In contrast, we've filled up the Magna twice in two days from just driving around the island!   Of course this magna is even more efficient than our old magna, it's just that we're used to our new economic vehicle!