Goodbye K.I.

Lots of packing and sheet changing and house cleaning persisted throughout the morning.  Some of my laundry hadn’t dried yesterday which bummed me out a lot.  I was able to fit everything inside my bag though and rid the house of the filth we had created in a week.

My last visit to the Visitor’s Center had to be the most exciting.  I saw Cat sitting in her chair cradling the baby koala from yesterday.  Claire had put it back outside last night in the same tree it fell from but found it in the middle of the avenue in the morning.  There was no way now that mom would take him back now; she showed more interest in a male koala nearby.  I stared at Cat while she talked on the phone trying to figure out what to do with the joey.  She finally looked at me and asked it I could hold it for her, she was a little busy to be holding a baby koala at the moment.  I had no problem taking the little fuzzy grey thing from her and placing it in my fleece against my chest.  His claws are very sharp and his nose was so cold.  Holding the baby pretty much made my day, I was not too happy to give him up but I knew that moment would come eventually.  After attempting to feed it and getting water, dirt and koala formula all over my white fleece and shirt it was time for Dave to become surrogate mother.  

This is Cat the manager.

His face while holding the joey is priceless; Dave makes a very good mother.

I had to say goodbye to everyone and watched Michaela leave holding my baby koala, it wasn’t hard to say goodbye to people, just the koala. 

I finished my packing and Nina and I were off to explore the island.  Our first stop was Raptor Domain; a bird rehabilitation center.  We had to wait an hour but we sat in the shade and ate hot chips while we planned what else we could see.  When the show began I was somewhat excited to see all the different birds.  

The first bird I was introduced was a frogmouth; I got to touch his feathers, which are so insanely soft.  He is grey but the patterns are really cool if you look closely.  

The second was a boobok owl, a cute little brown owl with a white speckled chest.  

The third was a barn owl that flew out of a tree hollow and right onto my lap, he continued to jump from lap-to-lap until he was put away.  

Next was a peregrine falcon that whipped past the heads of the crowd and weaved through the trees.  She has a wing that never quite healed properly; she will be a permanent residence of Raptor Domain. 

A sooty owl was then introduced.  The species is said to look permanently hunched over because it lives in the canopy of the forest searching for prey.  He looked like a very wise old owl that could use a cane, still very beautiful.  

What I thought would be the wedge-tailed eagle turned out to be a sea eagle.  This bird was incredibly sassy towards the handler and preferred the ground to a perch.  This particular bird was taken from the nest as a hatchling and raised in a shed; it never learned to fly and was fed scraps from its owners.  It has a much better life now.  

The grand finale was a magnificent 22-year-old wedge-tailed eagle; she opened her wings wide and sunned herself.  Such a cool bird to see up close.  

At the end of the show I was allowed to old the year old wedge-tailed eagle that I think is much more beautiful than the mature one.  She has beautiful golden feathers and weighed quite a bit when she perched on my arm.

Off on another adventure to a honey bee center to get special honey ice cream.  I only got us lost twice and for me, that’s a new low record.  I finally got my honey ice cream; it was very light and not too sweet, a perfect combination.

Just after we got gas or petrol, Nina and I zoomed off to Emu Bay, sadly there are no emus on the island or at the bay.  The walk along the beach was calm and the temperature couldn’t have been more perfect, even the water seemed warm.  I didn’t take my boots off but the walk was nice enough I didn’t have to. 

Nina and I sadly parted ways in Kingscote; I was feeling pretty sad when I gave her the last hug I would ever give her.  She made my trip so much fun; her crazy laugh and huge smile is something I’ll never forget, nor how she seemed to be as young as me.  I sat down on the rocks at the beach for a few hours after saying goodbye and I am pretty sure I got a little too much sun, I sort of forgot sunscreen and that the sun is much stronger here.

I was a half hour early for my bus so the driver took me to see the pelicans being fed.  The pelicans were really big and really liked fish.  They were practically eating the fisherman’s hand as he dropped fish in their mouths.  My bus driver was really nice but I slept the whole way to the ferry so we didn’t talk much.

I won’t be doing much tonight, I get into Adelaide around 11 and will probably walk to my hostel that is a fair distance away.  I will most likely be asleep as soon as I get onto the bus; I like to sleep.

I am ready to start the next part of my adventure now but I feel a little melancholic to be saying goodbye to Kangaroo Island.  Cat said that is I ever lose my way in Australia that I will always have a home at the sanctuary.  Goodbye KI!

The last family photo.