Spring Break #2: Kangaroo Island and a goose...herding sheep?

Yes. You read that correctly. A goose. Herding sheep. But before we get to that point, let's talk about Kangaroo Island. KI has conservation written all over it. They ban you from taking any honey products or any bees, any potatoes and even require you to register your cat if you enter. Dogs are banned from most of the popular hikes and tourist areas. They just don't want to damage the island that still has virgin pieces of land, untampered by human hands.

We arrive Tuesday on a ferry and then got a rental car. We took that car, bought groceries and then drove from northeast KI to South of the center of KI where we lived, near a Seal Bay park. We went out to the nearby beach and holy crap it was amazing. Icy cold waters though, because there is no landmass between KI and Antarctica. The water started to get comfortable once our legs got numb from the cold. That night we were tired so we just played card games in the back. Oh, about the house. As you'll see in the pictures, it was a gorgeous house. There was plenty of wildlife around the house too. Only 10% of KI roads were paved, so they were mostly dirt roads. It really made us feel like we were in the middle of nowhere, as if our lack of cell phone reception on the island didn't already lead us to that conclusion.

Wednesday we drove to a bee farm and tried honey, which was pretty cool. Then we took a hike to the "Remarkable Rocks", which really are remarkable. They are in weird shapes, having sharp and smoothed edges. It was on the edge of a cliff and the rocks were not connected to the ground as if they were pushed up from the earth. Rather it looked like they were just placed there, and you could even see under some of the rocks to the other side. After that we did another hike to Admiral's Arch which had a TON of New Zealand seals which was pretty cool. To top off that day, we went to Snake Lagoon which was a 5kmish walk. We walked down the side of a mountain and over some swampyish areas where apparently you can find the platypus (but the park hasn't seen them in 3 months so they're kind of worried...). At the end of the path we found this SICK beach. I think it was one of the most beautiful beaches as well as landscapes i have ever witnessed in person. I found some washed up jellyfish on the shore which was cool too. To the right of the beach was a large section of rocks, so we walked down that as far as we could and sat near the waves and took lots of pictures. After an hour or so of sitting looking at the ocean we walked back and made dinner. Then we all collapsed because we were so tired.

Thursday we started off by going to a cave tour. After we split up into two groups to do the 9km Hanson Bay hike at west KI. We drove to the beach where me and Emily started out while Kevin and the other two drove to the opposite end. The idea was that we'd meet halfway, they'd pass the keys to us and we'd drive back to the beach and stay for a bit. Now this beach was AMAZING too. Pictures will be up soon. From that coastal area we started the hike and went through a bushy area which led into an open field that had lots and lots of wallaby droppings. It seemed like a giant animal toilet zone. We then walked up a few big hills and then met them halfway along a cliff, then finally met them and got the car keys from them. We walked more and more and eventually found an echidna! It had a spiky back and a very long nose which it used to forage through the ground for food. It seemed very fond of Emily but eventually walked past her. We got a few sweet pictures of Walter (yes, we named it). We got to the end of the hike and drove back to the beach, where we played a little of 2v2 American football with one QB, and then some frisbee. After that we went on a nocturnal hike where we saw a TON of wild koalas as well as kangaroos, wallabies and possums. We eventually wandered back home and again collapsed from being so tired.

On Thursday went to random places on the northeastern area of the Island. We went to a lavender farm, a sheep farm, an alcohol distillery and then we got to an area called Duck Lagoon (I think). Now this is where shit gets weird. The entrance had old farming equipment that was owned by some dude years ago but it just sat there covered in rust as some sort of monument. We went past that and saw a bunch of sheep staring at us as we walked through an area with a few trees, eventually coming to an open area. We took a few pictures and then noticed a large group of sheep running off into one area. Then we saw a goose.



This is one of those you had to be there moments because shit was just weird. This goose/duck/whatever was literally quacking at the sheep trying to herd them across the field. I got a few videos which you will all be forced to see when I get back. After this group of sheep passed, we saw another group coming up behind us trying to follow the group, but to us it looked like the sheep were trying to circle us. Now I've seen some pretty weird things in my life, but this...this is just too much. You're thinking right now "yeah that would be a little weird", but you don't even know how weird it felt. We were probably the only humans within a few square kilometers watching this goose herd sheep across the field. We went back to the car and had lunch, and then left. As we were driving past the big open area we saw the goose herding the sheep.

...anyway, we got back to our house and then cleaned up. We watched some rugby. I've picked up on the rugby rules, and seen a few games at this point, but I will say this now: American Football is more brutal and manly than rugby, at least Rugby League. They get the ball on one side and have four chances to get the ball across the field before possession changes, but if you get tackled to the floor, the ref whistles and the other team is forced to stop tackling him so he can pass to a teammate. You basically just have to be a giant meat shield and have no skills and bam, you're a star rugby player. Rugby Union however I hear is much more brutal because there are no rules. Still, when hits like this are possible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9jgP1brUn8
Small plays with big hits. Rugby hits can be pretty devastating, but you don't get big hits that often compared to American Football. AMERICA

We came back on Saturday taking the rental car back to the ferry, taking the ferry to Adelaide and then went to a park to toss the frisbee around then went to Chinatown to that food court. After we went to go see a movie to pass the time. We saw "A Single Man" which was the only movie that could fit into our schedule. It was about a gay man who lost his lover and his struggle to cope with life. It was a really artsy and thought provoking film, and sat with us for a while. We then took a taxi to a plane, took the plane to Sydney, took a train to a bus, then took the bus to Wollongong. We missed our stop so we had to walk back to Weerona College, and that was our adventure.

Pictures will be up soon after I finish my first physics assignment of the semester.