Bonding with Nature and Wildlife at Kangaroo Island - Part 6

Day 9 - South Coast Region

     It was really hard to bid au revoir to Hanson Bay, such an incredibly beautiful spot. However, the Australian sea lions were calling out to us from the Seal Bay Conservation Park

Flat out on the sand

(54.6km away). We had to pay A$33 each for a 45-minute guided tour right down to the beach in order to get quite close to the adorable seals, which was quite a hefty price to pay but it’s all for the conservation of these Australian sea lions, one of the rarest seals in the world. The Seal Bay Conservation Park is now home to the 3rd largest breeding colony of the Australian seal lions. After the tour had ended, we were also allowed to walk on the boardwalk to view the animals for as long as we wished.

     Many of the seals were asleep, not because they were lazy but because they were worn out after 3 days of hunting at sea. The pups joined their mums to bask on the unspoilt beach, but some grew restless and got up to play. One extremely young pup waddled around looking for its mum. When its mum was nowhere to be found, it bravely and resolutely proceeded to swim out in the sea in search of its mum. It sure was a lesson on courage and determination!

    

We were told, on strict terms, to stay a certain distance away from the lounging seals on the beach 

Tis good to bask on the soft sand

Acrobatics on the sand

Flying kiss for you, my dear 

We should never forget to be playful

     We finally tore ourselves away from the lovable creatures and dropped by at the Vivonne Bay General Store for lunch. It’s the home of the famous Whiting Burger so it would be a sacrilege not to give it a try while Derrick settled for the equally famous KI Lamb Burger (A$17 each). Sadly, the taste of both burgers did not live up to our expectations.

Quaint little store

Vivonne Bay General Store - Home of the Famous Whiting Burger

Whiting burger - not as tasty as it looks

KI Lamb Burger - not as tasty as it looks too

    

     Vivonne Bay Lodge, a youth hostel, was located just behind the Vivonne Bay General Store so we did not have to drive far to check in. Although we were early, our private room was ready. The communal bathroom, lounge and cooking area were extremely clean. This may be a youth

Darts King

hostel but we both agreed that it was extremely comfortable. For the rest of the day, I was happily ensconced in a Virginia Andrews book that I grabbed from the mini library while Derrick caught up on his sleep. To my delight, there was also free wifi.

     After Derrick returned from a very satisfying sunset outing

The whole stretch of beach in the background is Vivonne Bay

At the Vivonne Bay Jetty

at Vivonne Bay, voted as the best beach in Australia, we had a late dinner. We had earlier ordered the BBQ pack from the lodge and so we had a tasty dinner of chicken, pork sausage and steak with our noodles, all cooked by Chef Derrick.

Chef Derrick hard at work