October 21 - Fairy Penguins
We awake to a blue sky, surrounded by ocean on the grass covered limestone escarpments of Cape Willoughby. Sturt Light, Cape Willoughby Lighthouse was the first lighthouse built in South Australia and the third in Australia. It was officially opened on 10th January 1852 on a site originally chosen and surveyed by Captain Lipson RN to assist the safe and economic operation of the rapidly expanding coastal shipping trade between the eastern colonies and the colony of South Australia, via Backstairs Passage renowned for being a treacherous stretch of water. Seymour Cottage, which we stayed in, was the Head Keeper's cottage. It is the largest of several cottages on the cape.
Weather has been recorded at Cape Willoughby since 1881 with some of the most consistent records anywhere in Australia. Cape Willoughby is a critical weather station for the prediction of weather for many parts of South Australia and it is not uncommon for Cape Willoughby to be the coldest or windiest place in South Australia on a particular day.
The rooms and halls of the house display historical photographes of the light house, shipwrecks and tremendous storms that engulf the lighthouse.
Prospect Hill, at the isthmus of Dudley Peninsula and main Kangaroo Island
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Lunch at the Ozone hotel in Kingscote |
Visit to Island Pure sheep dairy and cheese factory
Watching sea lions at Seal Bay Conservation Park.
We arrive just as the park is closing. The understanding park ranger allows us to quickly jog out to the observation lookout deck for a few minutes of viewing the sea lions down on the beach as the sun sets.
Drive back towards Penneshaw as the sun sets.
In Penneshaw we search out the Little Penguin Information Centre. The Little Penguin Eudyptula minor, also known as the Fairy Penguin, is the smallest of the 17 species of penguins. Found only in southern Australia and New Zealand, they weigh approximately 1 kilogram and stand 30 cm high. We watch as the adults, laiden with food come in from the sea after dusk and slowly work their way up to feed their young, waiting impatiently in or around the burrows and chirping loudly. (sounds)
Get sandwiches for dinner at the Penneshaw hotel bar
