VI
EN
ON THE ROAD
At 4:30 am, the two of us woke up in the freezing cold of Adelaide to prepare for a new journey. The journey to Kangaroo Island - a very pristine island and the third largest in Australia. Ms. Hanh told Mr. Michael to take us to the central area - where we had to gather at 5:30 am to get on the bus to the ferry. But thinking it was too early and cold, and Mr. Michael was sick, the two of us insisted on taking an Uber ourselves. Ms. Hanh did not forget to prepare for us fruits, pate sandwiches and some cakes to eat on the way. We were truly grateful for the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness of her and her husband.
How to get to Kangaroo Island?
Uber from the suburbs of Adelaide to the city center costs $50. The bus takes about 30 minutes to reach the meeting point. However, the bus does not actually leave until 7am when it is full of passengers. The bus travels from the city center to Cape Jervis to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island, which takes about 3 hours for a distance of more than 100 km. Then continue by ferry from Cape Jervis Harbour to Kangaroo, which takes more than 1 hour. However, compared to flying from the center of Adelaide, which only takes 30 minutes, most locals still prefer to travel by car. They say the scenery along the way is beautiful, and while on the ferry, you can see pods of dolphins doing somersaults.
Unfortunately for me, the ferry rocked back and forth for a while and I threw up and lay flat on my back so I didn’t see the dolphin scene. Actually, the sea was quite calm at first but after a while the waves got rough and I couldn’t stand it anymore. The ferry here is Sealink.
What is on kangaroo island?
Before setting foot on the island, all passengers are given a brief introduction to the island's unique ecosystem and necessary recommendations to ensure that Kangaroo Island's natural environment remains wild.
Kangaroo Island is 4,500 square kilometers wide and the bus system is very sparse. Without a car, you will miss out on many famous beautiful landscapes. But if you book a tour, you are guaranteed a car for a road trip around the island.
The entire island has less than five thousand inhabitants, which means that on average each person owns one square kilometer of land!!! The roads on the island are still mostly dirt roads, only the roads in the towns and the main roads of the island are paved. Projects to build bridges connecting the island to the mainland and develop infrastructure on the island have all been rejected. Most people want to keep Kangaroo Island intact as it was when the British discovered it 200 years ago.
The road trip passed by many beautiful and truly deserted beaches. Vast stretches of sand, with no one in sight, just pods of fat seals sunning themselves and giant rocks carved into spectacular shapes by wind and water.
The driver and tour guide explained that this deserted island was inhabited by indigenous people 16,000 years ago, when the island was connected to the mainland by a low strip of land. Until the early years of the Common Era, when the sea level rose, the low strip of land disappeared, and the indigenous people retreated to the mainland. The island became completely isolated and its ecosystem became increasingly different from the mainland.
More than half of the island is primeval forest. So what I saw before my eyes was the vast green of the grasslands, the rows of trees on both sides of the road, the distant mountains on the horizon, the sky and the sea were also blue, but a clear emerald green. The wild nature was not as peaceful as I had imagined. The struggle for survival of kangaroos, sea lions, dolphins, seabirds, platypuses, black swans… and hundreds of rare plant species was very lively through the stories of the animal-loving tour guide.
It should be added that the tourist services on the island are very systematic, the staff is extremely compact. The wise tour guide of the whole group also skillfully doubles as a driver. Here, you are not allowed to feed the animals. Because feeding them will destroy their survival instinct. In the afternoon, when I arrived at Seall Bay, I met many seals. Although I had to keep my distance, I still clearly saw the adorable appearance of these chubby animals. Most of the seals were sleeping, showing off their fat bodies, only a few tiny ones were wandering around looking for their mothers, making pitiful sounds.
Indeed, I think the islanders must be nature and animal lovers because the material comforts of life on the island are minimal, food and gas are expensive, only nature is wonderful. Most of the Kangaroo people I met were very cheerful and leisurely. They were satisfied with their simple houses and dusty dirt roads, and their popular pastimes were fishing and swimming.
After 2 days on the island, my husband and I took the ferry back to the mainland. This time the sea was calmer, I no longer felt seasick and nauseous. Ms. Hanh texted to say that she had prepared enough food for us at home. Tomorrow she would take us around Adelaide and make a BBQ for us to eat...
Wow, I suddenly miss my aunt Hanh and uncle Michael so much! I miss their peaceful house in the suburbs of Adelaide. Sometimes I feel so lucky because for more than 2 years of traveling everywhere, everywhere I meet good and enthusiastic people.
