Burra Record (SA : 1878 - 1954), Wednesday 17 January 1934, page 3


A Trip to Kangaroo Island

Few people realise what a wonder-   ful watering place Kangaroo Island is. We knew all about it having been there before; but having had

such a wonderful time on a previous visit decided to make the trip again during the Annual Xmas vacation. We had to stop a night in the city but were at the Glenelg jetty, bright and early, on the Saturday morning before Xmas, waiting for that old boat known as 'The Karratta' which is so well known to travellers to the island. We anxiously watched the sea and wondered if it was going to be rough or not. Some of our fel-low travellers had such powerful ima-ginations that they were already turning green and sickly yellows whilst still on the jetty. Suffice it to say that we had a splendid trip across and nearly everyone on board sat down to and enjoyed an excellent dinner which was set out for con-sumption. Talk about a mixed crowd of peo-ple on that boat. Old men and old women who had been making the trip for years perched in the snug-gest corners of the ship, sportsmen with their stock in trade looking forward to the fishing and wondering what sized fish they could make their friends believe they had caught when they got home again, young girls and young men on pleasure, bent thinking about the swimming, boat-ing, tennis, and the gaiety at night and children full of excitement and exploring the ship from the Captain's cabin to the crew's quarters. They all went to make the holiday crowd and some took their dogs and motor cars with them. Most of them look-ed as if a holiday by the sea would do them good after having ground

out a year's toil in stuffy offices. And they all returned looking brown and healthy at the end of the holi-day, ready to knuckle down again. The run across to the island was extremely interesting and it was fascinating to try and pick out the various land marks along the coast. Glenelg and Adelaide were lost to view and Port Noarlunga could be seen and then Moana. Soon came the prettiest part of the whole trip and that was when the boat was run-ning close to the shore and passing

Second valley and Cape Jervois. A clear view of the cliffs could be sbtained dented with snug little coves and bays or rising sheer for a great many feet with the blue water of the sea breaking gently against them. Came next the crossing of the famous Backstairs Passage — the strait between K.I. and the mainland. This part of the trip we are told can be rough at times, but we have never felt the boat increase its pitching or rolling to any extent when making the crossing. Anyway it only lasts for about 90 minutes and then the Karratta ties up at Hog Bay Jetty — the first port of call on the island. Here motor cars, crates etc. are all heaved out of the ship and the owner campers hop in and steer a direct course for the South Coast of the Island where they will have only water between them and the South Pole, but where they intend to angle for the big fish of the sea off the rocks or perhaps catch cray-fish. Some of them un-doubtedly too will do some hunting in the scrub for the wild pigs which we are led to believe are numerous Perhaps some will go for a quiet time to Middle River or Cygnet Riv-er or some particular spot which strikes their fancy — the island abounds in ideal camping and beauty spots, to the initiated. Our destination however was the capital of the island — Kingscote — a town not so large as Eudunda, but possessing a couple of very fine

hotels, many boarding houses, and shops of all kinds. After a pleasant run across Nepean Bay we duly ar-rived there, after a little over six and a half hours run, greeted old friends whom we knew, and eventu-ally installed ourselves comfortably at Cook's Tourist Retreat, owned by Mr and Mrs R. J. Cook. You see we had stayed there before and knew that we'd have a jolly good time fishing etc- from their boat which is run by Perc and Eric Cook, and called the 'Afric' The 'Afric' measures about 23 feet in length is fairly wide of beam, carries both sails and engine 'and being of shal-low draught can go practically anywhere along the coast. She is seaworthy and safe. Next we renewed our acquaint-ance with the swimming pool, which is a rock bound basin on the edge of the sea. Not very large certainly, but no sea beasts get in there and it's safe for children and gives those who can swim plenty of oppor-tunity of showing their prowess in the water. We made up our minds to have a swim in it every morning before breakfast, we did, and it is really surprising how very invigor-ating that water round K.I. is. One feels as if he had taken a stimulant of some kind, the skin glows and one's 'little mary' cries for food. There's nothing to compare with the water at K.I. The water at Glenelg feels dirty and sticky after it. The Spit The Spit rises out of the' sea with in easy sight of Kingscote, stretches for about three miles and eventually joins the coast. It is composed most ly of shells, goanna and sand. For nature lovers it is a paradise and is one of the spots which should be visited by anyone putting in a week on the island. One day a party of us boarded the 'Afric' and visited it to have a look for Nautilus Shells, (which by the way are worth 'any-thing from 5/- to 7/6 ea.) and to get cockles, which can be picked up by the handful, for fishing. Walking along the Spit we sighted what looked like a dense black lot of bushes covering a space of about an acre in extent. We were told that the 'bushes' were Shags, and on nearing them they all rose into the air, and believe us to see that black mass rise up and fly away, was a sight worth anyone's time to witness. Farther on we came across a similar scene only it was composed of sea-gulls

this time. All kinds off gulls squawked— ordinary seagulls, diver gulls, redbills etc, etc. Next we had a look for young Penguins. These young fellows we found had nice nests made in burrows like young rabbits. They were easily caught, but we excercised care because they can bite and hurt a good deal. We had a good look at them and then placed them in the water. Talk of submarines, they are not in it with those young birds. They are as fast as most fish and use their small flippers (wings) legs and all to propel themselves along. The old penguins were not in evidence. We only got a couple of broken Nautilus Shells, but oh the other shells which we collected and lost. Shells of all shapes, sizes and kinds shells by the truck load, whose owners had all come up on to the Spit to die. We could have spent a much longer time on the Spit but time flies and we had to leave it after having spent a most interest ing afternoon. Next week we will have a bit more to write about the fishing and other kinds of sport to be found on the island.