Its a Hop, Skip and Jump to Kangaroo Island - Retrospective TR (updated 5/1)

[PrincessInOz]

2020. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.


I’m pretty sure you all thought you would be travelling this year. Or planning another vacation. I’m sure many of you, like me, thought life would continue along the work-play-sleep rinse and repeat cycle.



Covid-19 has brought a different kind of lifestyle to what many of us are used to. I know I did not expect to be restricted to within a 5 km radius of my house and with limits on where I can head out to for grocery shopping and/or exercise.



So. Welcome to another one of my TR’s!

With the stage 4 restrictions in place for the next 6 weeks, and with no travel to be had for this year, I figured it might be a good time to take a retrospective look at my last Australian vacation.



This trip will cover 7 – 8 days of travel from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island. It does include a DisMeet with a fellow Aussie Dis-ser.



I hope you’ll buckle up for the vicarious living trip!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Reserved for Quick Links

Introduction

Day 1 - Melbourne to Mt Gambier

On the Road Again!
A Quick Stop at Umpherston
We Paid to Stay in a Gaol
Dinner and a Show


Day 2 - Mt Gambier to Second Valley

Where is the Food Porn????
Something Old - Umpherston Sinkhole - Again!
Something Blue - Blue Lake Crater
Something Somewhat New - The other side of the Lake
Something Borrowed - We were Running out of Time (at the Cave Gardens)
A Large Watering Hole
A Large Grain Silo
More Food Porn - Late Dinner


Day 3 - Second Valley to Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island

Second Valley, South Australia
Walking from One End of Penneshaw to the other
Finding some 'Sculpture'
Adventure Ocean Cruise .... It's all about the Birds!
Adventure Ocean Cruise .... It's all about the Wildlife!


Day 4 - Penneshaw to Flinders Chase National Park

It's the Start of a New Dawn
Catching the Early Bird 1, 2 and 3

 

[ACDSNY]

Along for the virtual ride. Anything is better than nothing.

 

[kimmar067]

....I call shotgun!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Along for the virtual ride. Anything is better than nothing.

Nice to see you here! Thanks for coming along the virtual ride. Yes. I figured anything was better than nothing as well.

....I call shotgun!

You always do!

But this pickup has 3 seats in the front. So....shotgun it is!

Thanks for joining in.

 

[juniorbugman]

I can't wait to read along and I have my seat belt all buckled up.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I can't wait to read along and I have my seat belt all buckled up.

Welcome! Thanks for reading along.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Day 1, 7 September 2019

On the Road Again!

Every year, a bunch of my 3D photographer friends plan a photographic vacation and head out somewhere. Yeah. It's usually somewhere where no one else is and all we get is flat landscapes and wide sky.
Australia is roughly the size of the US, with the population of greater New York. That gives us a lot of wide open spaces to go see and take pictures!





This year, we headed west of the Victorian Border to Kangaroo Island.
Day 1 saw us get as far as Mt Gambier. Its only about 425 km (265 miles) from Melbourne to Mt Gambier.
To say we were travelling at wind speed would be an understatement. It took us all day to reach out destination.





We did plot the shortest route to Mt Gambier. But my car pool consisted of 3.5 photographers. We stopped at almost every hick attraction along the way. In the Victorian countryside, mail boxes were the standouts!





Heck! There were times that we did a sharp U-Turn to get that perfect rural shot! Afterall, it IS canola season out in the country.




September in Australia is spring time and the vibrant yellow of the canola flowers turn the otherwise brown countryside into a patchwork quilt.





Don't be fooled by the blue sky. It was an anomaly on this day.



Pretty as the fields were, its a very straight and flat drive from Melbourne to Mt Gambier. So, there were a lot of very similar shots in my camera on this day.

We did get a bit of a hurry up around 3 pm. The place we were going to stay at for the night texted us to ask if we could arrive before 6 pm. So, we pretty much floored it from then on.

 

[PrincessInOz]

A Quick Stop at Umpherston!

Despite having to get to our accommodation before 6 pm, we got into Mt Gambier with just enough light to make a quick stop at the Umpherston Sinkhole.





The Umpherston Sinkhole was made into a garden by James Umpherston in 1886. It was pretty much a place where his family played in.



This was once a cave formed through dissolution of limestone. The sinkhole was created when the top of the chamber collapsed downwards. I reckon this garden would be stunning when the flowers are out.




We saw enough to know that we HAD to head back here in the morning, and hoped for better lighting conditions. In any case, we had stolen enough time and it was time to check in!

 

[ACDSNY]

The Umpherston Sinkhole reminds me of the sunken part of the Butchart Gardens near Victoria BC. The canola flowers are beautiful.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Looking forward to following along. I was fortunate to visit Kangaroo Island with my children in 2004. We stayed at a beautiful home stay and had a personal guide who drove us around in his jeep for a week and prepared amazing food. The ‘children‘ still talk about how amazing it was. I hope that it hasn’t changed and become too commercial.

 

[kimmar067]

.... .......um, how do you have HALF a photographer?

 

[kimmar067]

The Umpherston Sinkhole reminds me of the sunken part of the Butchart Gardens near Victoria BC. The canola flowers are beautiful.

....there's a famous sinkhole [Cuevas de Camuy] in Puerto Rico, this reminds me of....a rare species of shrimp(?) was discovered there.

Pretty place, that Umpherston Sinkhole.

 

[kimmar067]

It boasts the largest underground river in the world.

 

[ACDSNY]

We went here in Puerto Rico I think it's the same place.

 

[ACDSNY]

 

[kimmar067]

 

[ACDSNY]

We went swimming in the river below too.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The Umpherston Sinkhole reminds me of the sunken part of the Butchart Gardens near Victoria BC. The canola flowers are beautiful.

I kinda regret not going to Butchart when I went to Vancouver. We were staying with my uncle and I chose to take more time with him and his family instead of taking time to go to Butchart. I always figured I'd be heading back to visit him so there would be other trips.
Now....who knows?

Looking forward to following along. I was fortunate to visit Kangaroo Island with my children in 2004. We stayed at a beautiful home stay and had a personal guide who drove us around in his jeep for a week and prepared amazing food. The ‘children‘ still talk about how amazing it was. I hope that it hasn’t changed and become too commercial.

Thanks for joining in!

I hope that the pictures of 2019 Kangaroo Island will match your recollection of it. Sadly, we managed to see it just before the devastating bushfires of Dec19/Jan20. We were very sad to see some of the burnt out images but super glad we got in before the fire!

.... .......um, how do you have HALF a photographer?

DH. He counts as a full person but HALF a photograper.

 

[PrincessInOz]

....there's a famous sinkhole [Cuevas de Camuy] in Puerto Rico, this reminds me of....a rare species of shrimp(?) was discovered there.

Pretty place, that Umpherston Sinkhole.

OMG! That sinkhole in PR is amazing! Thanks to you and @ACDSNY for sharing pictures of it. Now I have to add it to my bucket list.