A very dear friend and fellow blogger has just shared a post on her experience of holidaying on Kangaroo Island just as the bushfire disaster was unfolding. The previous week Rosemary posted about the start of her holiday on the island; it was lovely to read and it made me feel as if I was there with her, experiencing the island first-hand.
We used to live about an hours drive from the ferry terminal that would have taken us over to this paradise island but in the 11 years we were there, we didn’t once make the trip. We always made the excuse that it was too expensive; “we could be spending that money on an overseas trip” we’d say, so Kangaroo Island was just a beautiful destination that stayed at arm’s length. What an oversight that was on our part and now we will never experience the former glory of Flinders Chase National Park now that it has been decimated along with the habitat of a huge proportion of the island’s wildlife.
I am filled with sadness and huge regret that I missed the opportunity to visit one of Australia’s natural wonders in its absolute prime, knowing that it probably won’t recover to it’s former glory for a very long time. I read Rosemary’s last post on the unfolding bushfire wondering the fate of the animals whose path’s she crossed, knowing that it would not be a good outcome.
I wanted to share this poignant post with you, just so you have a sense of what it was like to be on Kangaroo island and to experience some of the wonderful wildlife which called Flinders Chase National Park their home.
Waking the Wombat 
6 replies on “Our Glorious Kangaroo Island”
Lucy, it is so sad that you haven’t been there. Kangaroo Island may never be the same, but I truly hope the land and creatures have resilience and the Island can flourish again soon. When we were in Flinders Chase we were told that there had been a very significant fire in 2007 and it was hard to see the damage. However this time the area covered is much greater. But I do hope it will again be as beautiful as when I saw it.
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Let’s hope it regenerates quickly but I don’t know how long it will take for the wildlife to reestablish.
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Hope you are ok over there. I just want to cry when I see what’s happening to such a wonderful continent. Sending love and hugs xx
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Hi Deb, Lovely to hear from you :). As we are only 5kms from the centre of Brisbane, we live in a low fire risk area. I do worry about our kiddies who are in the Adelaide Hills and it’s tinder-dry (which is usual for this time of year). I’ve cried so much over the news and social media that I had to come off it – I just can’t unsee some of the distressing images that have been shared. We pray for widespread rain (even though praying is not my thing!)
Thanks for getting in touch Deb, hope you are well and looking forward to a happy and prosperous year xx
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Hi Lucy. On our trip around Australia, we decided we would include KI. Yes, it was expensive, especially the cost of transporting our caravan across on the ferry, but boy oy boy was it worth it. I have such lovely memories of Flinders Chase National Park and all the wildlife we saw there as well as in the caravan park (just outside the NP). My heart is breaking with all the devastation that’s occurring – we’d spent time in each location where these major bushfires are wreaking havoc. But the Australian bush is a very resilient thing, it will regenerate and a few days ago I saw images of it doing just that. So there is hope. Let’s also hope the Australian people are as resilient and capable of recovery and that our native wildlife can repopulate.
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Yes let’s hope so Clare – I too saw some images of the bush regenerating already:)
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