Painting the hallway - Before (grubby and grease stained), during the painting, and after (all nice for now)
When the weather cleared, we took up a local sailor on his offer to show us around all day. Scott met us at the dinghy dock in his ute (pickup truck). He is at least fifth-generation Kangaroo Islander and has been sailing in this part of Australia most of his life. He works as Fred Flintstone now at the local quarry, but before Covid, he spent years as a tour guide. With him was Jill, his partner (girlfriend). She is originally from Nairn, in Scotland, and has lived here for the last ten years or so. She's works within the local school system. Between the two of them, we had loads to talk about as Scott drove us around the island.
Early views of American River and its waterfront
Our tour started with a trip to the local general store, which has a rich history of filling up your propane tanks, even if they are fiberglass and even if they aren't Australian.
Next up was a bit of more refined fun. (get it?) We headed to what Scott promised was one of the two best wineries on the island, False Bay Wines. There, Maryanne and I shared a tasting each while Scott and Jill pretended to be entertained by our antics. I must say, it was better than the last place.
A wonderful tour with lovely people, wine and food!
From there, we did a loop around the eastern part of the island, stopping at a few beaches and to admire the lighthouse at Cape Willoughby, the easternmost point of Kangaroo Island. It marks one side of the Backstairs Passage, the main route east from the Gulf of St. Vincent/Adelaide. Near there is supposedly one of the top two wineries on the island, Dudley Wines. I was just wondering about that...
Dudley winery was another excellent choice. This time, Maryanne and I just shared one flight, but it had more varieties, so it probably worked out the same. We were all thinking of having a meal there, but they were running low on many of our first choices. Scott decided to take us instead for a late lunch at the Penneshaw Hotel. There, we each had a Thanksgiving dinner on giant plates at a table overlooking the sea. I felt like we had gone into a Chinese or Greek restaurant and ordered a meal each that was supposed to be shared with the whole table, but all of the other patrons had the same problem. Well, that saves us having to cook dinner tonight.
For dessert, Maryanne walked ahead to the grocery store while the rest of us were reunited with our now much heavier propane bottles. Filling propane is one of those things that never seems to go as easily as planned, so it was a huge relief to get another six month's supply without any hassle.
Maryanne was waiting for us at the supermarket with two boxes of healthy foods. It really is best to go grocery shopping when you are not hungry and there is no temptation to scoop armloads of the chocolate aisle into the cart. She does it for me.
We arrived back at the dinghy loaded down with our newly acquired riches, having done in one day what would have taken us a week or more on foot. Plus, we had the bonus of good company with new friends along the way, giving us the insider's tour of Eastern Kangaroo Island. Thanks Scott and Jill!
{Maryanne: Facebook groups have been a great source of information and connections as we've sailed around Australia, an indeed this is how we first 'met' Scott. It was lovely to meet him in person and be able to thank him for all his advice and tips, and a pleasure to get a guided tour of his much loved island from him. Memorable moments!}
Plenty of birds to entertain
A beautiful sunset for our last night at Kangaroo Island
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