KANGAROO ISLAND   II

Tuesday 25 November

A hot, still day on Kangaroo Island.

Tom, D. and T. pulled lobster pots at 1600 . . . three keepers. Porpoises played in our bow wake all the way home.

Later we all went down to Emu bay for a swim; beautiful, clear, cool water. A big stingray kept swimming up to investigate our toes.

Wednesday 26 November

After dinner we caught the two biggest tom turkeys, trussed them up and carried them to Dean and Leony's for butchering. Leony spent most of her life as the daughter, then the wife, of farmers, so is good at this stuff.

First Dan delivered the coupe de gras with an axe, let them flop around for a bit, then we poured hot water over them to loosen the feathers for plucking. Ty and Dean did most of the plucking. Leony took care of the gutting (she looked at us askance when we separated out giblets for gravy). Then the carcasses were hung under the back porch overnight.

Thursday 27 November

Big thunderstorm last night; went on for hours.

Time to start cooking. Kaaren mixed up a batch of rott kohl from memory. Dan baked a couple of pumpkin pies . . . from scratch, no canned pumpkin around here. Ancient gas oven is cantankerous: thermostat doesn't work and we've no thermometer so we guess at temperature and control heat by opening and closing oven door.

Red cabbage and pumpkin weren't available at the market so we had Tony (chef at 'The Cafe') order them for us from his wholesaler . . . pumpkins are purple, rather than orange.

The chooks are very happy with the way we eat, and the scraps left over. These five girls each faithfully give us an egg a day.

Dean brought the turkeys by (we'd left them hanging under his back porch overnight. Relative to what we're used to from QFC at home, these are some sorry-looking carcasses.

Went to town for final Thanksgiving shopping. Bought meat pies for dinner. Stopped by 'Cafe' to pick up scraps for chooks.

Tom and Liz came by for wine on the back porch at sunset. They dropped off package from Nana Dee; wherein found 'Riven'. Installed it and couldn't get Tyler to put it down.

Tom mentioned newspaper article about big sharks seen in Emu Bay. But he still insists that no one's ever been bitten.

Friday 28 November

Today we will celebrate Thanksgiving, and we're a little nervous about putting on a fete for all these people that Tom's invited, and we've never even met them. D. made an apple pie (salvaged burned crust by cutting away center and patching) and another pumpkin pie. K. made stuffing.

At around 1400 D. took birds outdoors and washed them, afterwards stuffed and sewn up. Then we discover oven is too small to fit in bird, so we load it into car and take it down to Liz's to bake. The second bird goes into Tom's barbecue.

Shortly before six guests started showing up:

Tom and Liz Bettess

Mark Warren

Dean and Leoni Bell

Graham and Jude

Craig, Janet, and Blair

Cadj and Jenny Amadio

Bernie and Kim

Philip White

Alan and Anne

Roger

Robin and Heather

Val

Everybody brought something special: lobster, marinated octopus salad, whiting sushi, smoked searun trout, salads and dips, cakes, and bottles and bottles of wine and champagne. These folks were planning on a party!

And party we did, first with all the goodies the guests brought along. Then after a short rest we retrieved the now-done turkeys, carved them up, and served our real dinner.

Everybody was so gracious and helpful. Kaaren and Dan had been cooking all day, preparing as best we could in a strange kitchen, but not feeling very organized about conducting the dinner proper. No worries. Leoni, Jude, Liz, and Anne took over in the kitchen. Jenny marshaled all the men troops, and in minutes set up tables out in the ruins. It was a tight fit for 24 of us in the small back room, and it was perfect. Philip White (writes a food and wine column in several Australian papers) gave a very touching blessing, and dinner was served.

The wines . . . like nothing we've ever experienced. Cadge and Jenny Amadio's vineyard annually wins the top prizes in all of Australia. Three of the other couples present also own vineyards. Philip White held court as bottle after bottle was opened and sniffed and savored and passionately argued over. Shiraz's, Merlots, Cabernets, Chardonnays, first bottlings, blends . . . glasses were filled, sipped and dumped out the door if deemed less than exquisite. The Davises love good wine, but know so little of it, and felt a little like swine being offered pearls. We were very happily awestruck. And we joked and laughed, and soon decided that Australians are the funniest and friendliest people on the face of the earth.

Saturday 29 November

Roger and Kate had invited us to attend special event at their vineyard: a Floriason, which is a celebration of the setting of the first grape blossoms of the season. The affair had a medieval theme to it and all in attendance dressed up in period attire: lots of Robin Hoods and Merry Men, crusaders, gorgeous ladies in gowns and tall hats, monks, and squires. Tom and Allen went as the two friars: Nip and Tuck. Dan was provided a jeweled crown to wear, and Kaaren wore a tall pink hat. A medieval music group playing period instruments wandered about.

The event was a very special and emotional one for the pioneer vintners of the fledgling grape industry on the island. For years they had risked much and finally they were publicly acclaiming their success. Speeches were given, and in the light of the setting sun we all wandered among rows of lush green vines loaded with their clusters of bitty green grapes.

Well after dark we all sat down at plank tables set into a clearing carved out of a copse of junipers above the vineyard. Twinkly lights were strung overhead in the branches and the still night air was permeated with delicious smells from the cooking fires. We ate suckling pig and lamb (roasted over the fires on spits) peacock, roasted fruits and vegetables, figs and cheeses, sweet almond and orange cakes. And wine. It was a heady and magical experience.

Sunday 30 November

(By Tyler) The highlights of today: For a start, we drove to Seal Bay, where we got a guided tour of the Australian Sea Lion colony. It was pretty amazing. The little ones played in the surf and they 'porpoised' (leaping out of the water like porpoises). They also bodysurfed in the waves, and looked like they were having the greatest of times. The guide lady talked to us about how they mate, and how they hunt, and so on. It was fun, and we saw them fight and do territorial things. For hunting, they go out fishing for three days straight, not coming to the beach. After three days, they come back and rest.

Then we made our way to Paul's Place and saw birds there. I saw heaps of parrots, and was impressed by the quantity and variety.

We also saw deer, wallabies, roos, and possums. I got to hold a baby possum that had been orphaned. It's mother died somehow, unfortunately. It was the cutest thing. I held a 'pouch', which was really a coat sleeve or something, and the baby was inside. It was the size of a toaster. It was the furriest thing you ever did see, and it kept diving into its 'burrow'. I also got to hold a baby kangaroo.

Dad spent his time at the Park fixing a flat. Somehow it popped, and some visitors informed us. The tires were bald, anyway. Actually, the spare wasn't much better.

We had dinner at the Amadio's house tonight.

We had a marvelous meal that consisted of fish baked in beer batter, and homemade pizza. After all, Caj is Italian. We talked, and Kim, who was there with Bernie and Philip, inspired me to be a photographer when I grow up. I think that is exactly what I'm going to do. I will photograph wildlife, and the cool thing is, I will always learn things about the animals I'm taking pictures of.

Dessert was Dad's delicious apple pie, and I roasted a marshmallow. I played pool with Dad and Kim. It was heaps of fun.

Monday 01 December

We visited Anne and Allan, Robin and Heather at their new vacation home at Cape D'Estaing Vineyards. The home is built at the very peak of the highest hill on their huge holding and affords an absolutely stunning view over the vineyards, the cape, and across to the Australian mainland. They planted the Shiraz and Cabernet vines four years ago, and this year, if they can keep the birds away, will get their first commercial crop.

It's a wondrous thing to see how these people share their lives. This group of four to six families (depending upon the venture) owns all manner of properties and commercial ventures together . . . and in so doing, spread around both the risks involved, and the very obvious rewards. The extent of the trust and affection for others outside the immediate family is extraordinary to us.

Graham (who also has a 25% share of this vineyard) was at the house and he invited us to have dinner with him and wife Jude at their home down the coast. Their stone house, nestled into a hill above the ocean, is located miles from the closest neighbor, and the property encompasses several kilometers of rugged coastline. Before dinner Graham took us for 4WD tour and then a hike over the rocks to view a Sea Eagle nest up on the cliff. We saw plenty of Fairy Penguin nests, and penguin bones scattered on the rocks below caused us to wonder about predation by sea eagles. Graham didn't know.

Dinner consisted of barbecued whiting and lobster that Graham caught in front of the house, and apple pie that the Davises made that afternoon. And again excellent wine . . . this time a Pinot Noir from a vineyard Graham and Jude own on the mainland.

Too many successive days of partying and good food and wine were wearing on us all, so shortly after dinner we bade a grateful adieu and headed back to Emu Bay. It was a slow drive home for fear of running into one of the dozens of kangaroos, wallabies, or possums that seem to think that after dark the roads belong to them.

Tuesday 02 December

Tyler's Day . . . followed his itinerary. Murray Lagoon for lunch, then to Parndana to look at birds. He was quite mindful of the claws when he held this koala.

Wednesday 03 December

Fishing with Tom. Caught two lobster. Plenty of King George whiting.

Dinner at Tom and Liz's house . . . good food and company. They have been so good and generous to us, and their dogs Stump and Spike have paid daily visits. Spike is an insane little terrier with some wholly disproportionate appendages . . . as Tom says, "He's all ears and wanker."

Thursday 04 December

Packing day, and we're excited at prospects of new country and adventure, but we're going to miss this place and the wonderful people we've found living here.

Wandered down the beach and looked for fossils in front of Berd's Nest.

Tom and Liz have dropped by a couple of times. They're obviously sad to see us go.

Early tomorrow Tom will run us to the airport to catch a flight to Adelaide, then head off down . . .

Great Ocean Road . . .