Here in Australia, my speaking gigs are over. So we’re all headed to Kangaroo Island, where we will spend a long weekend, extended on both ends. So remote and unspoiled is Kangaroo Island that we will be staying in a cabin that has no internet. I’ll try to put up a post or two ahead of time, but in case you don’t hear from me for awhile, I have not fallen off the ends of the earth. Actually, I will have fallen off the ends of the earth, sort of, and I am looking forward to the isolation.
Kangaroo Island is a 45-minute ferry ride from the mainland. It is pretty big: 93 miles long and 56 miles wide at its thickest point. But it only has 4,417 people.
It has lots of wildlife, some farms known for the excellence of their produce, the Flinders Chase National Park (which includes the so-called “Remarkable Rocks,” giant boulders of strange formation), and beaches galore. (Though it’s winter here. Nothing by Wisconsin standards, but temperatures in the high 50s, which will put a damper on normal beach activities. But I just like to look at the ocean.)
Kangaroo Island is also famous for its bees. Specifically, the Ligurian bee. Because of its remoteness, according to Wikipedia, “The island has the world’s only pure-bred and disease-free population of this type of bee.” The beekeepers here, who also make what is supposed to be some of the world’s best honey, have started to sell queen bees to the rest of the world. I have heard it said that if the bee population of the world collapses, as some have feared it might be doing, meaning the end of agriculture for lack of the plant pollination that bees provide, Kangaroo Island could bring the bees back, thus saving the world. I don’t know about such secular apocalyptic thinking, but I do want to see the bees and try some of the honey.
The island’s remoteness also means that it is free of invasive species, such as the rabbits and foxes introduced by the British that have ravaged Australia’s ecosystem. So the island has preserved pristine Australia.
We’ll be spending time with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. We’ll explore. Look for animals. Take in the beach. And my son-in-law and I are going to do some fishing! There is supposed to be a jetty that goes out into the ocean and that is known for its good fishing not far from our cabin.
For five days, I will be blissfully unaware of news, politics, and happenings in the outside world.
I’ll start posting again next week once I come back. If I come back.
Photo by Michael Fuentes, “Just Skipping By,” Stokes Bay, Kangaroo Island, via Flickr, Creative Commons License
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