Eating Our Way Through Kangaroo Island

Today was such a relaxing day compared to most of our other days.  We woke up around 8:00 and went on our way after breakfast.  Our first stop was the island beehive where they make the famous ligurian honey.  KI is the only place in the world with a pure ligurian bee population.  We tried a bunch of different honeys and they were so good.  We also got to eat honeycomb ice cream, which was easily in the top three ice creams I've ever eaten in my life!  It was AMAZING!!  We also bought a bunch of gifts here.  Everyone likes honey, right?

After that we had some time to kill before the winery opened.  We went back to Kingscote to walk around downtown a bit.  We stopped in a bakery and finally tried a pasty.  We had a veg and cheese.  It was basically a portable pot pie.

Our next stop was the Bay of Shoals winery.  The scenery was beautiful, but the wines weren't that great.  The moscato and the port were nice though.  The guy in charge was so friendly and really nice to chat with.  He had been in America years ago as a sailor for the Australian Navy.

Our hostel owner recommended we go to KI Spirits to do a tasting.  It was a great recommendation!  The owner of the distillery is a former chef and some of his creations are incredible.  We tasted a ton of different spirits, including honey and walnut; strawberry and vanilla; chili; orange and ginger; and lime.  We had no plans to buy anything, but the lime was delicious.  He gave us a sample with club soda and a cilantro simple syrup--OMG!  We had to buy it!

We did a quick stop at Clifford's Honey Farm, but there really wasn't too much there.  The first hive was much better.

After a quick lunch in Kingscote, we went grocery shopping for the meals over the next two days.  We'll be staying in Hanson Bay, which is a very remote wildlife refuge.  There are no grocery stores or even restaurants.  We stocked up and even though we spent a lot, it was less than we've spent on almost any dinner so far!  We should have been grocery shopping the whole time :)

On our way to Hanson Bay we stopped at the sheep dairy farm.  We did a tasting and got to see the sheep being milked.  The cheese was delicious and the sheep were so cute!

It was about an hour drive to our hotel.  This place is billed as a wildlife refuge and animals like kangaroos, wallabies and koalas are all supposed to be at your doorstep.  We hadn't seen any of these animals on the island yet so we weren't sure how truthful this claim was.  WOW!  They weren't kidding.  Kangaroos and wallabies are EVERYWHERE!  We got so close to them we were able to touch them.  Of course I took a million pictures.  We also saw koalas in the eucalyptus trees.  One was much closer than on Great Ocean Road.  We got some great pictures of him.  I just can't believe how many animals there are and how close they are.

Our room is so nice too.  It's in a big house that sleeps 12.  We had the back corner of the house to ourselves.  The house had two fireplaces--which we made good use of--and a large kitchen.  Only one other couple was there tonight and they were very friendly.  We cooked dinner and ate together in front of the fire.  Lovely day.

Read more about our trip to Australia:
Sydney-Bound
Off and Running
Blue Mountains and Wildlife
We Are Now a Hostel-Free Family
A Night on the Reef
Day Two on the Reef
Travel Day
Great Ocean Road!
To Kangaroo Island
Flinders Chase, Vivonne Bay and Little Sahara
Last Day in Australia
Longest Day Ever