Markets, beaches and moving day........

We woke up to a clear morning, still cold but not wet which was wonderful.  Not inviting enough to eat outside we stayed warm while we had breakfast.  

We drove into Penneshaw and found the Farmers Market at Lloyd Collins Reserve right beside the beach.  It was a glorious day with blue sky and no wind and though small it was a fabulous market with such great produce available.

We bought some more honey, both liquid and creamed, some delicious Sticky Figs to eat with our Sheep's Cheese.  Tried and bought some home made Choko pickles.  A fairly ugly looking vegetable but a yummy pickle!  Some little home made cakes and biscuits (no diets while on holidays) and I was thrilled when I found the Island Pure Sheep dairy were selling their delicious sheep Yoghurt with honey.  I went home with a big tub this time!  Now I just have to find a stockist at home.

Leaving the market we stopped for a coffee and some grocery shopping before we made our way back towards American River stopping along the way at each little bay we came too.

Our first stop was Baudin Beach (American Beach) where we found a memorial to the Independence (above) and one to Mary Beckwith, a convict taken on board Le Géographe at Port Jackson, who was the first European woman to visit the island.  A little jetty catered for the fisher folk but the signs said no swimming.  Not sure why.  

A little further around Eastern Cove we explored Island Beach, Sapphire Town and Strawberry Point.  Standing right on the point we looked across Pelican Lagoon to our campsite at American River.  

As we drove back along the other side of the peninsula we passed Pelican Lagoon Conservation Park and the American River Aquatic Reserve.  

Our next stop was at Remembrance Reserve and Independence Point.  This commemorates the American sealers who landed here in 1803.  They built a schooner here which they called Independence though the replica of this vessel is not here but on the main Hog Bay Road.

We returned home then to have lunch before enjoying our afternoon just relaxing with the birds and the view.

We finished our afternoon with a final drive to check out The Glossy Black Cockatoos and once again were lucky enough to find them at two locations.  

One bird that gave us no trouble at all was Pete the Pelican.  Sitting on a pole at a junction in town he points people in the right direction to follow a sightseeing trail.  Cute idea and of course we did that so got a pretty good look at this little village.

Back at home we settled in for our last night as the next morning we were packing up and heading to Flinders Chase National Park at the other end of Island.  We had loved our time here and the Council campground was just perfect and so much nicer than the previous Park.  It was a shame to be leaving this wonderful view but with lots more to see and do it made it a little easier to pack up the next morning.

On our way after breakfast we called into Kingscote, first for coffee then some grocery shopping, before getting back in the car and driving straight to Flinders Chase National Park.  We arrived after midday and soon had a camp site organised and were all set up once more.

Here at the FCNP the camp sites are all unpowered with four larger drive through sites for the bigger campers, vans and fifth wheelers.  Once again we were the only people here at this time so  were allocated one of the larger drive through sites. These were very big and fairly private with lots of trees and bushes between the camp sites.  Just the one odd thing was they were all bitumen and really looked just like we had stopped in the middle of the road and set up camp!  Very odd but at least there was no mud to track inside.  

After lunch Bill set up the solar panels and we had a wander around our immediate vicinity to  check out where all the important things were.  I was expecting fairly basic facilities but found the most wonderful spotlessly clean bathrooms with 4 showers and 6 flush toilets!  There was also 2 camp kitchens with gas barbecues and a fabulous Visitor Information Centre complete with cafe so we were good for coffee as well.  What more could we want!

Once we had discovered everything around us we decided that we had done enough for that day and so settled in for a quiet afternoon and evening.  Bill had lots of birds and cute little Tamar Wallabies to keep him happy and I had my books.

That night we ventured down to the camp kitchen where Bill cooked our dinner with a cheeky possum for company.  Back at home we ate, watched a movie and slept well in the quiet, quiet night.

Tomorrow we explore ...........