Sun, 20th Mar, 2016 Emu Bay Campground, Kangaroo Island, SA (Gin, Sheep & Eucalypt)

Overcast and 20 degrees but no wind this morning. Not getting the nice sunny days but we are still having a great time regardless.

Down the road again to Cygnet River which was the first farming area on Kangaroo Island as it was good fertile soil. On to K.I. Spirits which is South Australia’s first and only boutique distillery and slowly growing as they were doing renovations in the rustic shed when we arrived.

They have a lovely home.

The Elderberry tree – interesting uses.

Inside was a little bar area where we sat to try their gin and vodka.  All their spirits and liqueurs are hand made in small batches using a small copper pot still. The lady was very passionate and told us lots of ways to use the gin and vodka in different cocktails etc. The gin was very perfumed – not quite my taste but was nicer with soda water. There were a few types of vodka mixes – I liked the Lime and Ginger to have with my mineral water so I got a bottle. We were having a great time – went to our heads quickly being so early in the day!!

Next we drove to Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery, founded in 1991 by Larry and Bev Turner. As we drove in I commented that they had high fences as if they had emus, then remembering the KI emus had been wiped out. But when we parked there was an emu (mainland version) there to greet us. Emus are one of the few Australian natives to be farmed legally. They are farmed for meat, leather, feathers, eggs, oils.

Another rustic building that looks like it was the old shearing shed.

Inside we were greeted by Larry who got us settled on the old wagon to watch the video about eucalyptus oil distilling.

Eucalyptus distilling was once one of KI’s major industries. During the 1930s there were 48 eucalyptus stills in operation employing over 600 people. One company, F.H.Faulding & Co purchased Emu Ridge in 1923, establishing two plantations in 1938 for the purpose of systematically harvesting it on a rotational basis. They gave up in 1952 and many others decided that sheep farming was easier work and better money. The Narrow Leaf Mallee responds well to pruning. Today Emu Ridge is the only commercial eucalyptus oil distillery in operation in South Australia and they still used the traditional method to get their oil. Eucalyptus oil was Australia’s first true export over-seas but sadly these days about 90% of it is now produced overseas!!

Then the lady we chatted to while swimming at Stokes Beach came in to take us on a little tour explaining the uses of eucalypt oil, emu oil and tea tree oil and the products they had there to sell. I bought some emu oil as it is a great healer. We ordered some lunch in their café, Gourmet Toasties (chicken, camembert cheese and local boysenberry jam).

There were lots of great local KI products too for sale – we liked the painted bottles and rocks.

More information in the café about the Yacca Gum harvesting.

The cupboard got our interest as we tried to work out what it was then we saw the sign on the front – it was an egg incubator.

Some emu eggs and feathers for sale.

Grabbed our self-guide brochures and headed outside. The Narrow Leaf Mallee (Eucalyptus cneorifolia) gives the island this unique oil that is found nowhere else in the world.

The MacGillivray Post Office opened in 1909 and closed in 1952. In 1991 today’s business started in this old building when the wool prices went downhill. They continued to grow and expand using recycled materials as much as possible.

The traditional still, custom built by F.H. Faulding & Co in Adelaide in 1930s.

The workers go out each day and cut young regrowth to the ground with a chainsaw. The trees can be harvested every one to two years, with a life span of over 100 years. About half a ton of leaves is placed into a pot quarter-filled with water. A fire is lit under the pot, steam carrying the oil is passed through a system of cooling pipes, the oil separates and is piped off into receival pit (an old recycled beer keg). The whole process takes about 4 hours. The oil is produced at the end of spring and through summer as there is a lot more oil in the nice new growth from spring. In winter around two litres of oil is produced from one batch or cook, but for the same amount of work and leaf in summer, up to 10 litres is produced.

The raw oil undergoes another refining process to produce the final product of crystal clear oil. They refined their oil here til 2012.

Since they started in 1991 they had steam, solar and wind power to use for the first 20 years. The old power plant batteries etc. Larry was telling us how they are completely independent for power.

Back up the road to the Island Pure Sheep Dairy.

Unfortunately the dairy itself is shut down for maintenance at the moment but we could watch the DVD. Just like milking cows the sheep file in and the food drops down so they are happy to stand and has the chap on the DVD said, feeding them keeps them from pooping too. They get 1 litre of milk from each sheep and sometimes as much as 2 litres. They need 400 litres a day to create the cheese from the sheep milk so they milk the 200 sheep twice a day. Of course the rams do their job so then the new lambs are born and fed by their mothers for up to 6 weeks to give them the best nutrition before being weened. The boys go off to produce other products, eg lamb chops (which they hopefully will be able to supply fresh from here too) and the girls of course grow up to provide the milk. We had passed the abattoir which is closed down now as they couldn’t make it viable, needing 87 staff and they were only getting 80% of the stock needed to make it work. The sheep are all loved and well cared for but they try not to give them names so they don’t get attached, said the lady showing us around!! They can milk a ewe for 6 to 10 years on average but one ewe they have is 17.

We then tried all the different cheeses they make which were quite tasty, especially as I mostly each ‘plastic’ cheese!! Steve and I both enjoyed the Haloumi which she pan fried.

Outside the sheep and lambs were eating with the wild turkeys and ibises that have moved in because of the available grain. The staff has tried ‘removing’ the turkeys but they just keep coming back.

Back to Kingscote to dump the toilet then we drove down to swimming enclosure made many years ago.

Sunnier afternoon. Rick had gone down to the jetty to fish so we wandered down with our drinks to see how he was going – no luck. Saw a big splash then noticed some fins in the distance as a pod of dolphins swam by. Can just see the fins in the photo.

Cooled off by 6.30pm so into the van to watch the last V8 from the Grand Prix. Put the heater on as it was getting very chilly while we watched TV.