Fires on Kangaroo Island

Next month will be the six year anniversary of my trip to Australia and Tasmania. I went there with two friends. We started in Melbourne. We flew to southern Tasmania and drove across the island to northern Tasmania. From there we flew to Cairns where we explored the area and the great barrier reef. At that point my friends flew to Sydney on their way home while I traveled solo to Adelaide. I spend two days in Adelaide before boarding the Sea Quest ferry boat to Kangaroo Island. On the boat ride we say whales in the distance. Once off the ferry I looked for my tour guide, Nikki Redman. She worked for Odyssey Tours. I got a big smile when I saw here because she held a sign with my name on it. I got a four day private tour from Nikki. We got along like peanut butter and jelly. She is a bird watcher like me. She showed me one of the very few glossy black cockatoos. Together we toured the island and looked for birds plus kangaroos and echidnas. Nikki was born on Kangaroo Island and has not lived anywhere else. She is a nature lover.  Her enthusiasm about nature was totally charming. She told me about her campaign to rid the island of feral cats. She didn't go to college but she cooperated with a college on a study about the effect of feral cats on wildlife. For this study she examined the contents of the stomachs of euthanized feral cats.  I agreed with her stance on feral cats but I never want to examine the stomach contents of any cats. She told me about the history of farming on the island. She introduced me to sheep cheese and sheep yogurt. Sheep cheese and yogurt is delicious! She told me about the fishing industry. Her father was a lobster-man. She pointed out his boat and her family home. When she dropped me off in the evenings she would suggest where to eat and what to do. She went above and beyond as a tour guide. When it was time to leave she took me to the airport where I boarded an 8 seater plane back to Adelaide. Nikki and I are still friends on Facebook. Now a big percentage of her island has burned in wild fires. Nikki taught me about the Ligurian honey bees that thrive on Kangaroo Island. Ligurian honey is highly prized by honey enthusiasts. Now 40% of the Liguian honey bees have perished in the wildfires. I hate to think of all those blue gum forests going up in flames. I always thought I would return to Kangaroo Island to see the sights again with the same tour guide. I hope they get some rain that extinguishes the wild fires and refills the billabongs. I hope there is a Kangaroo Island worth traveling to in the future.