A Tale of Two Islands

After thirty years living on Prince Edward Island and three days visiting Kangaroo Island I may be presumptuous in drawing comparisons between PEI and KI. Both advertise themselves as one of the world’s great Islands.

First of all they are about the same size and about the same distance from the mainland The mainland in both cases is a vast country sparsely populated except on the fringes. For PEI that is the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and for KI it is the state of South Australia, just two hours by road and ferry from Adelaide. A big difference is that PEI, like Australia’s island state Tasmania, is its own jurisdiction but KI is part of the state of South Australia. All Australian states except Tasmania are large like the non maritime provinces of Canada. Apart from a few very early declarations from settlers KI has been part of SA and there doesn’t seem to have be any trend towards separation. Another ingredient is that unlike the other early European settlements in Australia, KI was not a penal colony. The other big difference is population, 4500 in KI, 33000 in PEI

In this era, both Islands count tourism and agriculture as important to their economy. Fishing has never been significant in KI but in recent years some speciality fish farms have started up and whiting are caught along the north shore. Agriculture was traditionally sheep on year round pasture as well as a few cattle farms. In recent years KI has jumped on the Australian wine bandwagon and now has many small wineries (lovely shiraz and sauvignon blanc I must say) and other specialty farms, producing sheep cheese, olives and vegetables. Many of the farms are certified organic. They also produce honey from Ligurian bees and sell queens to honey producers all over the world. PEI ‘s traditional agriculture has moved very quickly through a period of world wide fame for seed potatoes to a french fry economy. Farmers who are not part of this economy are constantly swimming against the PEI agriculture tide.

Kangaroo Island doesn’t have an Anne equivalent but it could be a tourist mecca for foodies, slow food travellers and nature buffs. It promotes itself as a place to see wildlife much more readily than in many parts of Australia. But they seem to discourage anyone except the most discerning traveller (like myself) from coming here. Ferry rates are astronomical, the local office is staffed by SeaLink dragons who add surcharges every time you suggest another option. SeaLink is the bus and ferry service between Adelaide and KI. Getting around KI is not easy, the options are a car or a guided tour or “tourist experience” These include ATV tours, adventure caving, a raptor sanctuary and platypus viewing. The latter involves lengthy sitting on a platform in platypus habitat and hoping to catch a glimpse, I did not. Unlike PEI, KI is not very cycle friendly as there isn’t much paved road. There isn’t a preferred tourist season in KI but it is probably most attractive in summer as a haven from the heat. I visited in spring, it was cool and windy with a few short downpours followed by spectacular rainbows. The Southern Ocean was wild and I think I caught a whiff of Antartica

Kangaroo Islands small population is mainly in two small towns. There are a few luxury tourism places here as well as more modest accomodation, a youth hostel and a few campsites. People have second homes here, to escape the heat of the Adelaide summer, but they are not as numerous as in PEI. Most of the original forest and heathland remains, covering about 65% of the area. Australian wildlife is much more visible here than on the mainland This is the overwhelming impression I have from KI, most of it not cleared and devoted to human ends, and wildlife everywhere. I saw Tammar wallabies, kangaroos, huge flocks of black cockatoos, koala bears, little penguins, Australian sealions, New Zealand black seals, wedge-tailed eagles and a flora that still has species endemic to KI. The forests are predominantly mallee with occasional stands of sugar gum.

I wonder how PEI would have looked today if it had not been an oasis of deep soil in a rocky land, and so much closer than Australia for people escaping from destitution in the British Isles and self styled “landowners” who saw its forests as a source of tremendous albeit fleeting wealth. Would it still have large areas of National Park with Acadian forest and its associated fauna instead of a few relics of rural landscape separated by industrial farms and creeping suburbanism. In spite of all this the PEI landscape is still more picturesque than KI. Mallee forest isn't particularly beautiful. Hmm, food for thought, and perhaps much deeper analysis.