It was the gin that saved me

Yes, Kangaroo Island definitely is a beautiful place with a stunning coastline and an abundance of wildlife, and yes, it offers many different places in which to relax, to be pampered, to dine, to try fresh local produce, of which all residents seem justifiably proud and it is most certainly a place where the residents and tourist operators are friendly and helpful, and if you’re sensing a ‘but’ here, there’s definitely one coming.

But if it hadn’t been for a quaint little boutique distillery called Kangaroo Island Spirits, it just wouldn’t have been as much fun.

But more on that later.....

Would it be as attractive if it weren’t an island? What is it about islands that capture our romantic spirits? And would it be more attractive if I hadn’t had to suffer terrible sea sickness to get here? 

The weather at this time of year is so unpredictable. We wake up to blue skies that change in an instant to masses of charcoal clouds looming overhead. The winds whip up and the rains come – sometimes gone just as quickly, sometimes lingering. It’s difficult to plan outdoor activities, and plan them we must, as it’s so far to drive from one location to another. Nothing is really close. We were aware of the distances on the island before we came, but weren’t fully aware that when we got here, we somehow thought we’d be having a break from driving so much.

And so, on a day of wild, windy weather that precluded our planned excursion to Seal Bay, a day where dark and threatening skies sent down rain as soon as we thought it might be safe to walk up a hill in search of a particular lighthouse, on this day, we pulled into Kangaroo Island Spirits, up a dirt driveway of what looked to be an old shack and entered a room that smelled of chocolate and coffee and herbs and honey and gin, and sighed.  Rescued.