Weekend on Kangaroo Island | Australia

It’s time! I’ve arrived! I’m in Australia! Of course, while living in New Zealand and after finishing my Pacific Island trips, I had to visit Oz while I’m on this side of the world. I’m spending just under two months here, a combination of remote working and time off. It’s a huge country, so I’m barely scratching the surface really. But I think I’ve done a decent job of squeezing plenty of highlights into my itinerary! I decided to start by flying into Adelaide, South Australia, mostly because I wanted to visit Kangaroo Island. I only stayed a night in the city – but returned the following week – before hopping on a 2-day tour to the island. It was a jam-packed weekend on Kangaroo Island and a whirlwind start to my entire trip!

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Day One

The Journey

Australia is a big country, ok? So while Kangaroo Island might not look like it’s that far from Adelaide, it’s still quite a journey to get there! I made my way to the bus station (a street over from my hostel) to be picked up at 6.30am, for the 2-hour coach journey south. This got us to the Cape Jervis ferry terminal in time to load our luggage on to the 9am ferry. The crossing doesn’t take too long, around 40-45 minutes, and there was a cafe on board for breakfast and coffee to waken myself up. We arrived into Penneshaw, where another coach collected us to take us touring around the island for the day.

The 2-day tour is actually a couple of the same company’s 1-day tours stuck together with a hotel night included. Which meant there were some people only doing today’s tour, then returning to Adelaide tonight. While other people made the same journey the next morning to join for tomorrow’s tour only. I was very glad I picked the 2-day version in the end so I didn’t have such a long roundtrip in a single day – you get back to Adelaide around 10pm. The first day of the tour was also very driving heavy, fitting in the ‘highlights’ of the island. Whereas the second day was more laidback and let us explore local businesses, so doing both felt like a more in-depth experience, albeit for two days only.

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Seal Bay

Arriving at Penneshaw, we got a quick view of Hog Bay, named for the pigs that were released here once. Then we set off west, our driver giving us facts and history about the island along the way. It didn’t take long to understand where its name comes from as we sighted kangaroos lounging in fields by the roadside. But we were searching for a different animal this morning! We arrived at Seal Bay, a conservation area where naturalist guides escort you down to the beach, home to dozens of Australian sea lions.

The walk goes down through the dunes first, and you can start to spot the sea lions here if you keep your eyes peeled! They’re often hidden in the grass, having a nap, but some were flopping their way across the dunes. They’re very funny to watch navigating on land, as they’re just not elegant in the slightest! These sea lions have a long gestation period, so females can reproduce every 18 months. We were in luck, since many had just birthed pups in the last few months. We quickly found a mother and pup napping together on a grassy knoll!

Down on the beach itself, even more sea lions were lazing on the sand – they certainly sleep a lot! But there a few pups playing too, racing through the shallows or rolling around on their backs. Seemed like they were trying to distract us from listening to our guide! She had lots of interesting information for us, as well as ensuring we were giving the sea lions their space and peace. We were close enough to take heaps of good photos though, before our time was up and we headed back.

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Wildlife Park

We made a lunch stop next, at a pub in a sheep farming community, full of photographs of shearers. It was just a few minutes away from our next destination, the wildlife park. Kangaroo Island suffered badly in the 2019 wildfires, losing much of its forest and a huge percentage of its animals. The wildlife park helped to rescue as many as they could. So, many of its residents can’t be released into the wild now due to their injuries, especially the koalas.

We only had half an hour here, so honestly it did feel like a very rushed stop! One of the staff guided us around and only gave us time to look at the kangaroos, pelicans and koalas. We missed plenty of other creatures they have! We walked right through the kangaroo enclosure, with buckets of food on hand and were even allowed to pet them. I opted not to feed or touch them, as it made me a bit uncomfortable to see them interacting with tourists so closely. Even if they cannot live in the wild anymore, I think parks should aim to let them stay as wild as possible. I’ve learned a lot about this through the animal welfare policies at my work. Becoming accustomed to tourists feeding them doesn’t seem to fit this ethos!

Similarly, we were allowed to pet the koalas, but I kept my distance and just watched and photographed them. They are super cute though and ticking off two of the most iconic Australian animals on my first day in the country was quite impressive. Especially when we also spotted a wild koala in a tree by the roadside, as well as the wild kangaroos I mentioned earlier. So I saw both species in the wild, not just the park!

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Remarkable Rocks

The rest of our afternoon was spent in Flinders Chase National Park, which is at the far western end of Kangaroo Island. Hence the heavy driving day! We trundled along dirt roads and through its thick, low foliage, headed for the coastline. It’s incredibly windy out here, which made it cold as well, so I was glad to have layers with me. Don’t believe the Australian tourism adverts that only show beaches and sunshine!

Our first stop in the park was the Remarkable Rocks. As the name suggests, this is a rock formation, and a pretty unusual one at that. The cluster of rocks sit atop a cliff on the island’s western edge, where they have been eroded all sorts of natural forces coming at them from every direction. The result is a twisted, warped medley of different shapes and sizes. They’re all pretty massive though, and we walked the pathway to see them up close, wandering through their curves and crevices. Just be careful of the cliff edge!

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Admiral’s Arch

Back in the bus, we continued around the coastline to the lighthouse, a pretty impressive 100-year-old structure in its own right. It’s also the trailhead to reach Admiral’s Arch, another fascinating rock formation in the cliffside. Weaving down a series of switchbacks, the wind was still howling pretty strong here, stirring up huge waves crashing into the rocks. Yet somehow sea lions were swimming around in the currents too, which we could watch from above! The switchbacks gave way to staircases, leading us down a twisty route above the white foam and black rocks, eventually arriving at the viewpoint.

The arch hides under the very ground we had just walked on, invisible from above. The ocean has beaten it out over the years, leaving a huge gap in the cliff where the water swirls through. The arch isn’t smooth either, but rather rough and uneven, almost seeming to have stalactites dripping down. The sun was in front of us, casting the whole thing in very dramatic lighting! Once I’d taken my photos and watched the sea lions some more, it was time to reboard the bus and make the long journey back across the island to Penneshaw.

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Day Two

Penneshaw

The tour actually gave you a choice of accommodation, so some people were staying in Kingscote, the larger town. I had chosen the cheapest option (shocking, I know, she writes from a hostel) which was in Penneshaw, so I missed Kingscote entirely. I crashed pretty early that night, after a late night the day before with my flights, then an early start in the morning. The next morning, I had time for a better look around, firstly enjoying my included breakfast in the sun-drenched cafe downstairs. The tiny town sits on the coast by the ferry terminal, with views out to sea and the mainland on the horizon. While we waited for our new tour companions to arrive off the ferry, I had time to walk along Hog Bay, a soft sandy beach with waves gently crashing on the shore.

We ended up back here for dinner that evening as well, before our return ferry. The pub is really the only option, but unfortunately they had a large group booking that evening. They still had seats but it was going to be tricky to get our food out on time before the ferry. So, many of us picked up snacks from the supermarket instead! Perhaps something the tour company and pub could have planned better, especially coming into the busier season now, but oh well.

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Raptor Domain

Anyway, getting back to the rest of day two of my weekend on Kangaroo Island. Today’s tour was the “Sip & See Tour”, which focused on tastings at local businesses. But there was some more wildlife to see first! First up we headed to Raptor Domain, to see the birds of prey demonstration. Like the wildlife park, many of the birds here have been rescued or are not able to survive on their own in the wild for whatever reason. Again, I have mixed feelings about animals ‘performing’ like this, but they certainly seemed to be treated well and were mainly showing off their natural talents.

They have a mix of native and non-native species, the latter including a macaw and a barn owl. The owl’s name was “Shush” as she was a noisy chick and she came around and hopped on people’s laps in the front row! There was also a tawny frogmouth, which looks a bit like an owl, but is a distinct species of its own. The cockatoos are a pretty well-known Australian bird, but I’ve mostly only seen photos of white ones before. So these black ones, with their yellow or red accents, were a pretty surprise!

The finale was a stunning wedge-tailed eagle, Australia’s largest bird of prey. Our poor girl Kylie hit an electric cable and lost full motion in one wing, hence living here now. But that doesn’t stop her watching the skies to guard her territory! It definitely a cool show to get to see these beautiful bird species.

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Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery

Next up, we headed to Emu Ridge eucalyptus distillery. For the last century, sheep farming was the largest industry on Kangaroo Island. But when wool prices dropped drastically in the 1970-80s, farmers started looking for ways to diversify. Many of the small businesses we visited today started up in the 1990s for this reason. Eucalyptus is a prolific plant genus in Australia, with hundreds of species across the country. And it can be distilled into an oil and used for a variety of purposes, from skincare to wound disinfection.

One of the staff gave us a tour of the property, explaining the history of the business and how the eucalyptus is grown, harvested and distilled. We also spotted their emu! There used to be a dwarf emu sub-species on the island, which is now extinct, and no other species live here in the wild. But the distillery keeps its own in honour of the name. Our guide also showed us around the shop, letting us sample some products before we sat down for lunch here. The highlight for me was actually their cider tasting paddle, another local product!

Clifford’s Honey Farm

Continuing the pattern of local produce, we headed just a short drive away to Clifford’s Honey Farm. Kangaroo Island has the unique honour of being home to the last and purest strain of Ligurian bees. The bees were brought from Italy, and back in their home region they have now interbred with other species. The Kangaroo Island hives are too far from the mainland for exposure to other varieties, resulting in their purebred heritage, and making the island the oldest bee sanctuary in the world.

We had a tour of the facilities, with an explanation of the bees’ history, how the honey is harvested from the hives, and the various products they make. There was a complimentary tasting of their honey wheat ale and a non-alcoholic honey nectar drink. Inside the shop, many of us also bought a small tub of their honey ice cream, on the recommendation of our driver, which definitely didn’t disappoint!

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Pennington Bay

Our journey started to head back east across the island at this point. Kangaroo Island has a sort of bottleneck separating its eastern peninsula from the bulk of it to the west. It was along this narrow pass that we turned off to go see Pennington Bay. This is really just a scenic viewpoint stop, not particularly long, but it is a lovely view! The weather had turned a bit cloudy and moody today, casting the bay in shadows. But the blue of the ocean still managed to shine through! Clifftops clad in low-lying scrub guard this small sandy inlet, as the waters of the Southern Ocean lap against the shore. There are also plenty of kangaroos to be seen from the road on this area of the island!

False Cape Wines

On that eastern peninsula, we arrived at our final stop of the day, False Cape Wines. South Australia is the state that produces the most wine in all of Australia – more on that in my Adelaide post! Not that very much of that comes from Kangaroo Island. But False Cape Wines was borne of a sheep shearer and a schoolteacher, using his land and her family’s wine knowledge – her father and brother are winemakers on the mainland. They grow their grapes here, and we actually drove through the vineyards to reach the cellar door tasting room. The grapes are then ferried over to the mainland where her brother crafts the wine, before sending it off to wherever it needs to go. Much of it returns to be sold on Kangaroo Island, including here at their cellar door.

It was actually the wife, the teacher, who led our tasting session. We sampled half a dozen of their wines, starting with white and rose then on to the reds. Each of them has a nautical-themed name, for the island’s maritime history (including many shipwrecks!). It was a nice way to end the day, as the group had gotten to know each other by now. We could sit around chatting and relaxing, while enjoying the lovely wines. We took a quick look at the vines to snap some pictures too, before it was time to get back on the bus. Returning to Penneshaw, we bid our driver farewell and boarded the ferry for the long journey back to Adelaide.

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A Weekend on Kangaroo Island

I’m writing this a couple of weeks into my Australia trip now. So many other travellers I met have focused on the East Coast, maybe with Melbourne added on. South Australia doesn’t seem to be a high priority for many. Particularly when trying to cover such a huge country in just a few weeks I guess! But I’m really glad I built a weekend on Kangaroo Island into my itinerary.

Seeing the nature and wildlife was a huge draw for me to visit Australia. So, it was incredible how much I saw in just two days. Some of it was in the wildlife park or raptor show of course, but there was plenty in the wild as well! And I loved getting to see the local business on the island, to understand the community and livelihoods of its small population. There’s more to come on the rest of my time in Adelaide and South Australia, of course. But a weekend on Kangaroo Island was definitely a memorable start to my Australia trip!