Our family roadtrip - part 4

This is the fourth part of the Our family roadtrip series, about our visit to the beautiful and rugged Kangaroo Island.

Kangaroo Island (KI) is a small island that lies off South Australian's scenic Fleurieu Peninsula. KI as referred to by the locals, has an abundance of wildlife, breathtaking scenery, pristine beaches and postcard views that peek out while driving on the long, winding dirt tracks in and around the island. 

At Remarkable Rocks

To get over to KI, we drove from Adelaide down to Cape Jervis (it's about a 2 hour drive) to catch the 45 minute SeaLink car ferry to Penneshaw.

The girls were amazed at how many native animals could be spotted on this one island, and were eager to find all the animals listed on the tourist information's checklist. Popette had already spotted a dolphin on the ferry, so was able to tick off her first item. She was a little upset at the end of our stay, not to have found a snake sunning itself. Me on the other hand, I was actually quite relieved. I didn't want to come face-to-face with any brown snakes...my motto during the holiday was "A good snake, is a dead snake"...like the one Hubby drove over!

L to R: The girls boarding the ferry, spotting the ferry arriving at Cape Jervis, our ferry, Hubby in the car waiting to board.

We had booked two nights at a tourist park on the western side of KI, which is in close proximity to Flinders Chase National park, and popular tourist attractions; Remarkable Rocks, Admirals Arch, Seal Bay, and Cape du Couedic. While we Hubby and I setup the tent, the girls rode their scooters around the dirt track while looking out for wallabies and kangaroos.

Our camping site backing onto a beautiful bushland with eucalyptus, home to a couple Koalas and wallabies

The tourist park is home to a hundreds of birds, koalas, kangaroos, tammar wallabies, echidnas, and cape barren geese just to name a few. After we sat up our tent, we took the girls on the "Koala walk" that is within the wildlife reserve. We spotted an echidna wandering around the grounds, which we were all quite excited to see, then we started to find Koala's having a snooze high up in the trees. We came across a large male Koala walking around the track. We followed him around for a little while, watching him climb up and down trees. It was only when he started growling at us, that we thought we better move on. So we stood back and watched him climb up a tree to his mate and baby. We also spotted some tammar wallabies (which are local to SA), and kangaroos bouncing through the track.

L to R: An echidna and koala spotted in the wildlife reserve where we were staying, Hansons Bay (a secluded bay
with beautiful aqua coloured water)

Native animals roam the island early morning and at sunset, so if you are driving at this time of day you need to take care, so you don't accidentally "nudge" a Kangaroo...ahem Hubby!

 We found this fella sitting on the side of the road watching the cars go by

Some of our favourite places on Kangaroo Island

Seal Bay - is home to Australian sea lions, long-nose fur seals and NZ fur seals. It is the 3rd largest colony of sea lions in the world. We wandered down the 800 metre boardwalk, checking for snakes on the way (see above note re snakes!) to a platform overlooking the white sandy beach of Seal Bay. We found pups playing in the water, and a lot of adults snoozing on the beach or in the sand dunes., having a well earned rest after the big swim and fishing. It was so wonderful to see them in their natural environment.

Watching the seals from the platform at Seal Bay

Remarkable Rocks - Inside Flinders Chase National park are the suitably named rocks. A natural formation eroded by the elements over 500 million years standing high on the cliff side. They are an amazing sight, especially when the orange lichen glows when touched by the sun. The weather was extremely windy, so I was a little anxious climbing up the rocks and walking around the clifftops (the "beware of high cliffs"signs didn't help me either) I am afraid of heights, and with the freezing wind, I was glad to return to the boardwalk. Hubby and the girls loved it, and were more adventurous then me, walking around the rocks and looking down at the turbulent sea below.

Admirals Arch - another rock formation that frames the ocean, and is a nursery to both Australian and New Zealand fur seals. We walked down the boardwalk to the arch nearly getting blown away by the wind, and watched the seals lazing in the sun and playing with each other. Before leaving we had a close look at Cape du Coudic lighthouse before heading back to the tent.

Admirals Arch

It's not cheap to travel to KI, so we did most things on a budget. Things like groceries, meat, dining out, petrol, travel tours and experiences can be quite expensive due to the remoteness of the island. If you are planning a visit there, it's a good idea to do a bit of research before going on your holiday so you can find the best deals.

There was not a lot of options on the western side of KI at night. So we headed to a pub, the Parndana Hotel, the only place opened after 8pm on a Saturday night on our side of the island. It was only 60kms from our tent!! The meal was expensive (like most things on the island) but was the best steak we had eaten all holiday.

If you have missed my earlier posts on Our family roadtrip, you can find them here:
part 1, part 2, part 3 (Our 20th wedding anniversary)