Kangaroo Island Adventures

This incredible island is located of the coast of South Australia and a two-hour drive south west of Adelaide. It is just such an amazing island to discover and explore and well worth the cost of a ferry ride to get there. Over a third of the island is a protected nature reserve which is home to an incredible array of wildlife like koalas, sea lions and bird life. The island has been hit hard of recent times with devastating bushfires and now the COVID 19 crisis crippling the tourism industry. If any region needs a turn of good luck it is definitely this Island.

Kangaroo Island is known for its pristine beaches, stunning nature reserves, wildlife encounters and is fast becoming a big gourmet destination. This island had been on our radar for some time and we were so happy to have the opportunity to visit in March 2020. The island was just getting back to some normality after the recent fires and we thought what better way to show our support than to spend some time over there exploring it. We decided to take our caravan over and visit as much of the island as we possibly could over the course of a week. Well a week over on the island was amazing but we certainly could have spent many more weeks exploring and soaking up everything the island had to offer.

After catching an early morning ferry, we decided to head straight for Vivonne Bay camping area. This camping area had a few powered sites along with plenty of unpowered sites. There were toilets and showers available along with a camp kitchen. Here you will find the most incredible beach, stunning blue water and hidden rock pools just waiting to be explored. Just a short drive from the camping area you will find the Little Sahara Desert. You will find some huge sands dunes to climb and if you keen, you can hire some boards to ride down the dunes. So much fun! On the same side of the island you will also find Seal Bay. This is where you can get the opportunity to get up close with an endangered colony of Australian Sealions. You have the option to walk down onto the beach and enjoy being in their presence without disturbing them or you can view them from the viewing platforms.

Another camping spot we stayed at was Emu Bay which was located on the northern side of the island. You need to be self-contained but there is toilets a couple of hundred metres away if required. There were no powered sites available here. This was an incredible bay that is teaming with sea life! We spent most of the days driving along the beach and looking out for the local pod of Dolphins. We were lucky enough to be snorkelling one day only to be visited by the curious creatures. They circled and watched us for a good 15mins before moving on. It was a magical experience. The nights here were then spent fishing of the local jetty and spotting sharks and stingrays that swam past. Down the road is Emu Bay Lavender which has the most scrumptious scones with lavender jelly. You also can’t go past trying the lavender ice-cream, it’s amazing!  

Stokes Bay was also on the northern part of the island and is definitely well worth the visit. The beach is accessed through almost like a secret tunnel and when you step out the other side you are greeted to such a beautiful bay. It had a little rock pool swimming area perfect for little kids and at the other end of the beach are some wonderful rock formations which are worth exploring.

Pennington Bay was another spectacular area to visit. We spent a whole day here swimming in the waves and exploring all the rock pools. The area is just so pristine and stunning that just sitting and taking in the views was just breathtaking. Not far from Pennington Bay was the Prospect Hill lookout. This was 500 steps to the very top and it is the highest point on Kangaroo Island. The beautiful 360-degree views are well worth the effort to walk up.

If you’re into your wines and spirits then you are in for a treat. Our favourite was Dudley Wines and Kangaroo Island Spirits. Dudley Wines was set in an incredible location which looked out over towards the mainland. To sit there and enjoy some wine tasting was just perfect. Not to mention you can also hit a few golf balls down into the valley which was a lot of fun for both adults and kids alike. Kangaroo Island Spirits has won some major awards for the Gin it produces and the flavours they come up with are definitely worth trying. I would suggest having a designated driver for this taste testing.

The last place that needs a mention is Flinders Chase National Park. Unfortunately for us this park was still closed due to the damage from the bush fires but from all accounts it was one of the most breathtaking places to visit on the island.

For us this island has been a huge highlight of our adventures around Australia. There is still so much more to discover and enjoy over there and we can’t wait to visit again to see all the parts we missed the first time.

Checkout the YouTube video of Kangaroo Island HERE

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