Kangaroo Island Diary

Day 1

We finished the windy road down to Cape Jervis from Adelaide feeling excited and ready for adventure. Along the way, we had witnessed some incredibly beautiful coastline, seasoned by the occasional windmill farm, pebbly beach or sheep farm. We picked up the B23, which is a road that is actually marked on the map as crossing water from the mainland to Kangaroo Island! Later on, we were delighted to discover that the B23 actually took us all the way to the ‘capital’ of Kangaroo Island, Kingscote. 

Along the road trip down, to Kangaroo Island, I really began to understand why green and gold are our national colours. The landscape is just full of golden fields peppered by green plant material. We arrived in Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island on the ferry from Cape Jervis, loaded our car off (the good ol’ Astra!) and then drove to Kingscote, as we were keen to have a late lunch and see our accommodation. The rolling hills and breathtaking scenery were just incredible… you know those pictures of the bending roads through hills that rise and fall like speed bumps? That is what it was like! We saw signs for a bee farm and eucalyptus distillery just on the outskirts of Kingscote, which we vowed to visit later on. We passed the American River on our drive up to Kingscote from Penneshaw, winding our way around fishing spots and other lovely camping grounds. 

We were pleasantly surprised at the quite developed population in Kingcote, reminding us in many ways of suburban Sydney. There was also quite a flash hospital, and I thought of how interesting it would be to be posted here…the town itself is very quaint, there are quite a few souvenir stores and many cute little cafes. Tomorrow there is a fresh produce market which we are going to check out for gifts for back home. After exploring a bit, we went to the sea pool, which was so refreshing! It was the first time that I have felt genuinely cold in quite a while, which is a feeling that I have indeed begun to miss. We then went for a walk along the coastline and saw this pop up Vietnamese stall that sold some delicious food! This inspired us to later make fried rice for dinner, which was simply divine. 

It is interesting to consider the demographics of Kangaroo Island. Farming and tourism appear to be the main attractions of the island and I can see why. This place seems to beckon both with its spectacular physical environment. 

We headed back to our cabin for a lovely dinner and then some spectacular photographing in the evening sunset…I love being able to watch the sun set on the ocean, it truly is so magical to be able to have that opportunity because we can’t always see it set on the east coast. We finished off the day with watching Marley and Me and Superman on television, and then had a blissful sleep.

Day 2

Day 2 began with an early start and a peaceful walk down to see the swans. I was lucky enough to spot seven pairs of them! in the morning we went to visit a cute little market that sold a really wide variety of goods, from avocados as big as bowling balls to clocks that were stuck in lumps of wood. This market was in the middle of a winery, overlooking the ocean. I talked to a man who sold me one of the clocks, and he told me that you have to live here over 25 years to be called a local!

We then visited a museum where we learnt a lot about the history of the island. It was very interesting to learn how Kangaroo Island is considered a spiritual place by the indigenous people. However, it was incredibly tragic to hear of the stories of the Adelaide indigenous women who were captured by the Western Australian sealers and taken as wives against their will. There were many different parts of the museum, with a lighthouse that showed us fantastic views of Kingscote and machinery in the cellar that was used to make butter. 

Next stop was Seal Bay, where we were fortunate enough to visit Sea Lions! It was incredible to see them in their natural environment, relaxing and taking everything in with such a chilled out attitude. The views that we saw were spectacular. Right nearby was the most incredible beach - Bales Beach. The water was perfect for snorkelling, such vibrant shades of blue. 

Our afternoon was ended by a lovely visit to a honey farm that sold the most delicious honey ice cream that I have ever tasted. It was made of only eggs, cream and honey, so simple yet so delicious! The bees on Kangaroo Island are a special type of bee, the Ligurian honey bee (from Liguria, Italy) and they are the purest bees in the world. We finished our day with pelican feeding and a lovely swim in the rock pool again! In the evening we had an evening stroll and played some Bridge. 

Day 3

Today we visited the Flinders Chase National Park. This Park was on the other side of the island (the Western side) and it was such a wonderful site to visit. It had such diversity across the park. We visited The Remarkable Rocks which was made of devils marble. We were also fortunate enough to see some New Zealand long-nosed fur seals. These animals are such wonderful creatures, so playful and energetic, and always ready to enjoy spending time with each other. We also visited the Admiral’s Arch, which is a natural formation in a rock that forms a view through to the sea. After lunch we went for a lovely walk to spot some Koalas, and we were lucky enough to see two! We then headed back to the rock pools to have our last swim of the trip there, and had a lovely evening relaxing together. 

Day 4

Today is our last day in Kangaroo Island, and there is this bittersweet feeling in the air. We are going on a tour of the seas surrounding Kangaroo Island, on which we are able to see some dolphins playing about in the waves. We also saw some more fur seas, an osprey and some cormorants. It was great to see all these highlights of the island from a boat. We visited the Visitors Centre in Penneshaw next, where we heard some interesting local stories (including one about having 6 toes!) For lunch, we went to a fantastic beach that had such blue waters. It was so peaceful to swim there and so relaxing. We then went on a penguin walk (however the walk is meant to be taken in the evening so we didn’t see any haha!). We sent some postcards back home, and then made our way onto the ferry back to Cape Jervis. It was sad to say goodbye to the island! We were back on the road again, driving back to Burrawang NSW. In the evening we stayed at this adorable little town called Hahndorf, which was a German settlement that was built to recreate the essence of a typical German town. It was so much fun to walk around the town, and then later enjoy some German food for dinner - goulash, krautasaur and some really huge beer. It was great to see a little microcosm of such a vibrant and rich culture. In all, our Kangaroo Island trip was a fantastic success and a lot of fun.