Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island is 113km southwest of Adelaide - a short flight or a ferry ride. The flight takes half an hour and the new Sealion 2000 ferry is extremely comfortable. It’s a sort of cross between a plane and a small cruise ship, and the crossing takes about 45 minutes. The Island Navigator ferry sits lower in the water and takes about an hour. A little more basic, it still has a TV lounge and snack bar. If you’re prone to seasickness, tablets can be bought on checking in at the Sealink office. They cost a couple of dollars for a packet and should be taken half an hour before leaving. If you do feel a bit queasy, probably best to head to the outside deck where you’re sure to find a refreshing breeze. Both ferries take vehicles, and the Navigator is also used to transport sheep and cattle to the mainland so, depending where you park, your car may change colour en route. My white Falcon was very much a large brown and white Dalmatian and in need of a powerful hose (which the deckhands kindly provided).

The island is an amazing habitat with beautiful bush, national parks and plenty of wildlife, including a permanent breeding colony of some 600 sea lions. This is not a little islet populated with kangaroos for the benefit of tourists. It is Australia's third largest island, and its separateness has protected it against introduced species, such as rabbits and foxes, so natural wildlife abounds.

There are platypuses in the creeks, koalas in the gum trees, penguins in their rookeries, fur seals on the rocks, ospreys on the cliff tops, sea lions on the beach below and, of course, kangaroos. Sadly, a lot of the ones you’ll first discover will be roadkill. This illustrates how many there must be in the wild as traffic is not that hectic.

You should allow at least a couple of days to explore the island. Day trips on coaches are popular, but they cover around 370 kilometres. That’s a fair bit of time on a bus and maybe not as much time as you’d like at some of the stops. If you have your own car, a comfortable day trip from Kingscote could take in Seal Bay, Little Sahara, Kelly’s Caves, Hanson Bay Koala Sanctuary, Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks. If you have time on the way back, drop into the wildlife sanctuary near Parndana. Even if you arrive on closing time, they’ll stay open for you. It’s that kind of place. Or end the day with a drive along the hard sand of beautiful Emu Bay.

After checking out Seal Bay (you have to take an organised tour to go onto the beach, or you can see the colony from a boardwalk above), you could miss Little Sahara as there’s no signpost as such. If you cross the Eleanor River Bridge, turn around and head back to the dirt road on the right. You’ll climb a small dune to discover a much bigger dune to climb to discover … more dunes, bush and surprisingly, no coast.

The entry to Hanson Bay Koala Sanctuary isn’t written in lights either. A few kilometres after the Hanson Bay turn off, there’s a side road on the left with a mailbox. Drop a dollar in the slot for each adult and go for a wander. You’ll find koalas in their natural surroundings and some will be active no matter what time of day, caring for their young or nibbling on a gumleaf.

Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks more than live up to the brochures, but it’s the little things like the koalas that are special. Also special are the locals. They welcome visitors to their island, while striving to keep a happy balance between tourism and the environment. The shopkeepers chat with you, drivers in oncoming cars raise the friendly ‘g’day’ finger and everyone will give you directions (and an opinion). A glance at the phone book reveals long listings of a couple of surnames, suggesting that there has been a bit of paddling in the shallow end of the gene pool.

In the early 1990s the island had a sheep crisis, with a number of farmers going to the wall when faced with the dilemma of a bullet costing more than a sheep. Some still live off sheep, including those that run Island Pure Sheep Dairy where you can see sheep being milked between 2pm and 5pm. Other ex-farmers, with some lateral thinking and hard work, have built successful enterprises, such as Clifford’s Honey Farm and the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery. A visit here is highly recommended. It’s now a million-dollar industry that is still held together by bits of wire, make-do framework and ill-fitting screws. It’s completely powered by sun, wind and steam, not just for eco reasons. When Larry and Bev Turner started their new venture, they simply couldn’t afford to connect to town electricity.

John Ayliffe and his wife, Jenny Clapson, also had to start again. Jenny is an accomplished artist and John is adding to his small aquarium at Kingscote wharf. At first glance it doesn’t seem much – just a few tanks in a shed with no moving walkway – but within the tanks is a fascinating microcosm of local marine life. John is also Kingscote’s pelican feeder.

The pelican feeding (5pm at the wharf) is one of the town’s best and most popular attractions. He had to fight the authorities for the right to feed the pelicans. As he says, if the attraction was government run, there’d be a huge fenced off boardwalk and a hefty fee, rather than a relaxed sit on the rocks for a chat amongst the big birds. He charges two dollars per adult to cover the cost of the fish.

Scuba divers will relish the wreck dives (the seas have been unforgiving) and it is an angler’s paradise. It can get hot in summer, but as the winds do hail from the Antarctic, warm clothing is recommended year round. Public transport is confined to links to the airport and ferries, so a car is essential to explore the island properly. You can take your own or hire one in Penneshaw.

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