Kangaroo Island Australia

Kangaroo Island Australia is a lovely destination.
It is a quiet place with some wineries, wildlife parks, sheep farms, cheese and honey factories. The island is famous for its Remarkable Rocks, Cape Borda and Cape du Couedic Lighthouses, and its populations of wild koalas and colonies of seals and sea lions.

Great ways to visit Kangaroo Island:

ONE DAY TOUR FROM ADELAIDE

TWO DAY TOUR FROM ADELAIDE












Penneshaw Kangaroo Island Australia
The ferries from the Australian mainland arrive in Penneshaw – a small laid-back town with lovely beaches, an old school house and a local Folk Museum with some interesting memorabilia from the island’s maritime past. When Matthew Flinders and Nicholas Baudin moored here in the early 1800s, they carved inscriptions in Christmas Cove and Frenchman’s Rock. The original inscriptions have been moved to South Australian Museum in Adelaide and the Visitor Information Centre in Penneshaw because water was damaging them. Just outside Penneshaw, on the way towards Kingscote, is the island’s visitors centre with information about history and attractions of the island.


Remarkable Rock. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Kangaroo Island Australia - Nepean Bay
The main road goes west from Penneshaw towards the rest of the island, where there is a turnoff to American River, named by the American sealers who lived here in the early 1800s. Today it is a popular spot for swimming, fishing, boating and enjoying other water activities. West from here is Nepean Bay, and then the island’s largest town, Kingscote.


Beach views. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Kingscote Kangaroo Island Australia
Kingscote is an attractive little town with pretty shops and cafes along the waterfront; a salt-water aquarium in the Kangaroo Island Marine Centre; and the Discovering Penguins Walk, although there is a similar penguin-watch, probably better, in Penneshaw. You can have a dip in the tidal pool south of the jetty, but if you really want to enjoy swimming, you are probably better off heading to the neighbouring Emu Bay.


Hervey's Return Bay. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Western River Cove, Emu Bay and Stokes Bay
Emu Bay is a sleepy old settlement that was once an important port on the north coast, and nowadays a popular family holiday destination. The jetty, built in 1916, is still used by fishermen, and if you have a 4WD you can drive on the beach. There are several beautiful small secret beaches along the northern coast of the island, such as Stokes Bay, Snelling Beach and Western River Cove.


Pennington Beach. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Kangaroo Island Australia - Cape Borda and Cape Borda Lighthouse
In the north-western corner of the island is the Cape Borda Lighthouse, built in 1858. The cannon next to it used to be used to warn ships if they were in danger. There are 45-minute guided tours, and Cape Borda Maritime Museum also provides some information about this lonely and isolated outpost.


Cape Borda Lighthouse. Poster by AllPosters. Click on
thumbnail to buy.

Kangaroo Island Remarkable Rocks
South of Cape Borda is the Flinders Chase National Park, which covers large areas of the south-western Kangaroo Island. It contains some famous attractions such as Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch, and on the western coast there is a lovely beach at Weirs Cove.


Remarkable Rocks. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Cape Barren Goose and other Australian Animals
There are bushwalking trails through gum forests and mallee scrub; and there is plenty of wildlife such as kangaroos and wallabies, Cape Barren Geese and black cockatoos, ospreys and sea eagles.


Kangaroo. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Cape du Couedic and Cape du Couedic Lighthouse
Turn south from the Rocky River and you come to the Cape du Couedic in the southwestern corner of the national park, with the isolated Cape du Couedic Lighthouse. New Zealand Fur seals are often seen on the beach here.


Cape du Couedic Lighthouse. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail
to buy.

Kangaroo Island Australia - Hanson Bay, Karatta and Kelly Hill Caves
Further east along the southern coast of the island, there is a pretty swimming spot in Hanson Bay. Near Karatta are Kangaroo Island’s limestone caves - Kelly Hill Caves with some beautiful stalagmites and stalagtites. You can visit the caves on an organised cave tour. Further east are Vivonne Bay and Point Ellen, with a jetty and a little shop, and beautiful blue-water beaches.


Hanson Bay. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Kangaroo Island Australia - Kangaroo Island Australia - Seal Bay
Nearby is the Vivonne Bay Wildlife Reserve, a private wildlife park with many bush walking trails, where wild koalas can be seen in trees. Further east is Seal Bay, home to about 500 sea lions, which can be seen on organised tours that take you down to the beach along walkways. You can get quite close to the colonies of sea lions laying on the beach.


Sea lion pup. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Kangaroo Island Australia - Accommodation
There are various accommodation options on the island.

Hotels and motels and include All Seasons Lodge Hotel, Aurora Ozone Hotel, KI Seaside InnKI Seaview Motel.


Bed and Breakfast accommodation includes Correa Corner Bed and Breakfast, Open House Bed and Breakfast, Seaview Lodge Bed and Breakfast, Stranraer Homestead Bed and Breakfast and The Fig Tree Bed and Breakfast.

Other accommodation includes Acacia Apartments, Charlie Bates Cottage, Ficifolia Lodge, JC Experience, Kaiwarra Cottages, KI Wilderness Retreat, KI Seafront Resort, Koopalanda Dreaming Cottages, Lifetime Private Retreats, Seascape Lodge on Emu Bay, Southern Ocean Lodge, Wanderers Rest Guest House, and Wilderness Valley Studio Accommodation.


Beales Beach. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Here's a Kangaroo Island map, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.

 
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