Kangaroo Island - 9 days

[arnica]

Hi all,

We'll be heading over to SA for 2 weeks in early January. Besides the places listed in the tourist brochures, what other places do you suggest visiting?

Our itinerary is as follows:

1. Day Kingscote
2. Day Kingscote
3. DAy Kingscote
4. Day Cape Borda lighthouse
5. Day Rocky River
6. Day Rocky River
7. DAy Rocky River
8. DAy Cape Willoughby lighthouse

[Filter]

We did K.I. in a short 2 days, half a day "wasted" on a fishing charter. We rushed to most of the listed attractions, in, photo's, out. Missed the Little Desert I reckon that would have been great in the right light. Our two days were overcast & windy, like all places a nice day makes all the difference. Good luck with it all.

BTW, I as the driver did not see one kangaroo, not even as road kill...lol

[ameerat42]

WHAAATTT!!?? What happened to that itinerary?

>> Just realised it was NOT your itinerary, but the remarks still hold <<

Did you go on one of those "rip-off" KI tours that fill space and time,
including cyberspace?

IMNSHO, KI is wrongly sold. I suppose it's mostly necessary, but you get
the idea you have to spend up big and go "resort". It's basically a wild place.

We nearly didn't go there on our SA trip, but then we had some time to spend so
went to a travel agent in Pt Augusta (of all places). They got us 5 days there for
less than half the brochured/resort prices, in a little-advertised self-contained
dwelling. That INCluded the trip over for 4 and a car. We had OOdles of time, and
enjoyed it all.

I cmmiserate with your not-so-good experience. BTW, it was rarely sunny for us
in mid-winter, but that didn't matter.

I will add to this when I go through some of the (old) pics from there.

[arnica]

Will be travelling the the wife and 2 kids (6 and 4) and we all love the outdoors.

Yeah we initially started off with a 3 day itinerary of KI, then we just kept adding more days. Found it even more worthwhile when we discovered the Kangaroo pass would be thrown in if we stayed 5 or more nights at heritage accomodation.

[arnica]

We've found heaps to do and if we could spend more time on the island we would. We gotta pace ourselves because we're travelling with 2 little ones and they tend to get distracted easily.

[ameerat42]

Sounds like you're getting about. Basically, we went on every road we could practically do so.
It was 7 years ago, now, and I can remember some place names. Cape Borda - which I remember
for the cliff-line walk in the bleak (and enjoyable) windy weather, hidden valleys along the north
roads... etc... etc... We went for scenery, landscape, lie of the land, and not really for attractions.
We visited the caves along the south coast (name eludes). Stayed at Kingscote, and enjoyed
local fish (and maybe) chips.

Sorry I can't be of much other help, but I think you'll discover enough yourselves. - Wild place.

[arnica]

Sounds like you're getting about. Basically, we went on every road we could practically do so.
It was 7 years ago, now, and I can remember some place names. Cape Borda - which I remember
for the cliff-line walk in the bleak (and enjoyable) windy weather, hidden valleys along the north
roads... etc... etc... We went for scenery, landscape, lie of the land, and not really for attractions.
We visited the caves along the south coast (name eludes). Stayed at Kingscote, and enjoyed
local fish (and maybe) chips.

Sorry I can't be of much other help, but I think you'll discover enough yourselves. - Wild place.

Thanks mate!

We've finalised all our bookings last night (with the exception of the Sealink ferry). We will be leaving ADL that morning and wanted to see what things/places to see and do before heading over to KIWe're just deciding on what time we will be at Cape Jervis.

I too am looking forward to fish and chips at Kingscote.

[ameerat42]

F&C on the main drag as you come up from the S into Kcote.
It can be a rough trip across. You first squeeze your cars in like sardines and HOPE
they don't crash into each other (but they didn't). The trip to KI was rough. The trip
back was ROUGHer. It was so bad you couldn't really walk along the aisles. I dunno how
the staff managed When I saw the sea on our departure day I thought they
would surely cancel the ferry. - NOPE!

OK, I'll dig into my records a bit and try to find places... Some that come to mind but no in any order are...
Cape WIlloughby - the lighthouse and general area there.
Penneshaw itself is quite picturesque in parts.
Pelican Lagoon, on the way (longish drive) to Kingscote, and the lookout near the lagoon. Lots of steps to climb, but good.
Wilder places:
Emu Bay, Stokes Bay, Cape Borda... Try the back roads all along the north there. The scenery is FANtastiC!
NOTE: MANY of the roads are unsealed dirt, and although not particularly rough (if at all, actually), they are dusty,
and if wet, ABSOLUTELY muddy. Expect a very muddy car. The main tarred roads are pretty good. TAKE a GOOD MAP,
though, as lots of small roads criss-cross.

To the South and SWest:
Cape de Couedic, Admiral's Arch, Remarkable Rocks.
Along the south road there's Seal Bay, Vivonne Bay, The Mini Sahara (quite steep climbs up the dunes),
Kelly Hill limestone caves, the wild Cape Gantheaume.

West I can only remember we went through Flinders Chase... I'd have to look at pics.

In the middle of everywhere there are lots of little attractions like open farms with a variety of crafts, like
Cliffords Honey Farm (but others too). Murray lagoon is quite a good place to see...

I won't go on. Just get a reasonably good guide that does NOT concentrate on the resort-type attractions...

I'm sure you won't be disappointed, but be aware that though it's a small place, there's a lot of ground to cover.

- - - Updated - - -

PS. What vehicle do you have? We had a medium SUV. It was ideal. You don't need a full 4WD, and
a sedan is quite serviceable.

PS2: Leaving Adelaide that morning. It's almost 2 hours, depending from where to Pt Jervis. Trafficky in the suburbs.

[sanger]

Sounds like you're getting about. Basically, we went on every road we could practically do so.
It was 7 years ago, now, and I can remember some place names. Cape Borda - which I remember
for the cliff-line walk in the bleak (and enjoyable) windy weather, hidden valleys along the north
roads... etc... etc... We went for scenery, landscape, lie of the land, and not really for attractions.
We visited the caves along the south coast (name eludes). Stayed at Kingscote, and enjoyed
local fish (and maybe) chips.

Sorry I can't be of much other help, but I think you'll discover enough yourselves. - Wild place.

Kelly Hill Caves ?

[ameerat42]

See the post above yours

[sanger]

Spent a lot of my later teens surfing and fishing on KI in the 70/80s....tourism didn't really exist on the island then so a lot more control of entry into places now.
I would say ameerat42 has done a good job of listing the main things and the entry to Stokes Bay is a bit of fun for kids of all ages.

[arnica]

At the moment we've hired a Corolla ... so I'm not sure how far that can get us ??

[Boo53]

I think your corolla will get you most places.

We only had a week there 5 years ago, not enough time, and I'm trying to convince my wife we need to go back.

Seal Bay Conservation Park on the South Coast is really worthwhile. Photo ops and the kids will love seeing them, there should be pups there around the time you've indicated.

[arnica]

I think your corolla will get you most places.

We only had a week there 5 years ago, not enough time, and I'm trying to convince my wife we need to go back.

Seal Bay Conservation Park on the South Coast is really worthwhile. Photo ops and the kids will love seeing them, there should be pups there around the time you've indicated.

Nice! Thanks for the info.

As we will be staying at Flinders Chase national park for 3 nights, I'm looking at some photo opportunities at Remarkable Rocks during sunrise. Hoping there wont be as many people there during that time of morning.

[Dylan & Marianne]

Hey Phil
Lots of stuff to do !
Three days at Rocky River is a great base to visit Remarkable Rocks - getting there before sunrise is a real zoo so I'd allow extra time to dodge all the wildlife that congregate on that road. Haven't met anyone there at sunrise in a few shoots I've done there.
If you can get to Vivonne Bay and Little Sahara that would be a great spot -
Admiral's Arch at sunset and Cape du Couedic lighthouse together would be great for an evening - the kids would probably like the NZ fur seals down at the arch (Charlie and Jaime did)
Seal Bay's nice but pricey
Pennington Bay on the way back would be a good dramatic spot for seascapes
Around Kingscote there's some nice stuff on the north coast that's within reach - emu bay looks good though I've never actually shot there
Don't forget to eat at Bella pizzeria! Great spot for yummy food

[arnica]

Hey Phil
Lots of stuff to do !
Three days at Rocky River is a great base to visit Remarkable Rocks - getting there before sunrise is a real zoo so I'd allow extra time to dodge all the wildlife that congregate on that road. Haven't met anyone there at sunrise in a few shoots I've done there.
If you can get to Vivonne Bay and Little Sahara that would be a great spot -
Admiral's Arch at sunset and Cape du Couedic lighthouse together would be great for an evening - the kids would probably like the NZ fur seals down at the arch (Charlie and Jaime did)
Seal Bay's nice but pricey
Pennington Bay on the way back would be a good dramatic spot for seascapes
Around Kingscote there's some nice stuff on the north coast that's within reach - emu bay looks good though I've never actually shot there
Don't forget to eat at Bella pizzeria! Great spot for yummy food

Looking forward to it!

I did quick google map with Elaine last night and it's about 20 minutes from Rocky River to the Remarkable Rocks. I was planning on leaving an hour before first light that was I can slowly make my way down there. We plan to visit the Remarkables the day before, so I'll be able to scout out the area and have a think about composition(s) during day time instead of fiddling about in the dark.

Oh kids are so looking forward to the seals! We mentioned it to them over dinner one night and since then, they have been asking about Kangaroo island and the seals at least 3 times a week.

Should be giving the camera a good workout on the trip. Looking forward to getting some starshots and lapses whilst we're in the National Park as well.

[britinozz]

Hi all,

We'll be heading over to SA for 2 weeks in early January. Besides the places listed in the tourist brochures, what other places do you suggest visiting?

Our itinerary is as follows:

1. Day Kingscote
2. Day Kingscote
3. DAy Kingscote
4. Day Cape Borda lighthouse
5. Day Rocky River
6. Day Rocky River
7. DAy Rocky River
8. DAy Cape Willoughby lighthouse

Thanks for the itenery suggestion looks good

[Geoff79]

Nine days on kangaroo island gives you just about enough time to cover every square centimetre of the island. It'd be a far easier and smaller list to ask what not to see, rather than what to see.

Anyway, looks like the moment has passed but the tips given were great.

My wife and I went here in 2013 with our boy when he was 9 months old. We all loved it. He was perfectly behaved and I'm going to put it down to how awesome the place is.

We like warm and still and dry and it was freezing cold and windy... in November, but still great. Photogenic everywhere.


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