Kangaroo Island, located in South Australia, is ripe with unique wildlife, strange natural phenomena and pristine, secluded beaches. But due to its isolated location, it's sadly often missed out by visitors to Australia, and even Australians themselves.
We travelled to Australia's third-largest island and spent five wonderful days in an Australian Eden.
This blog post tells you our story on Kangaroo Island, including how we had free accommodation there, how we got around Kangaroo Island without a car and how expensive it was. To help you decide if it's worth visiting (spoiler alert: it is).
Is Kangaroo Island Worth It?
How to get to Kangaroo Island
First things first, how to get to Kangaroo Island: We arrived by ferry. It was an expensive and extremely bumpy ride but the meat pies sold on-board made up for everything (this was before we were vegan of course, but it's irrelevant, even as a vegan I'd be tempted by those bad boys). We went on the Kangaroo Island car ferry even though we were visiting without a car. Prices start from $20 without a car and you can also purchase the link from Adelaide to the ferry and from the ferry across the island if you want. That's what we did and it all ran smoothly.
Once you reach Kangaroo Island you can believe the claim that Kangaroo Island has the second cleanest air in the world (after Antarctica). The beaches are stunning and the water is crystal clear.
Thanks to House Sitting, we had free accommodation on the island. Three minutes walk from our house in Kingscote were four beautiful, serene beaches. We were excited about how deserted they were.
Deserted from people that is, there were a bunch of pelicans:
Pelicans are massive, so that was exciting, but I was even more excited to see some fellow mammals: New Zealand Fur Seals:
On our first day, we sat by the shore to watch the sunset and up popped a seal:
We followed s/he along the coast and found a secret cove where s/he + buddies hang out.
We were able to get within one metre of them, before they growled and we ran away.
After that we kept our distance and waved back at the ones playing in the water
With no public transport on the island and having not wanted to hire a car we were 'forced' to go on a tour of Kangaroo Island to see its other wonders.
Kangaroo Island Without a Car
The first stop was Emu Ridge, where we learn that emus can be squeezed to make emu juice which is great for curing everything, including cancer. Not so great for the emus..
We even got to meet an emu. We were told that they used to call her 'the bitch' because she toed her husband to death, but then Julia Gillard became Prime Minister of Australia so they renamed her Julia. I felt like this was sexist but no one asked me.
The next stop was the infamous Seal Bay
Despite the clouds it was a beautiful bay, and the perfect place to see wild seal lions (not seals..)
To get down to the beach we walked along a wooden jetty. The sea lions like to hang out under it, so we were able to get close without disturbing them:
Apart from the colour, we couldn't really tell the difference between sea lions and seals. Then our guide pointed out that seals wiggle to get around on land, whereas sea lions walk on their feet like dogs (or, um, lions):
One of the downsides to Seal Bay is that you do have to go down with a guide and a group. One sea lion started flapping towards me and the guide told me off for being too close to it, like come on we were having an inter-species moment.
The upside of being in a group though was that we finally had someone to take a photo of us and the sea lions:
Next on the list was seeing koalas in the wild. The size of the koala population on Kangaroo Island has fluctuated wildly in the years humans have been observing it. At one point there were too many koalas and most would have died of starvation, before humans could decide between humanely killing or letting them die a slow death, a bushfire broke out. The fire killed a large percentage of the koalas and balance was restored.
This was actually the second time we'd seen koalas in the wild, but it was just as magical. After the koalas we had the most disgusting lunch we've ever had. It was included in the price of the tour and was really vile. But the rest of the tour was so good we quickly forgot about it. The coach took us through Flinder's Chase Park which is larger than Singapore!
But that wasn't the best bit, the best bit were the Remarkable Rocks:
True to their unimaginative name, these rocks really are remarkable.
They are granite boulders sitting on a dome of lava formed over 500 million years ago(!) They get their ginger colour from lichen.
But the natural phenomena didn't stop there. The next stop was Admirals Arch.
The Stalactite looking things are actually fossilised roots and the arch took thousands of years of erosion to form. Whilst not as Remarkable as the Rocks, Admirals Arch is certainly admirable for it's effort (hehe).
The surrounding area was pretty awesome too.
And again the wildlife was abundant, there were more New Zealand Fur Seals.
Yes, this is a deadly one and no, no one was bitten. On that happy note, the tour was over. On our last day we finally saw wild kangaroos!
Kangaroo Island Kangaroos
It was the only drizzly day we had on Kangaroo Island and at first we were disappointed - until the locals pointed out it was prime kangaroo spotting weather. They recommended that we check out Kingscote Graveyard, where they have been known to hang out. And it turned out that a mob of kangaroos (yep that's the collective word for kangaroos) were indeed in the field next to the graveyard!
The 'Kangaroo Island' kangaroo is indigenous and found nowhere else on earth. Guidebooks told us that their fur is longer and darker than mainland roos, but we couldn't get close enough to see. Being wild, this was as close as they let me get before hoping off.
We did get up close and personal with tame kangaroos, but that's a different story...
Now for the nitty gritty:
Is It Worth Spending Your Money on Kangaroo Island?
The short answer is YES. It was one of our favourite parts of our nine month Australia trip. But it will take a chunk out of any budget traveller's budget, so the cost needs to be considered:
1. How to Get to Kangaroo Island
We were already in South Australia thanks to House Sitting, so our prices are from the state's capital - Adelaide. But lots of tourists don't make it as far as South Australia, but if you have the time you should! South Australia was one of our favourite states. With its agreeable temperatures, classy culture and delicious food, and wine! So if you've made it to Adelaide, how much is it going to cost you to get to Kangaroo Island?
Return Ticket from Adelaide to Kingscote: $136 (each)
This is a coach trip from Adelaide to Penneshaw, a ferry from Penneshaw to Cape Jervis and a minibus from Cape Jervis to Kingscote. Prices will vary depending on where you are coming from/going to and if you take a car or not.
2. Accommodation on Kangaroo Island
Now because we are House Sitters our accommodation costs were zero. I hope you can House Sit too! There aren't actually many House Sits going on Kangaroo Island, but there are thousands going in Australia. If you can save money House Sitting in Adelaide you can perhaps afford to splurge a little on Kangaroo Island accommodation. There aren't a lot of hostels or hotels on Kangaroo Island. A night in a hostel will set you back about $60 for a double-private room.
3. Food Prices on Kangaroo Island
Due to import fees, the food costs more on Kangaroo Island. We highly recommend bringing your own from the mainland.
4. Kangaroo Island without a Car
I recommend not taking or hiring a car and visiting Kangaroo Island without a car. Why? The same reason I recommend not taking or hiring a car anywhere: the environment. Cars use fossil fuels which pollute the air we all breathe. Kangaroo Island (currently) has really clean air and it would be great to keep it that way). We managed by walking everywhere and taking tours to where we couldn't walk (yes I appreciate most tours also use fossil fuels, but it makes such a difference if we all took tours together than going separately in our cars)5. Tours on Kangaroo Island
- Kangaroo Island Shore Excursion - food and wine tour that combines the best natural sites in Kangaroo Island with the best food and drink
- Luxury Kangaroo Island Full Day Tour - for a more intimate tour opt for the luxury option
- Kangaroo Island Scenic Tour - does what it says on the tin and lunch is included.
So, despite the costs, Kangaroo Island is an absolute must for anyone interested in Australia / animals / beaches / rocks. It was one of our absolute highlights of our nine month trip - on par only with seeing the Sydney Opera House, surfing at Surfer's Paradise and meeting albino kangaroos in Western Australia.
Have you been to Kangaroo Island? Did you think it was worth it?
ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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