Kangaroo Island - Unique accommodation

Kangaroo Island is just 30 minutes by air from Adelaide or a pleasant, 45-minute ferry ride from the mainland. The island's isolation has allowed all sorts of native animals to flourish, protected from feral predators and blights.

Set in clean, ultramarine seas, Australia's third-largest island was discovered in 1802 by English sea captain Matthew Flinders, who never travelled without his cat, Trim. Flinders and Trim found Kangaroo Island uninhabited, although stone tools discovered since indicate that people lived there about 10,000 years ago.

Today, activities include wildlife observation, birdwatching, wetland wading, adventure caving, snorkelling, scuba diving, farm visits, fishing and aerial sightseeing. Areas to be explored include Flinders Chase National Park, a 74,000 hectare wilderness, home to kangaroos, wallabies, possums, goannas, echidnas, koalas, platypus, fur seals and many birds, including rare Cape Barren geese.

Accommodation highlights include historic lighthouses, the luxurious Southern Ocean Lodge with 21 spectacular suites, and LifeTime Private Retreats, with three secluded hideaways offering total pampering and amazing coastal views. The island's imposing Ozone Seafront Hotel fronts the beach and backs onto the main street of Kingscote town. Built in 1907 with equipment ferried from the mainland, the hotel burned to the ground 11 years later. Only the walls - made of locally quarried stone - were left standing. The owner died the week after the fire and his ghost is said to haunt room 16. The hotel was rebuilt in 1920 and has recently been completely renovated. You can also watch fairy penguins returning to their burrows on a night tour run by the Kangaroo Island Marine Centre.