Kangaroo Island - Wildlife wonderland

Kangaroo Island is Australia's third largest island and a haven of unspoiled parks, reserves, beaches, dramatic coastal cliffs and isolated beaches.

Many local farmers have turned their hand to niche food and wine production, and cafes and restaurants are keen to promote local fare. The Kangaroo Island wine region has around a dozen wine producers and two cellar doors (others open by appointment), with main varieties including Chardonnay and Riesling. Choose your own lobster at Ferguson's in Kingscote. Taste honey from what is believed to be the last population of pure Ligurian bees in the world. And enjoy marron (a delicious freshwater crustacean), sheep cheeses and yoghurt from a dairy where you can watch sheep being milked.

The island is popular for four-wheel drive touring, self-drive and cycling with accommodation in delightful lighthouse cottages, small motels, bed and breakfasts, and camping grounds. Join a personalised tour with a local who has given up farming for tourism. The fishing and diving are excellent with established tour operators.

Koalas have also flourished. You only need to look up to see one curled up and sleepy in a fork of branches. The island is a sanctuary for kangaroos, wallabies, possums, bandicoots, goannas, dolphins, echidnas, platypus, a multitude of birds and a large colony of rare sea lions which frolic at Seal Bay oblivious to human presence. Cute little penguins come ashore every evening and the majestic southern right whale arrives in winter to mate and breed. The landscape is unusual with creeping sands, lagoons, caves and the amazing Remarkable Rocks sculptured for centuries by wind and rain.

Articles

All natural food

Island farmers are proud of their clean-green tradition of free roaming livestock and nature-ripened produce. Enjoy a diverse menu of naturally fresh seafood, honey, cheeses with home-grown wine

Flinders Chase National Park

Flinders Chase National Park, a wilderness and wildlife haven on the south-western tip of the island, is known for its woodland and stunning coastline. It takes in the 74,000 hectare Ravine des Casoars Wildlife Protection Area.

Flinders Chase wilderness

Flinders Chase National Park, a wilderness and wildlife haven on the south-western tip of Kangaroo Island is known for its woodland and stunning coastline. It takes in the 74,000 hectare Ravine des Casoars Wildlife Protection Area. more

Head for the bush

Surrounded by national park, Antechamber Bay on Dudley Peninsula is ideal for camping and bushwalking on Kangaroo Island. Kayaking is also possible. Near Pennington Bay, the gentle curve of D'Estrees Bay is a favourite starting point for hikers. more

Pristine beaches

Kangaroo Island's 450 kilometres of coastline offers spectacular pristine beaches and cliffs. Stokes Bay is a favourite for swimming, as is Emu Bay; a four-kilometre stretch of white sand, fringed by bush and rocks. Vivonne Bay provides safe harbour.

Remarkable Rocks

Worn by centuries of wind and rain the Remarkable Rocks rise above the sea like a sculpture park. Gigantic rocks have been honeycombed, hewn and hollowed into dramatic shapes.