Seal Cove Kangaroo Island
I love Christmas – the decorations, the food, the summer Australian Christmas vibe. I have a so-so relationship with presents however. Not real comfortable with the accumulation of stuff that the holiday season brings folks. If Santa were going to bring me my perfect present it would be an opportunity to travel, and explore somewhere new – this is a travel blog, after all. This year topping my Christmas wish lists is a trip to one of Australia’s most spectacular nature destinations, South Australia’s Kangaroo Island.
The reason I have chosen Kangaroo Island as my Christmas wish destination is that I have been listening. Listening to my family and friends that have visited this iconic South Australian wilderness recently with their own kids and loved it. Listening also to my fellow travel bloggers like Michelle at Malaysian Meanders who shared her experiences of spotting fur seals in Flinder’s Chase National Park on Kangaroo Island. Rene at Together We Roam has enticed me to explore Vivonne Bay, once described as the best beach in Australia on her own highlights of South Australia post.
Kangaroo Island is 155 km in diameter and home to fur seals, sea lions, goannas, koalas, little penguins, wallabies and of course kangaroos. It is also home to nearly 5000 Homo sapiens many of whom are particularly excellent at producing delicious food. It is the magic combo of wilderness experiences coupled with gourmet tasting (think local honey, maron and cheese) that appeals to me. A two hour drive from Adelaide you can catch a ferry from Cape Jervis to Kangaroo Island (the ferry is a 45 minute trip). The full spectrum of accommodation options are available on Kangaroo Island – from camping to luxury resorts. I have been told the holiday home options for families with young kids are amazing.
Spectacular views on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island
My own gorgeous sis, a past contributor to this blog, Nicki Gill just returned from a trip to Kangaroo Island with her two beautiful little girls. I completely plan on hitting Nicki up for a comprehensive write up of her visit to Kangaroo Island. Just to whet my and your appetites though I have asked her to answer a couple of questions about Kangaroo Island and to share a few shots from her trip.
A friendly visitor, Kangaroo Island
Who’s been to Kangaroo Island? I would love to hear some of your own experiences as a comment below.
For more South Australian travel inspiration check out Europcar’s suggestions
Disclaimer: This post is an entry in a travel blogging competition as part of Europcar’s Detour Campaign. You never know, they might decide to send me to Kangaroo Island as a Christmas present. That would be sweet.
Bubs on the Move provides tips and advice for parents traveling with small children including attraction and accommodation reviews. You can join us on Facebook or Twitter to receive updates to your news feed.
The natural rock pool sounds beautiful and perfect for children. I am interested in Kangaroo Island and will visit it when we drive around Australia. I hope you get sent to Kangaroo Island. 🙂
Jan when are you heading off on a round Australia drive? We did quite a lot of driving round our country between moves Melbourne -Darwin and then Darwin to Newcastle. It is spectacular but I always wish I could do it at a lesiurely pace.
I was going to say that we LOVED Kangaroo Island, but it looks like you already knew that. It’s such a wonderful place to explore nature, and I don’t think that it’s well known outside of Australia. Since we’re not from Australia, seeing kangaroos and wallabies was a real treat, and we couldn’t believe that they were hanging out right by our cabin.
As an Aussie I still get a kick out of seeing kangaroos and wallabies outside accommodation too. And the kids go mad for it. It is the idea of seeing seals though that I really love about Kangaroo Island.
Hello lovely. Thank you for the mention, that was so kind of you.
I have been meaning to write about Kangaroo Island, so I’m really glad to read you sis’s insight. She really hit the mark with all of the suggestions. Stokes Bay is just amazing, the beaches on the island were stunning. The waters though were brrrrrrr.
You sister took me back to the wonderful time we had there. It’s such an amazing place and I really hope Europcar send your beautiful family to KI 🙂 You deserve it!.
xo Rene
PS: I love the albino kangaroo, unfortunately we saw more dead kangaroos roadside than alive ones during our trip.
Thanks Rene, we haven’t heard from Europcar so I think we probably didn’t win (our odds were 1/6 so I thought it was worth a try). Looking forward to seeing your own post when you put it together.
I went to Kangaroo Island on a backpacking trip 10 years ago and it’s good to know that it’s still as awesome as it was then. I would love to go back. I think the bit I loved most were seeing the amazing animals in their natural habitat, I especially loved the seals, but it was all pretty magical. I hope your Christmas wish comes true!
Thanks for stopping by Sammie. Alas I didn’t win the prize but hopefully will get down there to see those beautiful seals sometime soon.