Wild Beauty and Quiet Moments on Kangaroo Island

Australia is a very big draw for tourists, mostly because they enjoy summer weather while the Northern Hemisphere is snowed in for the winter. Most tourists visit Sydney or Melbourne first, with Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock) and the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns as secondary visits.

But that leaves another half of the continent as Off the Beaten Path. Perth is the Capital of Western Australia, with delightful views of the Indian Ocean and the largest variety of wild flowers in their Spring. Darwin is the main city in the Northern Territory and played a major role in WWII as the main jumping off point for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp (ANZACs), Canadian and British forces, and the US military air and naval forces. Also, Adelaide is the Capital of Southern Australia and home to the Barrossa Valley, the largest wine region in Australia.

About an hour south of Adelaide, you will find a ferry that will take you over to Kangaroo Island. When this island split off from the mainland, it actually flipped over about 270 degrees, which you can see in that oddly angled sedimentary rock. There are numerous amazing rock formations around the island, but the Admiral’s Arch is the most breathtaking. The best part about it is, you won’t find numerous tour buses and packed attractions, although there are things to do there such as go hiking in Flinders Chase National Park, or tasting local honey and wine at family-run farms.

As the name implies, there are a lot of Kangaroo on the island, as well as some of their smaller cousins, the wallaby. As it is often overlooked in favor of Australia’s more famous coastal cities or the Outback, the island feels worlds away with its rugged coastlines, pristine beaches, and wide-open landscapes. In fact, taking a tour around the island is not too different from a game drive in Africa, with koalas in the trees, seals and dolphins in the water, and echidnas waddling around looking for ants. We had an expert tour operator called Exceptional Kangaroo Island helping us find all these delightful animals and geological sites.

The island has a raw, natural beauty that is abundant with wildlife, a variety of birds, and sea lions. The island is a nature lover’s dream; it offers immersive, uncrowded experiences, and is the kind of place where the pace slows, the views stretch for miles, and you can just connect with Australia’s wilder side. Whenever we stopped to see some animals, they pulled out a table, some food and drink, and served up mid-morning tea, or a luncheon in the middle of the farmland. With delightful luxury lodges such as Southern Ocean Lodge and Sea Dragon Lodge, and homey motels, Kangaroo Island really is Away From the Crowds. Stay tuned for my next adventure.