Port guide: Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Kangaroo Island has bounced back from its 2019-20 summer bushfires and is as beautiful as ever. Here’s what you should take in.

Who goes there

Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, Oceania, P&O Australia, Princess, Seabourn and Regent Seven Seas are among the range of companies that call in at Kangaroo Island. Usually ships are sailing cruises from Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney around south-east Australia (including Tasmania), or trekking across Australia’s southern coast towards Fremantle. Small expedition ships from the likes of Coral Expeditions and Ponant explore other, lesser-known South Australian islands too.

Seal the deal … Kangaroo Island.

Sail on in

Sea views on the approach are gently beautiful rather than dramatic as you lurch around the eastern end of the island, well within sight of Cape Jervis on the mainland’s Fleurieu Peninsula. In the other direction, Yorke Peninsula may be visible across the St Vincent Gulf. A sunny day brings out wonderful blues in the waters off Penneshaw.

Berth rites

Large ships anchor out in the bay and transfer passengers ashore by tender. Only small ships dock at the wharf in Penneshaw. There’s no such thing as a cruise terminal, although the local tourist office sets up a tent. Walk into Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island’s second-largest town, and you’ll find a pharmacy, supermarket and several restaurants, cafes and takeaway shops. Penneshaw Market runs on cruise-ship days and sells local handicrafts and food products.

Going ashore

Vivonne Bay’s mouthwash-blue coastline.Credit: Getty Images

Consider signing up for a shore excursion, since Kangaroo Island’s best sights are a distance from Penneshaw, and you’ll want to admire the island’s rugged cliffs, rolling farmland and bird-filled lagoons. Little Sahara showcases huge sand dunes, while Vivonne Bay has startling turquoise water. Cape Willoughby has an old but still operational lighthouse. Seals bask and penguins burrow on beautiful, windswept beaches, koalas snooze in the trees, and you might spot unusual Rosenberg goannas.

Don’t miss

Seal Bay Conservation Park has one of Australia’s largest colonies of sea lions. Sometimes up to 600 animals lounge on the sand or, on colder days, in the dunes. Stick to the boardwalk unless you join a guide to walk among the sea lions on the beach for a great wildlife experience. Kids will enjoy the small visitor’s centre, with its touch-and-feel displays of bones, skins and feathers.

Get active

Penneshaw has a beach for safe swimming and snorkelling, and you may spot dolphins. Various walking trails lead from town into bushland where you can encounter kangaroos, wallabies and black cockatoos. Head east and, in 90 minutes’ return, you can hike up past farming ruins in Baudin Conservation Park to Ironstone Hill for a great view.

Best bites

Kangaroo Island is well known for gourmet produce such as olives, cheese, abalone and marron, a type of freshwater crayfish. You can visit several farm gates to chat to local producers and sample the fare. Taste bottlebrush, banksia and ti-tree honey at Clifford’s Honey Farm and learn about the life cycle – and extraordinary sex life – of bees. For something different (although inedible) call at Emu Ridge, the last remaining commercial eucalyptus distillery in South Australia, for a tour.

Further afield

Flinders Chase National Park at the island’s far end from Penneshaw has wonderful coastal scenery, turquoise bays and abundant wildlife such as possums, kangaroos and seals. From the visitor’s centre, an easy two-hour walk brings you to platypus water holes and trees favoured by koalas. Remarkable Rocks features outcrops of precariously balanced rock, eroded by wind and rain, that turn bright orange at sunset. At Admirals Arch, fur seals bask on the rocks right by the side of a spectacular boardwalk.