On "Kangaroo Island", you obviously find kangaroos everywhere, but not only. Guided or not by a ranger, you can also come close to wallabies, emus, wombats, sea lions, penguins… and lots of koalas. More than abundant wildlife:Separated from the mainland around 10,000 years ago, the island has remained safe from foxes, dingoes and other predators. Today, Kangaroo Island ("KI" for short) has 19 national parks and nature reserves entirely dedicated to the preservation of fauna and flora! At Seal Bay, on the south coast, you can sunbathe among the approximately 500 sea lions who bask on the sand between two deep-sea fishing trips. At Admiral's Arch, a natural arch formed by the erosion of the cliffs on the western tip of the island, we have a front row seat to watch the New Zealand fur seals come to warm up on the rocks. You can also play hide and seek with the koalas in the eucalyptus forests of Hanson Bay Sanctuary, feed the pelicans in Kingscote or listen at night to the cry of the little penguins that nest in the vicinity of Pennehaw...
4,400 inhabitants for 4,405 km2… it will be understood, KI is above all the kingdom of wild spaces. Man remains a rare animal:you can ride for hours without meeting anyone and when that happens, you quickly greet each other with a wave of your hand! Tarred roads alternate with bumpy tracks, eucalyptus forests with the red dust of the bush, wild "Breton" coasts with a maquis that one would swear is "Provençal". To the east, Flinders Chase National Park is home to the Remarkable Rocks, "remarkable rocks" of granite sculpted over nearly 500 million years by Antarctic winds, rain and sea spray. Their tortured forms proudly dominate the ocean. In the center of the island, there is a total change of scenery:the white sand dunes of Little Sahara cut through the bush for about fifteen kilometers, offering an ideal playground for "sandboarding" or sandboarding. At night, we go out in the company of a star guide to contemplate the stars of the southern hemisphere invisible on our side of the planet (Southern Cross…). The atmosphere is magical, peaceful. You don't lock your hotel room here...
In Adelaide, stroll along North Terrace under flowering jacaranda trees to admire the city's typical colonial architecture and soak up the local cool attitude. We especially visit the Gallery of Aboriginal Cultures at the Museum of South Australia, the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Institute of Aboriginal Culture in Tandanya, with demos of didjeridoo or dances every day, and the Central Market. Afterwards, we are only 1 hour by road from the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, renowned for its shiraz and its dry rieslings, and 5 hours by car or 1 hour by plane from the Flinders Ranges National Park. The starting point to the Outback and Aboriginal legends...
If the beaches are superb and most often deserted, there are also beautiful ones underwater:there are more than 60 shipwrecks scattered around the island. The dives are done in the company of the highly sought-after sea dragon (a kind of seahorse adorned with striped fringes that imitate the waves), not found elsewhere, some 270 species of multicolored fish (blue devil, harlequin, etc.) or even the wobbegong shark laid on the sand like a carpet!
Renowned for its eucalyptus oil distilled on site, its sheep cheeses, its freshwater lobster (the chestnut) and its olive oil, KI also offers honey made by the only purely Ligurian bees in the world! Imported from Italy and introduced to the island in 1885, they have been fiercely protected ever since. About thirty winegrowers also cultivate more than 200 hectares of vines. At the inhabitant or at the restaurant, local products remain at the top of the menus, and it's good!
-Paris-Adelaide via Singapore with Quantas. We then reach KI by plane in 30 minutes with Regional Express or by ferry from Cape Jervis, 100 km south of Adelaide with Sealink.
- Accommodation with locals (very common formula), in a rural lodge or campsite. From €40 per night.
-More info on KI or South Australia in general:www.southaustralia.com.
