Kangaroo Island tours, South Australia
| country: | Australia |
| location: | Aboriginal tours, South Australia, Kangaroo Island |
| departures: | Daily departures throughout the year |
| price: | From AU $938 (2 days) excluding flights. Price includes twin share accommodation, entry fees, transfers & meals as per the itinerary |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Frenchman's Rock - Cape Willoughby - Seal Bay - Flinders Chase National Park - Remarkable Rocks - Admirals Arch
Just 30 minutes by air southwest of Adelaide, Kangaroo Island is a microcosm of a very diverse continent. It has many of the images people readily associate with Australia - abundant native wildlife, wide open spaces, clean air, beautiful wildflowers, a rugged coastline with pounding waves, white sandy beaches, clear water perfect for scuba diving, rolling farmland dotted with sheep and cattle. The Islands red dirt roads are its signature and signal the lush gentleness of the island.
The unique wildlife is plentiful as well as remarkable - an endemic sub-species of kangaroo, tammar wallabies, Australian sealions, New Zealand furseals, koalas, echidnas, platypus, goannas, 243 species of birds including many rare or endangered species, possums, bandicoots and even whales during winter.
This wide range of flora and fauna are well protected with over 30% of the Island part of a National Park or Conservation Park. Freedom from many of the introduced pests that plague mainland Australia, especially the European rabbit and red fox, has meant that the Island had retained much of what it had prior to European settlement.
A lack of indigenous human population for much of the last 20,000 years, and particularly the past 2,500 years has meant that the environment has developed in the absence of both continuous hunting pressure and a frequent fire regime. All of these factors combined with a high percentage of remnant native vegetation make Kangaroo Island a rare place.
Just 30 minutes by air southwest of Adelaide, Kangaroo Island is a microcosm of a very diverse continent. It has many of the images people readily associate with Australia - abundant native wildlife, wide open spaces, clean air, beautiful wildflowers, a rugged coastline with pounding waves, white sandy beaches, clear water perfect for scuba diving, rolling farmland dotted with sheep and cattle. The Islands red dirt roads are its signature and signal the lush gentleness of the island.
The unique wildlife is plentiful as well as remarkable - an endemic sub-species of kangaroo, tammar wallabies, Australian sealions, New Zealand furseals, koalas, echidnas, platypus, goannas, 243 species of birds including many rare or endangered species, possums, bandicoots and even whales during winter.
This wide range of flora and fauna are well protected with over 30% of the Island part of a National Park or Conservation Park. Freedom from many of the introduced pests that plague mainland Australia, especially the European rabbit and red fox, has meant that the Island had retained much of what it had prior to European settlement.
A lack of indigenous human population for much of the last 20,000 years, and particularly the past 2,500 years has meant that the environment has developed in the absence of both continuous hunting pressure and a frequent fire regime. All of these factors combined with a high percentage of remnant native vegetation make Kangaroo Island a rare place.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Seal Bay, Little Sahara, Parndana Wildlife Park, Lathami National Park. You are collected from Kingscote Airport and travel to Seal Bay Conservation Park where you learn how the Australian sea-lion survives the rigors of the Southern Ocean. The colony of bulls, cows and pups rest on the beach where you can walk amongst them. Visit the spectacular and vast sand dunes of Little Sahara then traverse the rural areas of the middle of the Island via the Parndana Wildlife Park. The north coast beaches of Snellings and Stokes are perfect for a leisurely stroll to enjoy the sound of waves breaking on the pristine, sandy coast. Enjoy a nature walk through the drooping she-oaks of Lathami National Park and observe the kangaroos and wallabies. This is also the habitat of the rare Glossy Black Cockatoo and great country for the elusive echidna (spiny ant-eater). The first day's touring concludes with your return to your Island accommodation. |
| Day 2: | Flinders Chase National Park, Admirals Arch, Remarkable Rocks, Vivonne Bay. You are collected from your accommodation and travel to Rocky River, headquarters of Flinders Chase National Park. Here, kangaroos laze and Cape Barren geese graze. The Park is home to all our varieties of native animals and birds. Visit Admirals Arch, an ancient limestone formation close to the ocean and a perfect haul-out area for an active colony of the New Zealand fur seal. Not far away is the ancient granite formation known as Remarkable Rocks. Here enjoy a short bush walk searching for the elusive Echidna (spiny ant-eater) and observing the colourful Kangaroo Island endemic Crimson Rosella. You then visit Vivonne Bay where its crystal clear water supports a colony of the Little Penguin. Finish off your day at Point Ellen fossicking for shells on the beach and possibly sighting a penguin in its rookery. Your tour concludes on arrival at Kingscote Airport. |
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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We are committed to providing personalised, fully hosted 4WD nature tours whilst preserving the unique nature and wildlife of Kangaroo Island. More than a third of the Island is protected as Conservation or National Park. We have attained National Parks and Wildlife accreditation and fully committed to protecting the environment. Our guides report to National Parks and Wildlife any wildlife concerns they may have observed whilst on tour. They also regularly report on animal and people movements within the parks environment.
 Without disturbing the natural environment, our tours take visitors to known animal habitats where our experienced guides provide an insight into animal behaviour and ecology. We educate visitors to observe wildlife from a distance thereby not interrupting their natural behaviour. We use only designated walking trails, which ensures the natural environment is not disturbed – many trails have cleaning stations to clean shoes or boots of soil thereby helping to prevent the spread of the Phytophthora fungus, which is damaging to the environment. We promote a ‘leave no trace’ policy and clients are advised not to take any items from the beaches or parks as souvenirs. As part of our waste management policy all rubbish is to be brought back to base to be disposed in an environmentally responsible manner. In fact all of the rubbish collected on Kangaroo Island is transported off the Island to a central refuse and recycling depot. We contribute to a community-initiated monitoring program responsible for monitoring the long-term health of Kangaroo Island as a sustainable tourism destination. This involves monitoring the environmental, social, and economic effects (both positive and negative) that tourism has on Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island is renowned for its local produce and where we can we will use local products, for instance the Island’s award-winning wines and cheeses. Our accommodation providers, together with all of the Island’s accommodation houses, are aware of the need to maintain the Island’s pristine wilderness and observe conservation policies. The Island has a quarantine policy which requests that visitors do not bring items such as: bees and honey products to the Island – Kangaroo Island is a bee sanctuary with a species of bee found nowhere else on the planet. We are committed to using local guides. Most of our guides have spent their lives on Kangaroo Island and all of them have lived on the Island for over 25 years. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |