Kangaroo Island Wildlife Circuit

Kangaroo Island, South Australia · Australia

Easy5 daysOceania~£750 est.

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Overview

Kangaroo Island is what mainland Australia looked like before foxes and rabbits: sea lions dozing in heaps on a sugar-white beach, koalas wedged into manna gums beside the road, echidnas trundling across tracks in broad daylight. A five-day self-drive loops the lot, from the Seal Bay boardwalk — where a guide walks you onto the sand among wild Australian sea lions — to Remarkable Rocks glowing orange at sunset and the fur-seal surge pools under Admirals Arch. The island is bigger than people expect (150 kilometres end to end), and the best wildlife happens at dawn and dusk, which is exactly when locals tell you not to drive — kangaroos own the roads after dark. The answer is to stay put in each corner: a night or two near Flinders Chase in the west, the rest around Kingscote or American River. The 2020 bushfires burned half the island; the regrowth, and the wildlife's rebound, is now part of the story. Get there by SeaLink ferry from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw (45 minutes) or fly Adelaide–Kingscote. Five days with hire car, ferry, park passes and comfortable stays comes to roughly £700–£850 per person.