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| A seal at
Seal Bay (pic: S.A. Tourism Commission)
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Kangaroo Island (including Kingscote,
American River, Parndana and Penneshaw)
Australia's third-largest island. A superb
and fascinating wilderness mixed with a number
of attractive small townships.
Located 110 km south-west of Adelaide and easily
accessible by ferry, Kangaroo Island is one of
the nation's supreme scenic spots.
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third largest
island (after Tasmania and Melville Island)
stretching 155 km from east to west, 55 km at
its widest point, and containing nearly 1600 km
of sealed and unsealed roads.
The island was first settled by Aborigines
but their history is scant and complex. It seems
they left the island about 3,000 years ago for
reasons which remain unknown.
The first European to see the island was
Matthew Flinders who, during his
circumnavigation of Australia in the
'Investigator' in 1802, explored, charted and
named the island.
Flinders and his crew killed 31 kangaroos and
as he wrote "half a hundredweight of heads,
forequarters and tails were stewed into
soup...and as much steaks given....to both
officers and men as they could consume by day
and by night.... In gratitude for so seasonable
a supply, I named this southern land Kangaroo
Island ..." Flinders also named the strait
between the island and the mainland declaring
"It forms a private entrance, as it were, to the
two gulphs; and I named it Backstairs Passage".
The following year the island was visited
both by the French navigator Nicholas Baudin and
some American sealers who set up their
operations on the site of American River.
The sealers and whalers, who scoured the
island's coasts for the next two or three
decades, were a wild and vicious bunch. Captain
Sutherland, who explored the island in 1819,
described the sealers as 'little better than
pirates' depicting them as people who 'dress in
kangaroo skins with linen, and wear sandals made
of seal skins, they smell like foxes'. They
enslaved Aboriginal women (mostly from Tasmania)
and used them to capture and kill seals. The
women were prized by the sealers because they
were highly skilled hunters who could swim
across to the seal colonies, move quietly
amongst the seals and kill large numbers of them
without panicking the colonies.
The first official settlement of the island
occurred in 1836 when the South Australia Land
Co. established a base at Nepean Bay. This
eventually grew into the island's main town,
Kingscote. By 1837 shiploads of German emigrants
were being brought to the Island by the South
Australia Land Co. but the soil was infertile,
the water supply was unreliable and consequently
by 1840 it had collapsed and most of the
settlers had moved to the mainland.
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| The road from
the south to the north of Kangaroo
Island |
Isolation, the poor quality of the soils, the
scrubby nature of the vegetation, an average
annual rainfall of 491 mm leading to marginal
water supplies, all conspired to ensure that
Kangaroo Island remained relatively
underdeveloped. Consequently, even today, the
island has a population of less that 5,000 and
its economy is primarily driven by tourism.
At various times through the nineteenth
century there were attempts to establish viable
industries. Salt was mined in the 1840s; a few
farmers tried to carve pastoral leases out of
the thin soils; and by the late 19th century
eucalyptus oil production and gypsum mining were
well established.
By 1905 tourism was becoming important to the
islands's economy. Today the island's numerous
natural attractions, and its large pristine
areas, are the centrepieces to an economy driven
by tourism.
Things to see:
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How to Get There
There is a car/passenger ferry run by Kangaroo
Island Sealink which leaves Cape Jervis for
Penneshaw four times daily. It takes about 1
hour to make the 16 km journey. Reservations and
times: 13 1301. There are also a number of
flights from Adelaide Airport.
Kingscote
Kingscote is an attractive small settlement
gazing over the waters of the Bay of Shoals.
Kingscote was first settled in 1836 and, as
such, was the first town in South Australia.
There was even talk of it becoming the new
colony's capital but a shortage of reliable
water terminated this discussion. It was named
Kingscote after Henry Kingscote, a director of
the South Australian Company. It remained an
important port until the 1860s and, in the early
days, provided the basalt for the road which was
built between Port Adelaide and the new town of
Adelaide.
Ozone Hotel
The town's attractions include the Ozone
Seafront Hotel (just up from the jetty) which
was opened in 1907 and by the mid-1930s had
become 'the' place to stay for wealthy
holidaymakers from Adelaide. It enjoys excellent
views across the ocean and the harbour.
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| The mulberry
tree at Kingscote |
The Mulberry Tree
This huge and historic mulberry tree was planted
by some of the island's earliest settlers. No
one knows for sure who planted it and a sign
indicates that there are no fewer than four
families - the Powells, Christians, Kleemans and
Baeres - all believe that their forebear planted
the tree. The argument is that each of the four
families had an ancestor who planted a mulberry
tree at Kingscote. No one is quite sure which of
the forebears planted this particular tree
although the Kleeman family, which had grown to
2,562 people by 1969, claim that the original
Friedrich Wilhelm Kleeman planted the tree in
1837.
Hope Cottage Museum
On the hill above Kingscote is the Hope Cottage
Museum. It is part of a trio of cottages
originally called Faith, Hope and Charity (Faith
is no longer in existence) which were built in
1859. Also on the site is the Cape Willoughby
lighthouse (built in 1852 it is the oldest
lighthouse in South Australia) which was
transferred from Cape Willoughby (on the eastern
extremity of the island) and an interesting
model eucalyptus distillery.
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| The view from
the boardwalk at Seal Bay
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Seal Bay Conservation Park
A substantial park covering 750 hectares and
including both the Seal Bay area (a carefully
managed section of coastline where, under
supervision, people can see seals lying on the
beach) as well as the fascinating Little Sahara
set of sand dunes which lie between Seal Bay and
Vivonne Bay. At its peak Seal Bay is home to a
population of about 500 sea lions. There are
walkways which allow people to go down to the
viewing points above the beach and, on a regular
basis, there are guided tours which allow
visitors to get closer to the animals. There is
an entry fee involved. For details contact (08)
8559 4207.
Little Sahara
This is very difficult to locate (it is not
signposted from the road - the sensible thing is
to go to the General Store at Vivonne Bay and
ask for directions) but worth visiting. There is
a rough unsealed track to a car park and beyond
it the sand dunes, swept up by the winds off the
Southern Ocean, rise dramatically.
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| The jetty at
Vivonne Bay |
Vivonne Bay
There is nothing more here than a General Store
and a jetty. However the views across the bay
are quite stunning and the sands are
extraordinarily white. Nearby is the Vivonne Bay
Wildlife Reserve which is a private park with 40
km of walking trails. It is a popular
destination for school groups eager to learn
about the fauna and flora of the island. Contact
(08) 8559 4232 for details.
Kelly Hills Conservation Park
Large 6,306 hectare conservation park located
between Seal Bay and Flinders Chase on the
southern coast of the island. The area is named
after a horse, Ned Kelly, which stumbled into
the caves in the area. The landscape is
dominated by mallee and coastal scrub. There are
extensive walking trails and the park is noted
for its Kelly Hill Caves which are open to
organised tours. For details contact (08) 8559
7231.
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| Remarkable
Rocks (pic: S.A. Tourism Commission)
|
Flinders Chase National Park
Flinders Chase National Park, which takes up
most of the western half of the island, is one
of the largest national parks in South
Australia. Many visitors to Kangaroo Island head
straight for the national park for while it is
very isolated it also happens to contain such
interesting attractions as the Remarkable Rocks,
the Admirals Arch and the Cape Borda lighthouse,
one of the most inhospitable lighthouse
locations on the whole of the Australian
coastline. It is also here that the alert
bushwalker and coastal explorer will come across
sea lions, sea eagles, ospreys, Cape Barren
geese, kangaroos, wallabies and black cockatoos
on trails which wind through a variety of
vegetation from gum forests to mallee scrub.
Formations like Remarkable Rocks and the
Admirals Arch (which is located at Cape du
Couedic) are fine examples of the unrelenting
power of the winds and the oceans. Remarkable
Rocks are a collection of rocks weathered by the
sea which form fantastic and unusual shapes.
Admirals Arch has been carved out of the rocks.
It is possible to see New Zealand fur seals
lying on the rocks near this popular
destination.
Cape Borda Lighthouse
When the French sailor Nicholas Baudin first
sighted this rugged cliff he named it after the
French mathematician Jean Charles de Borda. The
Cape Borda lighthouse was built in 1858 on a
cliff 155 metres above the sea. In the early
days there was a cannon (which is still at the
site) which was some times used to warn ships of
the danger they were in. The cannon is now fired
daily.
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| Cape Borda
Lighthouse (pic: S.A. Tourism
Commission) |
The lighthouse is extraordinarily isolated
and it is hardly surprising that there is a
small graveyard nearby where 13 people are
buried. Of particular interest is the Cape Borda
Maritime Museum which provides a detailed
history of this lonely outpost. For information
and details of cannon firing times (08) 8559
7235.
Stokes Bay
Quiet and peaceful area with a fascinating
'hidden' beach. Take the signs from the car park
and you will find yourself winding through the
rocks and around the headland. When you emerge
from this 'secret tunnel' there is an excellent
natural swimming pool and a good beach for
swimming and surfing.
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| Stokes Bay on
the north of the island
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Emu Bay
Emu Bay is a sleepy little settlement which was
once the main port on the island's north coast.
All that is left now is a jetty which was built
in 1916 to ship grain and timber. It is still
used by fishermen. In spite of this charming
sleepiness it is the second largest holiday
destination for families on the island. The 4km
beach can be driven on by people who have 4WDs.
American River
This small settlement was named by the American
sealers who settled there in the early 1800s.
Today it is a pleasant destination which is
popular with holidaymakers who want to enjoy
aquatic activities including fishing, swimming,
boating and sailing. The town also boasts the
first house (dating from 1844 and built out of
pug and split pine by John Buick) on Kangaroo
Island and there is also a plaque to the
American brig Union with an anchor which was
recovered near the town's wharf in 1969.
Penneshaw
A small township on Backstairs Passage which has
become important as the major entry point to the
island. A ferry crosses the 16 km passage
between Cape Jervis and Penneshaw bringing both
visitors and their cars to the island. Both
Matthew Flinders and Nicholas Baudin moored here
at Christmas Cove and Frenchman's Rock
respectively. Baudin scratched an inscription on
Frenchman's Rock (translated it reads
'Expedition of discovery by Captain Baudin in
the Geographe. 1803) but the sea and the weather
damaged it so much that it was removed to the
South Australian Museum in Adelaide and a more
durable 'facsimile' put in its place. The
original Frenchman's Rock is now housed at the
Gateway Visitor Information Centre, Howard
Drive, Penneshaw. There is a local Folk Museum
in the old school house. It contains some
interesting relics from the island's maritime
past. For opening times contact (08) 8553 1176.
Cape Willoughby
The island's easternmost point, and a
spectacular vantage point when the Southern
Ocean is crashing against the coast. The cape
was named in 1802 by Matthew Flinders. The name
comes from the town of Willoughby in
Lincolnshire, England.
Maritime Heritage Trail and Shipwrecks
Kangaroo Island has a total of 23 shipwrecks
around its coastline. The earliest, the William,
was wrecked in 1847 and the most recent, the
Portland Maru, sank off Cape Torrens in 1935. A
number of these vessels can be explored by
experienced scuba divers.
