Fabio

Just booked 4 nights accomodation in KI by this Easter but I still have to decide how to get there

1) bus from Adelaide + ferry + car rental at Penneshaw ? or Kingscote ? Is it doable ?
or
2) car rental from Adelaide + ferry. Which car rental companies in ADL do or do not allow to take the car on the ferry ? Should we then decide to stay 1 more night either at the beginning or at the end, can I change the ferry passengers tickets and the car reservation to the other day ? Do you think ferry places for the car sell out easily during the Easter week ? Our travel dates would be 30 or 31 March in and 4 or 5 April out.

thank you !

trotsky

Fabio- the company which runs the KI ferries is Sealink at www.sealink,com.au. Their website has a facility for you to contact them with your enquiries. The ferries for the Easter break are likely to sell out quickly, as KI is very popular & Easter is a major travel period here & coincides with several States' school holidays. The website gives daily sailings to KI as 9am, 10am & 6pm from the mainland. From KI back to the mainland daily sailings are 8.30am, 10.30am, 7.30pm There may be additional sailings over Easter, however there is a limited number of ferries which can be utilised. Sealink also do combined ferry/car packages if you wish, so the car could be picked up at Penneshaw (where the ferry arrives). This would mean a bus from Adelaide-but an early start, as for a 9am sailing to the island, the bus leaves Adelaide 6.45am)
I believe all your questions could be answered by an email to Sealink. Whatever, enjoy your visit. KI is a magical place- many native animals, a marvellous lighthouse, excellend food & wine. The weather in South Australia in March/April does not have the heat of summer (up to 45 degrees here a couple of weeks ago, and more coming, and lovely long days as daylight saving will still be in place. Enjoy your visit

Fabio

thanks a lot for the reply !

which are road conditions on the island ? a lot of unsealed roads ? I wonder where I can drive a rented car and where not. I mean if there are sightseeing points which are not easily accessible by sedan car.

Patty

I believe Hertz allows vehicles to be taken on the ferry to Kangaroo Island.

We flew and rented from Hertz at Kingscote airport. We reserved a sedan but got an SUV anyway. Many roads were unsealed but I don't recall anywhere where we really needed to use the 4WD. The only restriction was there was a large deductible if we had an accident between dusk and dawn. The other car rental company on the island wouldn't cover accidents between dusk and dawn at all. When you see the amount of road kill on the island, you'll understand why.

Where are you staying? We spent 3 nights and split our stay between Hanson Bay and Penneshaw (so we could see the penguins in the evening and not have to drive).

Have a great trip!

TeeBone57

Car hire in Adelaide is cheaper than on KI but it is expensive to take the car on the ferry and it does get busy so book early. If you decide to hire a car it would be easier to do so in Adelaide and avoid the early bus travel. Once in KI Penneshaw pub has nice counter meals, the Chapman River winery wine tasting and tasting plate is great and the Cape Willoughby lighthouse has an interesting tour. In and around Kingscote the Art Galleries - Sheps Studio, Emu bay - penguin spotting and the lavendar farm are worth a visit. On the North Coast Stokes Bay and Snellins Beach offer scenic views. South Coast - Seal bay is awesome the boardwalk and the tour on the beach you will see masses of sealions resting. Around Vivonne the beach is beautiful and there is outdoor action quad bike tours and the Little Sahara sand dunes has sand boarding. Rustic Blue Gallery Cafe is a great spot for eats and art , jewellery and souveniers. In Flinders Chase National Park visit the Remarkable Rocks of pink granite and Admirals Arch - fascinating formation of calcified tree roots and the fur seals hang out here as well.
If you are into hiking Snake Lagoon Hike is a 4km moderate walk. Platypus Waterholes is an easy hike. For eats visit the Andemel Marron Farm - for wine tasting and a lunch Marron ( fresh water crayfish ) straight from the pond.
The South Coast road and the north coast Playford highway are both sealed - many other roads are not and some are badly corrugated so drive carefully ( this will also protect the many wallabies, kangaroos and echidnas crossing the road.
Have a great holiday.

www.coral-sea-villas.com.au

trotsky

The main roads connecting Penneshaw, American River, Parndana, Kingscote & Flinders Chase are all sealed, so it is possib le to see many of the major sites on bitumen. As others have noted, driving after dark can be hair raising due to the wild life. The plus side of the wild life is that in daylight there is just so much of it to see. At Flinders Chase you can get very close to kangaroos, koalas & Cape Barren geese. If you are in Adelaide, Cleveland Wild Life Park, in the Adelaide Hills, has up close encounters with many animals, particulazrly kangaroos/wallabies & koalas. It is also well worth a visit

Fabio

Patty we are staying 4 nights at Ficifolia Lodge that is in Parndana. I picked it because of the central position on the island so that we can do shorter daytrips avoiding backtracking every day. I am considering to add another night netween Penneshaw and Kingscote, depending on which ferry we will take to avoid a too early wake up.

TeeBone57 and trotsky Yes, taking the car on the ferry is expensive($ 176 return) but considering the 4 of us on the bus to/from Adelaide and that car hire is more expensive on the island and with only free 100km per day I think it is worth to have the car already rented from ADL but I have to do additional research on this for the ins coverage.

Thanks to all of you for all the hints. I can't wait.....

Bokhara2

Yes very astute, Kristen. Now go away like a good little self promoter. There's a good girl. Bye Bye

dutyfree

Fabio-what car company did you use?

Fabio

dutyfree sorry I just saw this message now. We used Alpha Car Hire from Melbourne airport. We had a Nissan X-Trail