Adelaide/Kanagroo Island
 

Hi Fodorites. Need some help with the final chapter of my trip to Australia. We plan on arriving in Adelaide mid September, 2009 (weather that time of year?). Figured we'd spend about 3 nts there, sightseeing in and around Adelaide and up toward the Barossa Valley (including Cleland Wildlife Park, Hahndorf). Then, I thought we'd drive down to Gleneig and spend night there in order to get early morning ferry to KI.(do the ferries run frequently and should we take a car across on the ferry or rent another one upon arrival) Also, if we turn the car in Adelaide, is there transportation from there to Gleneig to catch the ferry?) We would then spend 2 nts on KI before returning to Adelaide. Any idea how long in total it would take us to return from KI to Adelaide. Didn't know if we would be able to try and catch a flight out to Melbourne the same day. Any suggestions as to sights to see or things to do with this plan would be appreciated. I'm taking lots of notes.

Here's the Sealink ferry schedule to Kangaroo Island http://www.sealink.com.au/ferry_tt.html The ferry leaves from Cape Jervis. Check with the rental companies to make sure they allow their cars to be taken to KI.

I'm not aware of a ferry that leaves from Glenelg, but Sealink does provide connecting coach service for some of their departures http://www.sealink.com.au/coach_tt.html

If you don't end up taking a car to KI, it would be much easier to fly back to Adelaide from KI if you're planning to fly to Melbourne the same day. www.rex.com.au and www.airsouth.com.au both serve this route. Air South uses the general aviation terminal and Rex uses the main terminal at Adelaide airport. The flight takes less than half an hour and it only took us about 10 minutes to deplane our Rex flight, get shuttled to the terminal, retrieve our checked luggage and walk over to the Qantas counter.

Hi Patty:

Thanks for the info. I'll look into this. Are these planes reliable? Looks like a short trip which would certainly save a lot of time. If we chose to fly back, would you suggest renting a car upon arriving at KI and using SeaLink (or the like) as transport to get us from Adelaide to KI? Also, which town would you position yourself in if you were going to spend 2 nts in KI? Lastly, would you suggest self-drive upon arriving on KI or booking guided tour. Your suggestions are appreciated.

Hi lovingretirement,

if you are interested in wildlife my recent post might be useful, http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...=5&start=0

Many years ago I visited Cleland and found it quite touristy, Warrawong on a recent October visit offered a more authentic bush experience. However, Twaffle has added some useful insights to the other thread regarding Warrawong and neighbouring Cumbungi.

Cheers,


Pol

We enjoy the independence of self driving so that's what we did and would do so again. We joined 3 short tours on KI which were very informative - the nocturnal wildlife tour at Hanson Bay Sanctuary, a guided tour at Seal Beach (access to the beach area is by guided tour only), and a nocturnal penguin tour in Penneshaw (again parts of the penguin viewing area can be accessed by guided tour).

Depending on your arrival/departure times and what you wish to see, you can consider splitting your stay between the east and west ends of the island. We stayed 2 nights at Hanson Bay cabins and 1 night at Seaview Lodge in Penneshaw. Flinders Chase NP and Hanson Bay are at the southwest end of the island and penguin viewing can be done at Penneshaw or Kingscote. You can visit other sites like Seal Beach, Little Sahara, etc. either on your way to or from the western end of the island. The ferry arrives at Penneshaw and the airport is close to Kingscote. Try to limit your after dark driving due to wildlife. Also the rental car companies highly discourage this by having no coverage or a non-waivable excess for after dark accidents.

We flew Rex both ways and both flights departed on time. No experience with Sealink. Hope this helps.

Sorry, that should say &quot;parts of the penguin viewing area can be accessed by guided tour <i>only</i>&quot;

Just to supplement Patty's KI travel information, I have an older map book that shows a Glenelg to Kingscote ferry service and seems as though it was discontinued quite a few years ago and in more recent years there has been considerations of the service return, possibly as a passenger service http://kangarooisland.yourguide.com....an/496626.aspx (not in operation it would still seem)and there was another company looking at a passenger/car service but from a place called Wirrina Cove down near Cape Jervis, but at best it'd seem it is going to be a seasonal operation - http://kangarooisland.yourguide.com....er/779573.aspx
Thus your options would seem to be ditching the car in Adelaide and coach/ferry or fly, REX btw being a well established company that services a lot of the smaller airports and has a good safety record.

The thing you miss out on in doing KI from Adelaide is obviously the Fleurieu Peninsula that you could drive from Barossa/Adelaide Hills without going back down to Adelaide, however you then need to decide on what to do with the car, the need to get it back to Adelaide (or pay a one way premium if you can) and time involved in all that, so you'd be looking at 4-5 days as against 2-3.

I'd reckon weather in Adelaide region will be relatively mild to warm, cooler at night and Adelaide cops a lot less of the southerly generated rain than further east does, but the southern side of KI is more exposed and so you can expect to get some blowy weather (with wind chill factor) there.