Is kangaroo Island worth the trip?
 

My wife and I planning a 2-3 week trip to Australia in late September. We'd like to vist Melbourne, the great Ocean Road, Kangaroo Island, GBR, and Brisbane. Does any one think it would be worth the side trip to South Australia to spend a couple days on Kangaroo Island. Would it be good to continue west after the Ocean Road and drive to Adelaide? The guide books seem to all say great things about K.Island, but these message boards don't seem to have much.

Yes you are on the right track..imho.<BR>To drive on to Mt Gambier,Robe,the coorong and murray mouth across the Fliereux peninsula to Adelaide and then down to KI would be a good addition to your great ocean road trip.You would have to budget another 4 days I would think.Getting across to KI is reasonably expensive by aussie standards.However it is one of the best spots for the aussie wildlife experience.You would also have to fly back east out of adelaide which would be an added expense.<BR><BR>Why no sydney in your itinerary?

I agree with the other persons response to K.I whole heartedly, it is truely beautiful untouched by tourism,no hussle and bussel or litter and the scenery is spectacular with the most beautiful little iscolated beach coves and rugged coastline views.We drove around the island in 5 days camping in a different location each night, sharing with the possums,roos and emus. The underground caves are also worth a visit. Just 1 hrs drive nth of Adelaide is the Clare Valley great wine district if your into that and a huge variety of B&Bs, also pretty countyside. We are currently travelling around Oz ourselves. Cheers

Thanks for the insight. Of course now I'm seeing responses on another thread that say that the wildlife viewing is not that great. I guess I'll have to think about it some more.<BR><BR>P.S. I suppose Sydney is not on our itinerary because we're not really interested in the big cities. As a matter of fact, the only reason Melbourne is in our plans is that I have relatives that live there! We're really more interested in the wildlife and scenery.

John is correct on Sydney. If you are going to Australia there are a million worthwhile places to visit - Sydney & the GBR should be at the top of the list. I just returned from a 7 week visit to NZ & Australia, spent 6 days in Sydney & 8 days is Port Douglas & wish I could have stayed longer. That said, Adelaide is one of Australia's best kept secrets. If I was going again I definately would not miss Adelaide. Kangaroo Island was wonderful as was Hahndorf, etc. Forget the wine tours, if you have been to Napa Valley or Sonoma - nothing scenic, everyone just takes a few nips at each location, however the wine is good. Kangaroo Island is a big island so I would recommend a tour - they know where to go to spot the animals, etc. Melbourne, in my opinion was just O.K. We drove from Melbourne to Adelaide. The Great Ocean Road was O.K. but we enjoyed more the villages & towns along the way. However with only 2 to 3 weeks I would recommend flying - you are covering a lot of contry in a short time. Australia is a big big country & each place you visit your're going to wish you had more time at that location.