Yikes -- haven't checked my posts in a while. I apologize for the delay in responding. I will try to respond to the oustanding questions.

Some people have asked pricing questions about the SA portion of our trip. We did use a travel agent for this leg of our journey, which ended up making our lives a lot easier. This portion of our trip was $2,400 which included 3 nights accomodation in Adelaide (with continental breakfast), 1 night KI (with dinner and breakfast), Adventure Charter two day tour (lunch and snacks), flight to KI and a 3 day rental car.

We really enjoyed our tour on KI. I think it was the way to go. KI is much bigger than I thought it was going to be and it would have been difficult for us to find all the animal "residents" by ourselves. Also, driving at night is strongly discouraged due to the large kangaroo and wallaby population. With the tour company, we didn't have to worry about anything. They picked us up and dropped us off at the airport.

For Stranraer homestead, dinner and breakfast are at fixed times and are communal dinners. I don't think they can have more than 8 or 10 people staying there at one time though.

Wilpena Pound area was spectacular and less touristy than any of the other places we went. This really gives you a flavor for the outback and is a nice contrast to the cities. However, it is a long drive and we weren't prepared for the little flies that buzz abot constantly. I've been told that the flies are only there sometimes, but it is impossible to predict.

Thanks for the great trip report! We will be spending two nights at the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Resort in January. Since we don't like tours, we've opted to rent a car and see the island ourselves. Are there any pointers you could give us about how/where to find the "animal residents"?

If you are going to KI without a tour, I would suggest taking a drive out to Seal Bay and Flinders Chase Park (all the cool rocks and lots of undeveloped land). Seals are easy to find since they are always basking on the beach at Seal Bay and Flinders Chase. The kangaroos and wallabies are really temperature dependent. They try to stay out of the heat/sun as much as possible. The best time to spot them would be at dusk then, when the island is literally covered in kangaroos (however, be careful while driving!). During the day, you might find them lounging under the trees. For koalas, we just got lucky -- there was one walking across the road. There is also a penguin colony in Penneshaw. Hopefully, you won't come across any snakes, as the two species on the island are poisonous.

This is in regard to luggagte at Adelaide Airport. Firstly, the new terminal has opened, and so things are different. You can't leave luggage at the airport due to security reasons; just as before. However, when we send clients to KI on REX, Rex will check their extra bags, but not actually send them to KI. When you return, they are put on the carousel for you to collect with the one you did take.