Kangaroo Island & Barossa Trip - Apr 2011 - Day 4

Vivonne Bay Camping Ground is really well set up with showers and toilets and the camp ground itself is well secluded and only a short walk to the beach.

Vivonne Bay is probably the most spectacular beach on Kangaroo Island and although the weather was not that great for us - on a nice day would rival the best beaches in the world.

So after a morning walk we left for the western part of Kangaroo Island.

First stop was Kelly Hill Caves a spectacular example of various types of cave formations. The guides are very knowledgeable and unless you are very claustrophobic this is a very accessible cave experience. Note the stairs at the entrance are very steep.

From Kelly Hill Caves we drove to Flinders Chase National Park Visitors center to plan the rest of the day. The Visitors Center is an informative and welcoming place. Its a nice café and the staff are very helpful in giving you he various options.

We decided to go to the remarkable rocks first.

See why they are called the Remarkable Rocks? A really interesting location.

From there it was a short drive to the Lighthouse and Admiral's Arch.

Before the road was put through the Lighthouse community was supplied via this Jetty and the supplies were winched up this slope.

Admirals arch houses another seal community - so it kinda smells. But another very interesting location.

Then it was back to the visitors center to book a camping spot. We had chosen West Bay a beautiful secluded bay on the western end of the island. (Oh that's why they call it "West" Bay).

Camping spots a few but we managed to choose a night where we were the only ones. It was this night we found out the Kimberley Karavan is not mozzie proof. Plenty of itching the next day.

But it was a small price to pay to have such a beautiful location all to ourselves.

Kangaroo Island & Barossa Trip - Apr 2011 - Day 3

Day 3

So after our morning walk to view the beach at Stokes Bay we drove south to Parndana. Nothing there at all except a local pub. It was wet so we kept going south to Vivonne Bay where we set up camp.

We then set off for Seal Bay to see the seals.

The weather was very windy with intermittent showers so there wasn't as many people around as might otherwise have been. We were fortunate enough to be the only ones wanting a guided tour at the time we chose so we were able to experience an intimate tour of the beach to get up close and personal for some great photos.

Then it was back to the Karavan after a quick coffee and apple strudel at the Seal Bay Café.

On the way back we went for a look at Vivonne Bay from the western point. The sea was rough and it was blowing a gale.

A week later someone was killed at this very spot - taken by a freak wave.

Kangaroo Island & Barossa Trip - Apr 2011 - Day 2

The weather wasn't great a bit drizzly in the morning when we were packing up so we really appreciated the Kimberley Karavan. One of my pet hates is packing up wet canvas - no canvas on the KK.

We drove to American river where we found our first Pelicans.

Then in to the metropolis of Kingscote. Nice little town with very friendly people.

Kangaroo Island is typical of many island communities there is a strong local cohesion but a welcoming of visitors on whom the local economy relies for much of their income. We had a similar experience on Norfolk Island 5 years ago.

We went to Stokes Bay via Sheps Studio. We liked Shep's artwork. Certainly worth a look. Find him on Flickr.

The trip to Stokes Bay was via Emu bay but Emu Bay camping ground was a bit too open for our liking. Whereas the camping ground at Stokes Bay was more secluded and the place more interesting.

Stokes Bay

Sunset at Stokes Bay

We had a coffee at the Rock Pool Café not bad at all for off the beaten track.

In the morning we went for the very short walk to the beach. To get there you have to walk through this narrow gap in the rocks.

But the beach is beautiful on the other side

Kangaroo Island & Barossa Trip - Apr 2011 - Day 1

Its about time I wrote about our South Australian Trip back in April.

We had a fanastic trip - the 1st multi day trip in our Kimberley Karavan.

Day 1. Travel from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island.

Straight down the main street (Western Hwy). Tried to out smart the GPS by turning off too early and ended up wasting time getting back on track but made the ferry in heaps of time.

Lunch at Bordertown

Nice break at Yankalilla Bay

This is thought to be the most expensive ferry in the world measured on a $ p/Km basis.

Nice sunset on the ferry ride over to the Island.

It was dark when we reached the Island. So we took the short trip to Browns Beach and stayed the night there.

Stay tuned more detail to follow.