Kangaroo Island Off The Beaten Path

Want to get away from it all? Kangaroo Island has plenty of deserted beaches if you fancy a lonely stroll. Mind you, if you happen to stroll along a beach on the south of the island, with the rain and wind blowing straight from Antarctica, you'll soon realise why it's deserted. If you want a tan, it's better to head for Queensland.

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Cape du Couedic is the most south-western point of Kangaroo Island. There is a very pretty lighthouse here which was constructed from 1906 to 1909, after fourteen ships had wrecked at this corner of the island, three of them loosing 79 lives.
It is now one of three lighthouses on Kangaroo Island.

Cape du Couedic itself was named by the French explorer Nicholas Baudin, after a famous captain who was a friend of him. This corner of the island is so remote that for a long time it was only accessible by sea, and it was only in 1940 that the first motor vehicle made it to the lighthouse!

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We had a short pick nick stop at this lookout and I really liked the views from here. It made me realize how big the island actually is, and how wild and vast its landscape!

There had been devastating bush fires in the national park in 2007, and the scars they had left were still clearly visible from the lookout: There were only a few green patches, most of the trees were grey and dry instead. It can be quite a disturbing sight if you are not used to it, and makes you see how much such fires influence the environment! I had not expected to see these areas still bare and burnt so many months after the fires.

On a different note, Bunker Hill Lookout seems to be one of the favourite haunts of a group of big crows and magpies, so be prepared to fight for your lunch with them!

Address: Flinders Chase National Park
Directions: In the west of the island

DUCK LAGOON BIRD SANCTUARY
is home to a range of birdlife, including Mountain, Shell and Musk Ducks, Ibis and Spoonbill. Wooden hides allow close viewing without interrupting birdlife.
We saw several Black Swans with their chicks.

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On our last day, we did a beautiful walk in Flinders Chase National Park. We walked along Rocky River to Snake Lagoon, a beautiful beach. It was a fantastic walk.

To me it looked so much like some of the scenery in the Lord of the Rings films, very similar to what I knew of New Zealand (only from pictures), and not at all like what I had seen in Australia so far. I later had the same impression when I visited Tasmania.
It was a beautiful landscape, I cannot really describe it - only a little rough, beautiful and wild, indeed like a fantasy land.

I was totally happy during this walk, the landscape just enchanted me, and finally arriving at the sea was wonderful. The river flows into the ocean here, and you get to the beach by climbing over the rocks.

The path is quite rough at times, but I did not find it too strenuous. You need good shoes, though, as there are many rocks involved. We needed about ninety minutes for the walk, which included a break at the beach.

To see more pictures of the walk, see my travelogue.

If the D'Estrees Bay road is followed to the end, a walking trail begins, leading into the Cape Gantheume Wilderness Protection Area and presumably ending after a very long hike at Cape Gantheume.
I didn't go too far down the trail (about 20 minutes walk) but it was the most interesting part of my venture down to D'Estrees Bay. I found good coastline views, and a variety of fly which was larger than normal with a shiny rainbow-coloured body .

A few minutes drive from Cape Borda Lighthouse is Scott Cove, not much can be seen from the dirt carpark but there are a few dirt trails leading to the rocky cliffside. The view is better than the one at the Cape Borda Lighhouse site so it's worth checking out .

There is a very nice picnic area here among the tall gum trees and some interesting short trails. We saw many beautiful birds in Kelly Caves Conservation Park.
There are also some nice caves here that you can see by guided tour.