Tips for kangaroo island camping

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

As the title suggests I'm looking for any advice for those who know kangaroo island. Heading there next jan, with another family both towing caravans. Both with kids as young as 8

Any sights that are a must do?
Any recommendations for Caravan park, although it might be a matter of where we can get in!

Thanks

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Not sure if your plan is to tour around the island or base yourself centrally and day trip out? Either is doable but we chose to tour around the Island. Unfortunately we lost all our photos due to computer problems and a fuzzy memory means I am struggling to recall all the places we camped.

We only stayed in a caravan park one night and that was in Kingscote, it was pretty good from memory and not sure if there is more than one there. Stokes bay was a bit of a rugged campground but plenty of room for vans from memory and the hidden beach is pretty cool, once you find it.

Just spun around in my chair and realised we have pins in a map of Australia behind me for everywhere we have camped so helping to refresh the memory

Over toward Cape Borda we stayed in NP campground near a spot called Harveys Return I think, was a good spot and had it to ourselves but like most NP campgrounds it has bollards and was a real squeeze with the Camper Trailer.

If you are into bushwalking then the Walk to Ravine Des Casours in Flinders Chase National park is a must, its a longish walk form memory, maybe 4-5 hours return but well worth it for us. Just be careful with the kids at the water when you reach the beach as it is treacherous. That area was all burned out just after we went but I am sure it is well recovered by now.

The campgrounds in Flinders chase are also typical NP grounds with bollards and restricted space.

Vivionne bay would have been a good spot except it was new years eve when we were there and some young kids thought everyone wanted to listen to loud music until 3 in the morning. I was so ready to put an axe through their boom box but Trish wouldn't let me

I don't recall the name of the spot but we camped near a river on the East side of the Island on our first and last night, that was easily the pick of the camp spots and If I recall the name I will let you know.

Obviously Seal Bay and remarkable rocks and Admiral Arch are highlights of the Island but for me the Adventure Caving at Kelly hills caves was easily the trip highlight for me, closely followed by Flinders chase NP. There is an age restriction for the adventure caving and our son DJ was a few weeks too young for it, but the rangers reckoned he was big for his age and turned a blind eye. If you are afraid of the dark or are Claustrophobic then the adventure caving is not for you

KI was also the place that I discovered Halumi Cheese at the sheep Dairy, a cheese that can be cooked on the BBQ, life doesn't get any better than that.

There is also a Maze and adventure park on the Island that would be great for the Kids (big and small)

Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Although we lost the digital copies of our photos I just remembered we do have printed pictures in an album (do you remember those) anyway a quick flick through reminded me of the Pelican feeding at the Kingscote Wharf I think it was, very good entertainment if the old guy that was doing it is still going.

Cheers Andrew

[setsujoku Member Find all posts View Profile Close setsujoku]

There is only the one caravan park in Kingscote, well at Browns beach actually. It wasn't too badly priced, and the place was clean, tidy, and not noisy over night.
Stokes bay has plenty of space, though can get windy, but if you are in a van it wouldn't be as bad. We were in a RTT and got rocked to sleep.
If you head out that way, and at the right time of day, and have kids, then check out the lights at S 35° 36.811 E 137° 27.242. Its well worth the stop, and he doesn't just run them over xmas, if you ring ahead then he will put them on for you. A bit of info, and some pics here http://coord.info/GC18818

There isn't much camping out toward cape borda, but there are some places to stop, but just limited by space a bit. We stayed at West Cape, which isn't far as the crow flies from Cape Borda, but you have to go via Flinders Chase to get there. The road out is a bit rough, but nothing too terrible, and there is a bit of space even for vans there depending how busy it is.

D'Estrees Bay is a great spot, with a few km's of individual camp bays with plenty of space, only meters from the water. We spent a night there and did not see anyone in another bay, or even have anyone drive past the whole night, so if you want peace, whilst not being too far from the next days stops then this is a really great spot.

There is a council run caravan park at American River. It gets busy, and you have to get there early if you want a choice, or possibly even get a spot to fit a van in to. We arrived around 3 or so from memory and there wasn't too many spots left, but the next morning it emptied out. So might pay to drop the van off mid morning and then go off touring I guess.

There are some really great places on KI to visit, so hopefully you will have plenty of time to explore them all. Though with the cost of the ferry you would want to be making the most of a trip over there!

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

Thanks for your responses, I've also been doing a fair bit of reading, it doesn't seem like there are many bad spots on the island. Thanks for taking the time to respond. As you say Setsu, with the cost of the ferry, we are looking to make the most of the trip.

We've been going to Sth coast of NSW for the last 4 years and just looking for a change.

We were thinking of some time in Robe first then some time on the island, but we might just stay the whole trip on the island.

Thanks.

[setsujoku Member Find all posts View Profile Close setsujoku]

One thing that most under estimate is the actual size of the island. It doesn't look big on a map, but once you are there you quickly realise otherwise. If you just get off the ferry and head straight for Kingscote then it would take you an hour, maybe a bit more if towing.
The other part to consider is that there are limited places to get fuel on the island, and it is a fair bit more expensive than on the mainland, so fill up in Cape Jervis before jumping on the ferry. Once you are south of Aldinga on the way down there the price keeps going up, but its still a lot cheaper than when you are on the island.

One area that doesn't get as much touristy publicity is the Dudley peninsula. It has some great spots to check out, and is generally a lot quieter than the rest of the island, especially when you compare it to seal bay, kelly hill caves, and Flinders chase (the remarkable rocks, etc part of the park, rather than the part I mentioned for camping before).

Another place I remembered today that we stopped at, but didn't stay overnight was browns beach. There is a camping area there that is run by the council. We had lunch there, and from memory there were toilets and shelters all fairly new. Not far from Penneshaw, but could be handy if needing to be near the ferry.