What’s open now in Kangaroo Island’s national parks

Vis­i­tors are flock­ing to parks includ­ing Flinders Chase Nation­al Park to expe­ri­ence the rare oppor­tu­ni­ty of see­ing land­scapes regen­er­ate fol­low­ing the sum­mer ²⁰¹⁹⁄₂₀ bushfires.

Green shoots con­tin­ue to sprout in parks across the island fol­low­ing spring rains and as the weath­er warms up it’s the per­fect time to round up some friends and explore nat­ur­al expe­ri­ences, from beach walks with seals to light­house climbs and coastal hikes.

Parks open now

• Baudin Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Bey­e­ria Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Cape Bor­da Lightstation
• Cape Gantheaume Con­ser­va­tion Park and Wilder­ness Pro­tec­tion Area
• Cape Willough­by Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Flinders Chase Nation­al Park
• Lash­mar Con­ser­va­tion Park
• Seal Bay Con­ser­va­tion Park.

Expe­ri­ences open now

Watch Aus­tralian sea-lions sun­ning them­selves on the beach

Seal Bay offers vis­i­tors an unfor­get­table wildlife expe­ri­ence with Aus­tralian sea lions. There are no cages or enclo­sures in this wild colony and no expec­ta­tions are placed on the ani­mals – their loca­tion and behav­iour changes from day to day.

A vis­it to Seal Bay gives you the oppor­tu­ni­ty to immerse your­self in the beau­ti­ful sur­rounds of this colony – think white sands, blue skies and unspoiled vistas.

Book online for a guid­ed tour or head to the Seal Bay vis­i­tor infor­ma­tion cen­tre to buy tick­ets for the Board­walk Self-guid­ed Tour.

Redis­cov­er Remark­able Rocks

As Trip Advi­sor review­ers note, Remark­able Rocks at Flinders Chase Nation­al Park are still remarkable! 

A safe route through Flinders Chase Nation­al Park is now open for self-dri­ve vis­i­tors to share in the bush­fire recov­ery jour­ney. On your vis­it, you can stop at the icon­ic tourist draw­cards of Remark­able Rocks, Weirs Cove, Cape du Couedic light­house and Admi­rals Arch.

Top tip: Entry fees apply for Flinders Chase Nation­al Park, book online before you go for easy entry. There is a wi-fi totem avail­able at the park gate for park entry pay­ments, how­ev­er, giv­en the remote loca­tion of the park con­nec­tion is patchy and slow.

Dis­cov­er South Australia’s old­est light­house at Cape Willoughby

The first light­house erect­ed in SA, the Cape Willough­by Light­house lights the Back­stairs Pas­sage between Kan­ga­roo Island and the mainland.

Vis­i­tors rate vis­it­ing the light­house as one of the best expe­ri­ences on Kan­ga­roo Island thanks to the ency­clopaedic knowl­edge of the lighthouse’s tour guide and the incred­i­ble views the light­house offers of rugged coastline.

Stay in a her­itage-list­ed light­house keep­ers’ cottage

Not only can you tour the Cape Willough­by Light­house, you can stay near­by. Enjoy spec­tac­u­lar sun­ris­es, lis­ten to the waves crash­ing onto the near­by cliffs and catch glimpses of wildlife while stay­ing in one of two restored five-bed­room her­itage-list­ed light­house keep­ers’ cot­tages at Cape Willough­by Con­ser­va­tion Park.

Vis­i­tors on Trip Advi­sor say the cot­tages are great places for fam­i­lies and friends to relax and unwind with cozy bed­rooms, a kitchen and even board games stashed away in the lounge room. Both cot­tages sleep up to nine peo­ple – book now.

Take a self-guid­ed dri­ve to D’Estrees Bay

This self-guid­ed nature dri­ve at Cape Gantheaume Con­ser­va­tion Park begins at the sec­ond boat ramp 7‑kilometres from the junc­tion of Else­good Road and D’Estrees Bay Road.

Look out for the osprey trail mark­ers along the 8km dri­ve that takes in bush­land and coastal views. Down­load a self-guid­ed dri­ve book­let to help you on your way.

Join a tour with a local

Whether you’re on Kan­ga­roo Island for 48 hours or five days, South Aus­tralian Tourism has you cov­ered with itin­er­aries that share the best of the island and include ideas for expe­ri­ences with local tour companies.

Explore marine parks by swim­ming with dol­phins, stay­ing dry on deck with a sight­see­ing tour or going fish­ing, and dis­cov­er ter­res­tri­al parks with tours that tra­verse Seal Bay and beyond.

Take a walk

With its diverse land­scapes that range from bush­land to rugged coast­line and abun­dant wildlife, Kan­ga­roo Island is a walker’s dream. And there’s a lot of it to walk – the island is 155km long and up to 55km wide, ringed by 509km of pris­tine coast­line and has walk­ing trails that stretch through­out its parks.

Down­load the Nation­al Parks of Kan­ga­roo Island Vis­i­tor Guide: July 2020 for maps of walks that range from easy 20-minute strolls to more chal­leng­ing 4‑hour return jaunts.

Check theNation­al Parks of Kan­ga­roo Island Vis­i­tor Guide: Sep­tem­ber 2020for more info to plan your trip. To keep up-to-date with fire recov­ery and park open­ings check theNation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice SAweb­site orFace­book.

To sup­port re-estab­lish­ment of habi­tat for wildlife in the state’s bush­fire-rav­aged areas, donate to the Wildlife Recov­ery Fund.

(Main image cour­tesy of Quentin Chester)