10 things you might see on the KI Wilderness Trail

Ear­li­er this year, the Kan­ga­roo Island Wilder­ness Trail was named one of Lone­ly Planet’s top new des­ti­na­tions to vis­it in 2017.

If that’s not enough to con­vince you to take a walk on the wild isle, here’s 10 fas­ci­nat­ing things you might be lucky enough to see on the trail.

1. Moss

Com­mon­ly found on rocks and under trees in shady and damp areas. Reach out and feel the soft­ness of this fur­ry green as it holds the sur­round­ing soil together.

2. Lig­uri­an bees

These busy insects – which orig­i­nal­ly hail from Italy – col­lect hon­ey from flow­ers on warm days and take it back to their hives in tree hol­lows and rock crevices.

3. Pink fairy orchids

Short in stature, the Calade­nia lat­i­fo­lia only grows to about 10 cen­time­tres in height. Get down low to appre­ci­ate its rich colour, attrac­tive fea­tures and soft petals.

4. Moths and butterflies

These fly­ing insects float in the wind and flit between plants in the low coastal veg­e­ta­tion to lay their eggs.

5. Rain­bows

Misty rain and sun­shine pro­duce stun­ning rain­bows across the trail. The best van­tage point is along the coast.

6. Long-nosed fur seals

Long-nosed fur seals rest on the rocks at Cape du Couedic and Cape Younghus­band between their fish­ing trips.

7. Red-head­ed mouse spider

These robust and agile hunters live on the ground in sandy soil around the island.

8. Col­lared earthstar

This fas­ci­nat­ing fun­gi species starts in a ball-shape, then splits into a star to reveal a soft ball inside. Spores puff out through a hole in the cen­tre if it’s touched.

9. Rosen­berg goannas

Look along the edges of the trail and you might just see a Rosen­berg goan­na. These leath­ery lads seek extra warmth by lying on veg­e­ta­tion that has heat­ed up from the sun. Watch for the blink of their eyes and the flick of their tongue.

10. Wan­der­ing sea anemone

Many sea crea­tures can wash up on the shore dur­ing stormy weath­er on the island – they’re love­ly to look at but can still pro­vide nasty bites.

Like what you see? Here’s your chance to win

To cel­e­brate the launch of Good Living’s new Face­book page, we’re giv­ing one lucky read­er the chance to win a Kan­ga­roo Island Wilder­ness Trail adven­ture.

The prize pack val­ued at more than $1000 includes a dou­ble-pass for two lucky peo­ple to com­plete the five-day trek, return fer­ry trav­el for you and your car thanks to SeaLink, and a porter­age ser­vice for your camp­ing equip­ment so you don’t have to lug it around each day, thanks to West­ern KI Car­a­van Park.

All you need to do to go into the draw is sub­scribe to Good Liv­ing, like our new page on Face­book, and like SeaLink and West­ern KI Car­a­van Park on Face­book as well.

Entries close on Fri­day Novem­ber 17. See our terms and con­di­tions for more information.

Have you con­quered the Kan­ga­roo Island Wilder­ness Trail? Tell us what you’ve dis­cov­ered in the com­ments sec­tion below.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Sep­tem­ber 2016 and has been updat­ed now to include details about the KI Wilder­ness Trail adven­ture competition.