After I was bored with looking at some Australian cities for a week that all look the same anyway, I finally went to Kangaroo Island.

Early in the morning my alarm rang. After I got ready, packed my suitcase and checked out of the hostel, I went to the bus stop. The journey by bus to Cape Jervis took 90 minutes. Already on the way there we could see many kangaroos at the side of the road. Arrived in Cape Jervis, the whole group went on the ferry, which brought us to the island within one hour.

Kangaroo Island and its animals

Arrived there we were picked up by our tour guide. We were a small group of 14 people and it was the first time that I was the only German among all these people.

After a short introduction round our tour started directly. First we went to Rob’s Shearing and Sheepdogs Farm. There we could watch Rob’s dogs driving in the sheep. When this was finally done after much unrest among the animals, we were shown how a sheep is shorn and a lot was explained to us and the farm by Rob. After the sheep was shorn, we were even able to touch the wool.

After a little more than half an hour we left the farm and went on to a Lookout Point from where we could enjoy the view over the rocks of Kangaroo Island and the blue water.

We stayed there for a short while and then we continued our journey. Our next stop was the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery. As soon as we got off the bus we were greeted by a small Kangaroo.

While lunch was being prepared for us, we could look around the shop of the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery and watch a short video about the history there. But the most interesting thing there were the kangaroos, of which we all took many pictures.

While we ate our sandwich with salad one of the kangaroos was also hopped around us all the time. After the meal the remains of the salad were fed to the emus. From there we went on to the Seal Bay Conservation Park after lunch.

There we could first have a look at the shop and learn something about the seals that existed in Seal Bay. Then we were led down to the water, where we could watch many seals sunbathing.

Sandboarding for the first time

From Seal Bay we went to our last stop of the day, the little Sahara. There we could try out sandboarding.

Getting up the sand dunes in the heat was quite a challenge. Constantly I slipped back a bit through the sand while trying to get to the top. When I finally reached the top, my shoes were full of sand, so that my feet hardly had room in the shoes. I only dared to do the sandboarding sitting down. It was a little too risky for me standing up.

Although I wore sunglasses and my mouth was closed all the time, I had all the sand except my legs and arms all over my hair, face, eyes and mouth. Sandboarding is really fun, it’s just like sledding, but I think it’s much more strenuous to get back up the hill.

After we all tried the sandboarding once and we all had to wash up ourselves in the bathroom, the day was almost over.

From Little Sahara we went back to Penneshaw by bus for one hour, from where we started in the morning and where our hostel for the night was.

After we checked in at the hostel, we had an hour to do whatever we wanted to do before dinner. That night I was alone in an eight bed room with only one girl from my tour. To be in a room only for two if you have been in a room with at least six people for weeks is a pretty big luxury. For dinner we all went to Sorrento’s Pizzeria, where there was a pizza for all of us.

Together we sat outside on the terrace, ate our pizza and watched the sunset over the sea. After dinner we all went to bed, as we left early the next morning to explore the island further.

Feeding Kangaroos and cuddling koalas

The second day of the Kangaroo Island Tour was the absolute highlight for me. After we packed our stuff and checked out of the hostel we went to the Wild Life Park of Kangaroo Island.

Before we even went to the Wild Life Park, we were first greeted by a screeching parrot that could say “Hello, how are you“. Directly opposite the parrot we could see wallaby’s.

After we went into the zoo, the first thing we saw were the koalas, which were even awake. Of course we all took a lot of pictures of the koalas. Until then I had only seen koalas in the wild, high up in the trees. This time I could see them from very close up.

While we all admired the koalas, our tour guide already dragged us further and promised us that we would come back in an hour for the Koala Show.

From the koalas we went on past the penguins, many colourful birds and pelicans to the kangaroos, which we were allowed to feed.

It was a real challenge to feed the kangaroos, as most of them were not hungry and therefore kept jumping away. But in the end I got rid of my whole pack of food.

It was really cute how the Kanagroos ate out of my hand after I finally found hungry Kanagroos.

A Kanagroo was a bit overzealous and always wanted more. At some point it even started to scratch my leg with its claws. But this did not hurt at all.

Nevertheless, this Kangaroo scared me a little after it jumped at me and always “asked“ for the bag of food. But I could still do a few selfies with him haha.

After we had spent quite a while in the Kangaroo enclosure we went on to the dingos. There we got a little lecture from one of the animal keepers.

After we had looked at the dingos, we went on to the reptiles. There we could see chameleons, snakes, crocodiles but also fish.

By then we had already spent an hour in the Wild Life Park and we could finally go to the Koala Show. First we were allowed to watch how the koalas were fed. And then the enclosure was opened for us for a short while and we were allowed to pet the koalas.

I had heard before that koalas have a very rough coat and are not as soft as they look. Thereupon I had expected that the fur of the koalas would feel more like straw but it is much softer than expected. The fur of the kangaroos is nevertheless softer than that of the koalas.

And because I didn’t want to leave Australia without holding a koala, I paid the 35$ (which hopefully was a donation for the animals) extra and hold a koala. I could not hold the koala for more than 1 minute. But it was still totally sweet to hold a 7 kilo koala on my arm and feed it.

Then our time in the Wild Life Park was over but it was still two successful hours. I had the opportunity to feed kangaroos and pet and even hold a koala.

Owls, lavender and the beach

From the Wild Life Park we went to a bird show. There we were shown different birds for one hour. We also had the opportunity to hold a bird. I even had an owl sitting on my lap.

After the bird show we went for lunch to the Emu Bay Lavender Farm. After we all had a wrap for lunch, we were allowed to look around the farm shop and test different products made from lavender.

In the afternoon we were allowed to decide what else we wanted to see on Kanagroo Island. Then we all agreed that it should go to the beach. But before that we passed the Castle of Kangaroo Island. When we drove past there by bus, everyone in the bus first had to laugh, because what was presented to us as a “castle“ looked like a castle but was very very small.

Arrived at the beach we first had to climb through a tunnel of stones and rocks to get to the water. Then we spent an hour on the beach. Our last stop of the tour was a honey farm. There they had many products like chocolate, ice cream and much more, which were made of honey.

From the honey farm we went back to Penneshaw. From there our ferry went back to Cape Jervis, where the bus was already waiting for us. Around 10.30 pm we finally arrived back in Adelaide.

The Kangaroo Island Tour was one of the best and most adventurous tours I did. Unfortunately, the island itself is not so beautiful if one drives alongside the roads, as everything is very dry and unfortunately, many things are burnt down. But the beaches are so beautiful.

And the absolute highlight for me was that I had the opportunity to hold a koala and feed kangaroos.