Kangaroo Island / Adelaide (South Australia)

Kangaroo Island

Barbie and I are officially into Year 4 of our round-the-world journey. This is our third time visiting Australia. The country is just so massive that you need multiple trips to even scratch the surface. To give you some perspective, the entire contiguous United States—minus Alaska and Hawaii—is only slightly larger than mainland Australia.

Road-tripping is hands down the best way to see this country. It’s incredibly safe—as safe as anywhere in the world—but you’ve got to follow one golden rule: do not drive at night in rural areas.

When the sun goes down, the wildlife comes out, and things get sketchy fast. Nothing ruins a magical Aussie road trip faster than splattering a kangaroo with your car or campervan, so we kept our eyes peeled and strictly stuck to daytime driving. It’s a sad reality, but if you’re driving through the bush, you’re going to see dead kangaroos, wombats, possums, and wallabies lining the asphalt. That’s the downside. But the upside? The real magic begins when you head completely off the beaten path.

Most tourists stick to a predictable, postcard bucket list. There’s nothing wrong with that—those spots get millions of visitors for a reason. But if you want to see a totally different side of the country, you’ve got to seek out the lesser-known spots. After this stretch, I can confidently say we’ve effectively covered most of the highlights across all six Australian states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, and the final one on our list, South Australia.

The Underrated Island

South Australia doesn’t seem to get a lot of love from international travelers; it’s mostly overlooked. But the main anchor for our visit down here was an extended trip to Kangaroo Island.

Over a third of this island is protected by nature reserves, making it an absolute stronghold for wild kangaroos, wallabies, sea lions, koalas, and birds. If you’re into the outdoors, stunning coastal landscapes, and raw wildlife, this place delivers on every front. And if you’re lucky enough to visit on warm, sunny days, the untouched beaches here absolutely shine. I’m talking about a half-dozen spots that easily rank among the best beaches in the world—and that’s coming from a guy who has spent four years scouting the globe.

BFD Flashpacker Tip: Do yourself a huge favor and stock up on cheap folding beach chairs, an umbrella, and a cooler in Adelaide before crossing over. These wild beaches have zero services. There are no beach clubs or waiters serving up piña coladas with pretty paper umbrellas. It’s just you, your gear, and Mother Nature.

Our arrival was perfectly timed with the Kangaroo Island Horse Racing Carnival. We spent an awesome day betting on the ponies at a low-key country track and hanging out with the local Aussies who flock to the island for the event. I’d bet the majority of travelers don’t even know Kangaroo Island exists, so let me break down how to tackle this little gem.

The Logistics & Getting Settled

After wrapping up our stay in Burleigh Heads on Queensland’s Gold Coast, we hopped a flight down to Adelaide. We spent about a week exploring Adelaide, basing ourselves in the beachside suburb of Glenelg. It’s easily the most laid-back major city in Australia, but honestly, its best feature is serving as the launching pad for Kangaroo Island.

From Adelaide, it’s a scenic 1.5-hour drive south to the ferry terminal at Cape Jervis. We loaded our rental SUV onto the SeaLink ferry for the quick 45-minute crossing and checked in for an 11-night stay on the island.

Kangaroo Island is the third-largest island in Australia. Because of its size, you don’t want to spend your whole vacation burning fuel and driving back and forth. To keep things efficient, we broke our stay into three distinct bases: Stokes Bay, Vivonne Bay, and American River.

Penneshaw: This is where the ferry drops you off. It’s got a nice beach, but I wouldn’t recommend staying here—the daily drives to the main sights are just too brutal.
Kingscote: This is the island’s commercial hub where you’ll grab your groceries and fuel up. Again, don’t base yourself here, but you must visit the Rabbitt Warren Bakery. I’m going on the record right now: they bake some of the absolute best Aussie meat pies and desserts in the country. Every single time we drove into town, stopping there to fill our bellies was an absolute requirement.

1. The North Coast (Stokes Bay Area)

When I was researching the island, I found a spot called Waves & Wildlife Cottages. The photos showed modest little cabins, but the real selling point was that they were totally surrounded by wild kangaroos. Four nights of chilling with free-roaming roos? Sold.

Barbie was in absolute heaven. As the ultimate animal lover, she spent four days chopping up apples and carrots, crafting a backyard buffet that would put Las Vegas to shame. The roos absolutely adored her. To be honest, 100% of her attention went to her new furry entourage, and Big Doug was completely neglected for four days—but I couldn’t blame her. I practically had to drag her away from the cottage each morning to see the sights. Luckily, her gang was always patiently waiting for our return.

While basing on the North Coast, we hit three spectacular wild beaches:

Western River Bay: A real standout. It’s a bit off the tourist trail, requiring a drive through gorgeous rolling green farmland, but it’s totally worth it.
Snelling Beach: Perfect for a lazy, sunny beach day.
Stokes Bay Beach: An absolute must. To find it, you have to walk through a secret, rocky cave passageway that suddenly opens up to an expansive, hidden white-sand beach.

A Quick Note on Wildlife Parks: The island has plenty of highly rated sanctuaries (like Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park and Raptor Domain). They are great, but since animals are literally running wild everywhere you look, we skipped the paid parks. The one exception? We dropped $10 bucks each for the self-guided boardwalk at Seal Bay Conservation Park. It was worth every penny. Dozens of sea lions were lounging right on the beach in front of us, and we even got to witness a massive seal brawl break out. Real National Geographic style drama.

2. The Southwest Coast (Vivonne Bay)

Honestly, I wish we had allocated even more time to this side of the island. Our Airbnb here was a brilliant cottage tucked in the woods along a gravel road, just minutes from Vivonne Bay Beach—a stunning, rugged stretch of coast. Hanson Bay is another world-class beach nearby where you can veg out for the day.

Most of the big-ticket natural wonders are located right around the corner in Flinders Chase National Park. You cannot miss these hits:

Remarkable Rocks
Admiral’s Arch
Weirs Cove
Snake Lagoon Walk

Right outside the park, check out Little Sahara, a massive system of towering sand dunes. We chose to hike up them for the views, but if you want to risk breaking your neck, you can rent a sandboard and surf down. We spent a good hour watching young guns try to show off, only to spectacularly wipe out and eat buckets of sand.

3. American River

This area is a bit more built-up and developed. Personally, Barbie and I preferred the wilder, more remote western and northern coasts, but American River is incredibly strategic. It puts you right next to Island Beach and the dramatic surf breaks at Pennington Bay Beach.

It also positions you well for a trip to Emu Bay (just past Kingscote). Emu Bay was a blast because the sand is packed firm enough that we could drive our rental SUV right along the water’s edge—giving us some serious flashbacks to our time on Fraser Island.

The Verdict

Barbie and I both really loved Kangaroo Island. It’s a truly special, off-the-grid destination that we will always fondly remember.

But the road trip doesn’t stop here. We’re officially heading toward the legendary Great Ocean Road, breaking up the long drive with a multi-day pit stop in the rugged wilderness of Grampians National Park.