Int. Travel: Fierce creatures

Rugged terrain, extreme weather, volatile wildlife and hungry marsupials-Simon Rowe introduces us to the untamed charms of Australia's Kangaroo Island.

There are few highways in South Australia that can claim a driver's sanity faster than the one that traverses Kangaroo Island. Lurching left and right through the spear grass and dense bush country of the South Coast Road, travelers quickly learn that dust, long distances and busted car axles are as much a part of Kangaroo Island's culture as its lighthouses and tall fishing tales.

Island life
The journey begins in Kingscote, the island's drowsy port town, where the Adelaide Fast Ferry makes the two hour journey from Glenelg Beach every day, laden with passengers and essential provisions.

Australia's third largest island is its own Animal Planet

When we disembarked, the docks were a flurry of activity: Bearded fishermen and burly farm hands were filling their clapped out vehicles with crates of cooking oil and fresh vegetables, magazines and motor oil, while the town's publicans rolled their kegs of beer toward waiting pick ups. Ê
From Kingscote, we set out in a beefed up Land Cruiser for the wild west coast. Roughly 150 kilometers long and 45km wide, Kangaroo Island is Australia's third largest island and, like many of South Australia's early settlements, its history is a rough and tumble one. Roving mobs of sealers and whalers, together with the odd escaped convict, have all etched their roguish adventures into the island's history books.

You can rub shoulders with their descendants in the Kingscote Hotel on any Sunday afternoon. Big, ogreish and smelling vaguely of fish, they are friendly folk who will tell you the best place to catch bull salmon or hook one of their famed King George whiting.

Stormy weather
After the smoky pubs and quiet inlets of Kingscote, the towering cliffs and rolling surf of Cape Borda, at the island's far northwest end, offer a refreshing contrast. With winds of up to 75 knots, and mercury levels plunging to around freezing even in the summer, it's not a place for those who suffer the cold easily.

Getting close to nature

Extreme weather conditions are something David Cinzio knows all about. Cinzio, 58, and his wife Tina regularly send weather reports to the Adelaide Bureau of Meteorology from Cape Borda's lighthouse. For the past 25 years, Cinzio has lived the light keeper's lot on some of South Australia's most remote islands. "There's plenty of time to ponder the meaning of life out here," he smiled. "Though not everyone can live with the loneliness and the long stormy nights."

From Cape Borda, the highway snakes south to Flinders Chase National Park, the largest of the island's 18 nature reserves. Camping out in the park among the eucalyptus trees is allowed, and a small shop and information office at nearby Rocky River park headquarters keep the steady stream of travelers informed and well supplied.

The night we set up camp, a spectacular electrical storm rolled across the Chase, lighting up the western sky like artillery fire and providing us with an evening of free entertainment. Not so impressed, though, were a team of Japanese trail bikers who had strung a web of hammocks between the trees, anticipating a night under the stars; packets of rain sodden instant noodles and one soggy guidebook were all that remained of their midnight escape to the park's shelters.

Native contact
Daybreak came with clear skies and a riot of bird noise: honey eaters flitted through the mallee, flocks of galahs and cockatoos rose and swooped over the dry riverbeds while, beyond the ranger's office, hundreds of Cape Barren geese grazed across the damp savannah.

The park's resident kangaroos, tamar wallabies and brush tailed possums have acquired a taste for campers' canned Irish stew and dried fruit, though feeding them is strictly forbidden. Rules and regulations, however, didn't stop one kangaroo from burrowing into our tent to chew on our freeze dried rations and nibble at a Norman Mailer novel.

Environmentally unfriendly
For modern day city slickers, the big drawing card of Cape de Couedic is a glimpse of the vacationing New Zealand fur seals, and the large population of Australian sea lions that speckle its coastline.
While seals abound, so too do sharks. Perched on the windswept headland, I could make out Nautilus Rock, one of the island's five seal breeding grounds. Beyond the rock shelves, great white sharks are known to prowl the steely blue swells looking for a quick baby seal takeout. Park rangers, even the occasional tourist, sometimes witness the macabre spectacle of sharks attacking and then toying with hapless seals, before pulling them to their murky deaths.

Ravine des Casoars, located in the northern part of the island, is a far safer place altogether. Here the green and gold fields fall away to the deep blue ocean, and crayfish fishing boats chug about with flocks of seagulls in tow.

Ravine des Casoars is billed as one of the island's most spectacular walking spots, yet it's also one of the least visited. From the trailhead at the top of 150 meter high cliffs, a narrow pathway leads down through thick groves of sugar gums and mallee bushes. Red and blue rosella parrots rocketed through the undergrowth like tracer bullets ahead of us. A startled meter long banded sand goanna suddenly reared its wrinkled head and let out an agitated hiss. We continued with caution.

Where the ravine widens onto a white sand beach, the full fury of the Southern Ocean can be experienced. Hikers can explore a maze of caves gouged out of the limestone cliffs by years of crashing waves.

Entering these caverns is like stepping into the jaws of some huge prehistoric beast. Sunlight streams through fissures high in the rock walls, and the pungent smell of guano is often a telltale sign that fairy penguins are close by. Inside the cave, the thundering surf outside was amplified ten fold, and at one stage foaming seawater surged in through vents, momentarily cutting us off from the exit.

Time has not diminished the island's rugged charm and mystery, which must have greeted early settlers, and perhaps the odd smuggler, over a century ago.

Getting there
A number of domestic and international airlines offer flights from Narita to Adelaide. From there, Kangaroo Island Ferry Connections Ltd runs regular ferries to the island. Tel: (61) 8 8553 1233, fax: (61) 8 8553 1190,
enquiries@ki ferryconnections.com

Where to stay
See www.tourkangarooisland.com.au, Tour Kangaroo Island's website, for loads of information about camping and accommodation. The South Australian Visitor & Travel Center, at 18 King William Street, Adelaide, also has info and recommendations on accommodation on the island. See www.southaustralia.com for details.

Other Information
There are many tour packages available. Recommended are Kangaroo Island 5 Day Walking Tour (A$955/¥66,415) run by Ecotrek; Bogong Jack Adventures, tel: (61) 8 8383 7198, www.ecotrek.com.au, and Right Whaler B&B 3 Day Tour (A$1,140/¥79,280) run by Australian Wildlife Walkabouts, tel: (61) 8 8553 5350, www.australianwildlifewalkabouts.com. Car rental from Hertz Kangaroo Island (Ki Rental Cars, hertzki@kin.net.au) costs about A$91.00 per day for a 4WD vehicle.

Photo credit: Simon Rowe

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