When I arrived in Australia every immigrations officer, security bag checker and anyone else who bothered gave me the same curious look when they saw I was only going to be staying in Australia for five days.

I asked myself the same question on a number of occasions, but remembered that I am only here for a few days to make space to spend some significant time in New Zealand.

That’s where I’m heading next.

However, as I sit in the airport waiting for my flight the memories of Kangaroo Island are still fresh in my head and hope they remain so for a long time. I have always told people about Kangaroo Island and how it’s the “Galapagos” of Australia and that it is great for wildlife, but that is quite an understatement.

I saw more wildlife here in two days than I did in the four years I lived in Melbourne where I spent plenty of time in the national park system of Victoria. It was quite unbelievable actually.

The places I stayed were magnificent and unique from each other and I’m happy to keep recommending them to my clientele.

However, the real star of the show here is all the animals. “The Island” as the locals refer to it (which is kind of funny because Australia is also technically an island) is home to a million Tammar wallabies on an area of roughly 4500 hectares or acres (I can’t remember) and 4500 resident population. There are also Western euro kangaroos, but have evolved enough to almost be their own sub-species of roo known as Kangaroo Island roos (Ps – Roo is short for kangaroo, but I’m sure you knew that already). It’s like witnessing Darwinism or evolution in action.

Apart from this I saw two echidnas in the wild, koalas in the trees and one that was crossing the road, goannas (large lizards), New Zealand seals, sea lions, a flock of endangered cockatoo, and a 4 foot Tiger snake (10th most venomous in the world). As far as wildlife this was truly an extraordinary visit.

The other aspects that should draw people is the food. EVERYTHING is sourced locally and grown on the island where possible. Everything is fresh and they even grow grapes for wines, which are ok. The other thing that struck me as great is the amount of walks and beautiful beaches around. This is an amazing destination for families as there’s tons of stuff to do and great for the kids to see wildlife in a unique and safe way (leave the snakes alone) and easy to get around.

In any case two thumbs up for KI, I’ll post some pictures in the next update if I can get them uploaded before my flight.

All the best,
Ian