Day 1: Depart Adelaide
The finest elements of McLaren Vale including unspoiled coastline, an ancient gorge and the best of regional food and wine.
Highlights include a morning walk into Onkaparinga Gorge, the Wirra Wirra barrel hall and wine tasting, lunch at Red Poles or Wirra Wirra, a visit to an Indigenous art gallery, tour and wine tasting at d’Arenberg where architecture took inspiration from a Rubik’s Cube, meet the owners at Bekkers Wine and a savour a wine masterclass overlooking their estate, and finish the day with a stunning drive down Silver Sands beach.
Day 2: Fleurieu Peninsula
Begin at Carrickalinga, voted South Australia’s best beach by Lonely Planet. Take a stroll in Deep Creek Conservation Park seeking out native plants and animals while enjoying views across to Kangaroo Island.
Drive the steep 4WD track down to Blowhole Creek, where a short walk reveals a remote Southern Ocean beach. This beach is a beautiful backdrop for our local produce picnic served with a beer or sparkling wine.
After lunch, marvel at the resilience of nature slowly reclaiming the ruins of historic Talisker Silver Mines.
Cape Jervis is the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula and the departure point for your Kangaroo Island ferry, which takes you to the next part of your adventure.
You will be met on arrival and transferred to your accommodation for the next two nights.
Day 3: Kangaroo Island
Welcome to Island life – where things take time, drivers wave as they go by – or even stop for a chat.
Have a cuppa with some home-made treats before taking a walk down a country track through tall Eucalyptus trees where koalas snooze overhead or wake briefly for a feed. Listen for the sounds of the bush – brightly coloured honeyeaters and brilliant parrots, cicadas or perhaps just the sound of silence.
Travel through the Island’s most productive country to the north coast. Walk through the bush with your guide – through strangely shaped trees learning what makes that noise, whose tracks are those, and who left THAT little pile there? Look for small wallabies almost extinct on the mainland, a kangaroo found only on Kangaroo Island and a variety of other birds, plants and animals.
Break for lunch at a private bush camp and enjoy a delicious meal featuring King George whiting (local sea fish), fresh salads and fine South Australian wines.
At Seal Bay Conservation Park take a private tour with your guide among Australian sea-lions on a beautiful sandy beach – an experience similar to that of the Galapagos. Watch pups nursing or playing in the surf, see old bulls bearing the scars of territorial disputes and learn about their unique breeding biology.
Day 4: Kangaroo Island - Return to Adelaide
Travel to the wild west end – a wilderness of over one hundred thousand hectares guarded against development in a series of conservation parks, a national park and wilderness protection areas. Break for morning tea en-route and learn about a century of conservation activities.
Explore the massive natural shapes of Remarkable Rocks – looking like some dramatic natural sculpture perched impossibly on top of a dome of granite emerging from the ocean.
Evidence of the power of the Southern Ocean swell continues at Admirals Arch – a coastal grotto which provides a haul out for a large colony of Long-nosed fur seals who swim effortlessly through the crashing waves.
Lunch today is a picnic enjoyed on the cliff tops or sheltered in the bush depending on weather and consists of poached chicken, local cheeses, fresh fruit, a salad prepared on the spot and a choice of fine Kangaroo Island wines.
After lunch, get off the beaten path to explore some of the lesser known places seeking out more wildlife encounters. Depending on season, we visit “Grassdale” to experience some pioneer heritage or seek out kangaroos amongst endemic Tate’s grass trees which look like they are inspired by Dr Seuss.
At the end of the day, fly back to Adelaide where you will be transferred to your hotel.
