Hailing from the Adelaide Hills, Bruce had a 17-year career in wildlife 

We were fortunate enough to join Bruce on walking and driving tours of the Sanctuary at dusk. It’s vast; there’s customized fencing on the perimeters to protect the animals from introduced predators such as feral cats - hence the value of a sanctuary in the first place - but 99% of the time it feels like open bush.

The property was a sheep station before its current incarnation, and the Eucalyptus-draped former entry drive has been converted into a “Koala Walk”, where 15-20 koalas live, sleep and munch on their favorite leaves. A visit to the koalas would be attraction enough – it’s a non-threatening environment for the koalas, and we were able to get incredibly close to the animals, view adults and juveniles, and hear their very uncuddly call (cutest animal on earth, but that voice is horror movie stuff).  Once the sun set and the animals became more active, Bruce and Lesley then walked us through a glade filled with kangaroos, wallabies, possums, and other native animals. We were wide eyed – and not just because it was getting dark.  Being this close to a kangaroo or koala will bring out the big kid in even the most jaded traveler.

This is just one of many adventures on Kangaroo Island, an idyllic and still largely undiscovered place minutes by plane from Adelaide.  I first visited Kangaroo Island six years ago. Despite a name even Disney wouldn’t risk as sounding too touristy, I left sure it was my favorite place on earth. It is vast, unspoiled, has Australian wildlife everywhere, great hikes through native bush, and a spectacular coastline.
 
Though teeming with treasures, most travelers to Kangaroo Island revel first and foremost in the abundant wildlife. The island is ideal for animal spotting primarily because a) it is largely undeveloped, and the fair amount of farmland you will see on the island actually provides animals with more area for grazing and habitat, and; b) it’s an island - the British who colonized Australia introduced invasive species such as foxes and rabbits that multiplied rapidly and acted as predators and competitors to the native animals (and almost always came out on the winning end – tamar wallabies, common on K.I., are extinct in mainland South Australia thanks to the foxes). There are no foxes, and few other invasive species on Kangaroo Island. It’s always been sparsely populated by humans, too, allowing the animals to thrive.

The locals call it a “zoo without fences.” Even some recent bush fires haven’t dampened the experience. Overnight visitors in particular will see kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, echidnas, seals, and possums. If you’re quiet and out around dusk, you’ll see everything.

Beyond the animals, Kangaroo Island has one of the great unspoiled coastlines in the world, with imposing sea cliffs, beautiful white sand beaches, water in seemingly every shade of blue, waves crashing on rocky offshore islands, and one of the greatest “Stonehenge on steroids” natural rock formations anywhere (with the Southern Ocean as its backdrop) called – fittingly – the Remarkable Rocks. The island also has one of the largest concentrations of seals and sea lions in the world.  At Seal Bay, park rangers will escort you to the beach and let you get within 10 meters of a sea lion colony teeming with huge bulls and frolicking young pups watched over by their mothers.  When extolling its many virtues, you can’t get too far from the animals on Kangaroo Island.

Possibly the best thing about a visit to the island is the sense that you have the place to yourself.  If you’ve ever experienced the “nature with a rush hour” experience of Yosemite or Yellowstone, leaving you a big fan of zero population growth, Kangaroo Island is the elixir. We counted one stretch of 44 km where we didn’t see another car on the road. Even our small lodge – billed as a “Wilderness Retreat” (James and Helen, who run the K.I. Wilderness Retreat, have a wonderful small lodge and will give you a warm welcome) – has wallabies and possums that visit their courtyard each night. They’re tame enough to feed the special “roo food” -  provided by the resort to its guests – by hand.  The place, like so many others on the island, is magic.

Back at the Hanson Bay Sanctuary, the real thrill was the night drive. Most Australian animals are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) or nocturnal. They are elusive by day, but (at least on Kangaroo Island) everywhere at night. Bruce drove us slowly in his four-wheel drive through fields and wooded areas with hundreds of kangaroos and wallabies. The sheer number of animals we saw by spotlight and moonlight was incredible (we had a full moon, by the way – the sky is so clear here that you can see lunar craters). While the night drives I’ve taken through African safari camps might have produced a greater variety of animals, I’ve never seen the abundance of animal life that we did here.

There’s a popular local myth about the day trippers to Kangaroo Island who board a tour bus when the morning ferry docks, are guided to all the attractions, and hop on the ferry home before sunset without seeing a single kangaroo (or wallaby, koala, etc.) Hard to believe it happens, given the amount and diversity of wildlife on the island. But it would be real shame to visit this place without some time after the sun goes down to really see what the fuss is about. Like so many other “must see” attractions when traveling to Australia, a night walk or drive with Bruce and Lesley at Hanson Bay shouldn't be missed when visiting K.I.

Article By: 

Robert Hill, a reformed lawyer and most recently owner of a small legal staffing business, I decided to turn my passion for travel into my career - helping people plan great trips to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific through my company, Peak Travel Partners.