Eco-camping at Flour Cask Bay

Kangaroo Island - Eco-camping at Flour Cask Bay

There's no better place to get back to nature than Kangaroo Island, Australia's third largest island

Dangling beneath the southern foot of the Yorke Peninsula in the Gulf St Vincent, more than half of this wild at heart South Australian island is either natural bushland or national park, and you won't be on the island for very long before you come across some of the 4000 thousand penguins, 6000 fur seals, 700 rare Australian sea lions, 5000 koalas, 15,000 kangaroos, 254 species of birdlife and somewhere in between 500,000 and one million tammar wallabies that call the island home.

Trouble is, if you want to camp amongst it, rather than stay in a hotel or $1000-a-night luxury lodge, getting your caravan or camper trailer across to KI, as the locals call the island, is easy enough on the ferry, but not cheap - expect to pay around $500 return for two people, vehicle and standard-size van. This is fine if you intend staying for a week or two and have the time to drive all the way to Cape Jervis on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide, but if you only have a few days to spare and want to fly in and out, you have, until now, been a little short of good holiday camping options.

Flour Cask Bay, a new privately owned nature reserve set up by former national park ranger, Mark Herrmann, has changed all that with the establishment of two permanent Eco Camps overlooking a lake just minutes from the white sandy beach of Flour Cask Bay on the island's southern coast. The camps, which are a kilometre apart so you're guaranteed your privacy, are built around a portable camper trailer, have a queen-sized bed, private ensuite with hot water shower and toilet, solar-powered lights and fully-equipped camp kitchen. Oh, and they come with an optional Mercedes Benz M-class 4WD. And they have a very environmentally-friendly zero-footprint policy.

If you don't fancy staying in the eco-camp, you can opt for one of the fully equipped Kimberley camper trailers, find your own corner of island paradise and set up camp on your own. Added extras available include kayaks and mountain bikes.

And you're not limited to just the Sanctuary; vehicles may be driven on all areas of the island with the exception of any beaches and there are no restrictions on night time driving, so you can explore the island at you leisure.

The sanctuary is off Flour Cask Bay Road, Flour Cask Bay. Visit Flour Cask Bay for more details.

KI's top five back to nature thrills

1. Hit the slopes of Little Sahara near Vivonne Bay and surf the massive razor-backed dunes. It's a tough climb up, but it only takes seconds to slide down and is almost too much fun. Just resist the urge to squeal or you'll end up with a mouthful of sand. Sand boards and toboggans are available for hire from the Vivonne Bay General Store through KI Outdoor Action. Tel: (08) 8559 4296.
2. Swim with dolphins: KI Marine Tours will take you to two well known dolphin habitats near Emu Bay where you can get in the water (wetsuits and snorkels included) and swim with the resident dolphins - so long as they are not more interested in chasing fish. The boat is a rigid inflatable zodiac (just like the ones on Sea Patrol!) that sits just inches above the surface of the water so even if you don't get in the water you will get very close to the inquisitive mammals.
3. Talk to sea lions: one of the most popular spots on the island for wildlife watching is the mis-named Seal Bay, a long-wind-wept beach where around 700 Australian sea lions haul out of the water to rest after spending three days or so hunting for food out at sea. It's the only place in Australia where you can get this close to the sea lions, all other colonies are perched amongst inaccessible rocky headlands, and you can join a 45-minute ranger-led tour of the beach, walking just metres away from the huge, sleepy animals.
4. Waddle with penguins: both Kingscote and Penneshaw have penguin colonies, but the best place to see them is on the guided boardwalk tour in Penneshaw, which is home to 1200 of KI's 4000 little penguins. The penguins spend most of the day feeding out at sea, returning to land just after dark, when you can see the parents come waddling out of the sea to clamber up the rocky beach to their burrow-like nests in the sand dunes to feed their hungry chicks.
5. Take a drive: wherever you are, keep your eyes peeled for koalas in the tree tops beside the road, dawdling echidnas crossing in front of your car, and of course, the hundreds of wallabies and kangaroos that are ubiquitous on the island. If you can't spot wildlife here you just aren't trying.

More information: Gateway Visitor Information Centre, Penneshaw. Call (08) 8553 1185.

By Lee Atkinson, July 2008. Images by SATC and Lee Atkinson.