Renting a car on Kangaroo Island and Flinders Chase National Park

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Renting a car on Kangaroo Island and Flinders Chase National Park

Here is an excerpt from my Blog about my experience renting a car on Kangaroo Island.   Posted here so future cruisers may this useful

 

We visit Flinders Chase National Park, 90 miles from the tender pier

Kangaroo Island

Penneshaw and the tender pier as seen from the ship

We anchored off Kangaroo Island, south of Adelaide, at 8 am with a 6 PM departure time.  The main attractions for our visit included:

• Flinders National Park, with Admirals Arch and the Remarkable Rocks being the highlights

• Seal Bay Conservation Park

• Beaches, including Emu Bay, Vivonne Bay, and Stokes Bay.

• Kangaroo Wildlife Park where you can see wildlife up close, including kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, koalas, and various birdlife.

Private excursions here are limited, and many have unfavorable cancellation policies – so understand your risk.  This is a tender port, so the possibility of getting canceled due to weather is higher than average.  HAL will offer a variety of tours where you can see the attractions mentioned above.

There isn’t much to see in Penneshaw, but you can hike around the city and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Kingscote is the largest city, about 25 miles from Penneshaw, and would be a place to visit if you are not interested in the other attractions.

Going Ashore

Our group was on one of the first tenders, and we were ashore at 8:11 am.

Penneshaw tender pier

 

 

We decided to rent a car and visit Flinders Chase National Park.   If you’d rather not rent a car,  HAL usually offers a tour called “Kangaroo Island in a Day” for $210.  This tour will take you to Seal Bay Conservation Park and Flinders Chase National Park.  This is probably the only way to see both of these attractions in a typical 8-10 hour port visit as with the HAL tour, they will return around the all-board time, and you won’t have to contend with returning a rental car and allowing for any buffer time.

Help from the visitors information office staff was available on the pier

 

The car rental location, Kangaroo Island Connect/Budget, was a ten-minute walk.  We got the car and were ready to go in 15 minutes.  Our next stop was the IGA grocery store, and after picking up our lunch, we were on the road at 9 am.  We paid extra for the enhanced insurance, which allowed us to drive on dirt roads.  We did go on one dirt road, but it could have been easily avoided with little loss of time.

Although the Kia Carnival is rated for eight adults, I wouldn’t plan on more than 6

 

NOTE:  We learned afterward that the car has a GPS tracker installed, and they will verify that you didn’t drive on prohibited roads and made your final stop at the Penneshaw Gas Station.

NOTE:  We rented an 8-passenger Kia Carnival from Kangaroo Island Connect.  The cost for the Kia was $260, which included 300 KM.  We ended up driving a little over 400 KM.  The extra miles cost $33, and $45 for gasoline.  The total cost for the vehicle was $338 (all prices are in USD).   I spoke with another couple who rented a van, and their price from Thrify was about the same.    The Kia Carnival is advertised as an 8-passenger vehicle, but I wouldn’t use it for more than six adults.

Admission to Flinders Chase is $9 and must be bought online in advance.  A Wi-Fi hotspot was available near the Park Information Center if you didn’t purchase tickets beforehand.  You can also buy the tickets at the information trailer at the park entrance if the website is not working.

There is no food in the park and only one restaurant along the way near Vivonne Bay, so we bought prepared sandwiches and soft drinks at the Penneshaw IGA for about $10 USD per person.

There isn’t any gate or anyone checking tickets, although you may be asked to produce a ticket by a Ranger – so be prepared.

Flinders Chase National Park

It took us about 90 minutes to get to the Flinders Chase National Park entrance, where we stopped for a photo by the park sign.

Welcome to Flinders Chase National Park

 

Five minutes later, we stopped at the Information Center.  We checked in here, and they marked our names off their list.  I’m not sure this was necessary as there weren’t any signs saying you had to stop, and nothing on your ticket indicated a stop here was required.  Restrooms are available here.

Our first stop in the park was at the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse 17 minutes later.  We spent about 15 minutes here before continuing to the Admirals Arch parking lot, arriving at 11:30.  If you are pressed for time, I would skip the lighthouse and go straight to Admirals Arch.

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse

Admirals Arch

The HAL tours arrived at the same time, and the HAL guests were allocated 30 minutes to walk to the Arch and return.  It’s downhill, going down and uphill, coming back with about 100 steps as you approach the Arch.

These are the steps as your approach the Admirals Arch Viewing Platform

 

Admirals Arch is a natural rock formation sculpted by the wind and waves over millions of years.  Information boards along the boardwalk provide details about the geological processes that led to the formation of the arch.  You will also see the New Zealand fur seals that call this area home.

Table 89 at Admirals Arch Admirals Arch

 

We spent about 1 hour here, although much of that time was spent waiting for the HAL people to leave so we could easily take multiple photographs without any other people in our pictures.

Seals were on the rocks. Here is a mother nursing her pup

 

Weirs Cove

We returned to our car at 12:30 pm and headed to Weirs Cove, arriving at 12:35 pm.  We spent 15 minutes here enjoying the spectacular view and taking some photos.  Although Weirs Cove has a fantastic view, you could skip this stop if pressed for time.

Weirs Cove

 

Remarkable Rocks

Our final stop in Flinders Chase was the Remarkable Rocks arriving at the parking lot around 1 pm.  Restrooms are available here.  It’s probably a 1/4 mile walk to the Rocks, and we spent about 1 hour here.  The HAL tour will budget about 30 minutes, so you will have more time to explore if you do this tour on your own.

Remarkable Rocks are a unique formation of granite boulders eroded by the wind and the sea.  The rocks are a stunning sight to behold, with their strange shapes and patterns standing out against the blue of the ocean and the sky.  Information boards along the boardwalk leading to the Rocks provide details about the formation and history of Remarkable Rocks.  Take the time to read these boards and learn about the geological processes that led to the creation of this unique natural landmark.

As you wander around the Remarkable Rocks,  the perspective is constantly changing

 

We left Remarkable Rocks around 2 pm and headed back to Penneshaw.  We made a brief photo stop at the Bunker Hill Lookout before continuing.

The road on the way to Remarkable Rocks

We had considered making an additional stop at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife park or possibly one of the beaches or maybe Clifford’s Honey Farm  but we decided to head straight back to Penneshaw, giving us more buffer time since we were so far away.  We arrived back at the Penneshaw Gas Station at 4:10 pm, and after another photo stop in town, we dropped on the car at 4:30 – one hour before the all aboard.

A view of the Zuiderdam from Penneshaw

Summary

Visiting Kangaroo Island using a rental car is an excellent option if you are comfortable driving a car on the left side of the road.  The roads here are wide and smooth, so it’s pretty straightforward, but it is different and takes a little getting used to.  The per-person total cost for our rental car excursion was about $80 USD per person (5 people), including our food.

Edited February 23, 2023 by The-Inside-Cabin

[JeffroK]

Beautiful place, honeymooned here in 1985, revisited about 5 years ago.

 

Calling Kingscote a city is going too far, a small town is more accurate 🙂

 

You chose a great way to get 5-6 people around the island, I would only add a visit to the North cost for more scenery.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

1 hour ago, JeffroK said:

Beautiful place, honeymooned here in 1985, revisited about 5 years ago.

 

Calling Kingscote a city is going too far, a small town is more accurate 🙂

 

You chose a great way to get 5-6 people around the island, I would only add a visit to the North cost for more scenery.

Thanks for the additional info - This was my second visit - On my next visit, I plan to explore the North Coast 

[MMDown Under]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:16 PM, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Thanks for the additional info - This was my second visit - On my next visit, I plan to explore the North Coast 

Picturesque Stokes Bay on the North Coast was voted best beach in Australia for 2023.  You have to walk through rocks to reach the beach and there were kangaroos on the hillside.  

[cruisin from florida]

THANK YOU for this great post! We are spending 3 nights on Kangaroo Island before our New Zealand cruise, and other than our lodging and transportation (flying there and renting a car), we have nothing planned yet. This is so great and helpful!

[MMDown Under]

For those not wishing to drive the long distances on Kangaroo Island, you can get transfers to your accommodation like I did once, and do short walks from there..  

www.walkingsa.org.au - walk

There are also organised longer walks such as a five day trek. KI wilderness trail.  one of aust's great walks.

sa.gov.au

[Condocat]

Kangaroo Island is wonderful!

 

Spent a week there back in 2019.  I highly recommend visiting the Raptor Center known as

Raptor Domain;   kangarooislandbirdsofprey.com.au

 

It was unforgettable!

 

PS: Careful driving, we hit a kangaroo or should  I say the roo hit us!

[MMDown Under]

On 4/17/2023 at 1:10 AM, Condocat said:

Kangaroo Island is wonderful!

 

Spent a week there back in 2019.  I highly recommend visiting the Raptor Center known as

Raptor Domain;   kangarooislandbirdsofprey.com.au

 

It was unforgettable!

 

PS: Careful driving, we hit a kangaroo or should  I say the roo hit us!

Best not to drive between dusk and dawn to avoid wlldlife. (Although a friend hit a kangaroo on the highway back from Goondiwindi at 1 pm recently.)

We have driven across Kangaroo Island several times.  We stay on both sides so there isn't so much long driving.  Once when I went on my own, I got a transfer and did walks from the accommodation (with personal koala in tree outside cabin). (There is a five day wilderness walk for which they provide transfers.)