KANGAROO ISLAND 5 DAY EXPLORATION

 Australian Wildlife, up close and personal, but Kangaroo Island is no zoo. You will meet up with Kangaroos, Emus, Australian Fur seals, Koalas, Wallabies, Fairy Penguins, Echidnas and a host of birds and reptiles all in their natural surrounds, no cages here.
Kangaroo Island is also known internationally for pristine remote beaches (in a country of magnificent beaches a Kangaroo Island beach has been  voted as the best in the nation).
On your side car adventure you wont see many sealed roads. You definitely wont see many motor cycles, the roads on the Island are covered in round ironstone pebbles, ideal sidecar country but a definite 'no' for road bikes. In fact, unless you pick peak holiday season, you wont see many cars either.
 Kangaroo Island has a host of accommodation options. There are camp grounds, peaceful and secluded where you will have to keep on eye on your food when the kangaroos and emus visit. There are excellent cabins at reasonable prices scattered across the island. And there is plenty of premium hotel, motel and B&B options that will fit the budget of most travellers. If you look at a map of the Island you will see 1/3rd of the island is National and Conservation Parks. Many of the best roads are not shown, these are the roads that take you to the little travelled places, your own 'private' beach or secluded picnic area away from civilisation. It's not a big Island, only 155km long and 55km wide, but a five day visit will give you the right amount of time to relax and have a really good adventure.

Your itinerary:-

Day 1.... Leave Adelaide and travel down the Fleurieu Peninsula visiting some of the states finest beaches, exclusive wineries and interesting towns. You will travel south along  the top of the Mount Lofty Ranges and get to Cape Jervis to catch the evening ferry. Just before dark you will leave the ferry and ride up to your accommodation for the night, a comfy bed and breakfast.

Day 2..... After a leisurely breakfast 'hop' on the Ural and head for American River. This is the epitome of the classic fishing village where some great photo opportunities abound. After a tasty morning tea we ride to Kingscote where you can explore the shops and galleries and visit the site of South Australia's first settlement.
From there you head  to Emu bay for a ride/stroll on the beach. As the evening starts to fall you will be settled into your next B&B for a sumptuous evening meal and a quiet night at a remote farmhouse.

Day 3....Today is a day of exploring beaches and lighthouses. As you travel along the North Coast of Kangaroo Island you'll discover remote beaches and, unless it in peak holiday time, you will probably have the sand to yourself. Most of the distance travelled today will be on unsealed roads and you'll see very little traffic. In the afternoon you'll head south across the Island to tonight's accommodation near the entrance of Flinders Chase National Park.

Day 4....After an early start you head into the park. Today you will marvel at stunning Southern Ocean scenery and enjoy continuous wildlife encounters. In the afternoon we head east, following the south coast and dropping into Vivonne Bay to see Australia's best beach then onto Seal Bay to visit a colony of Australian Fur Seals, another great photo opportunity destination. Before dark you'll be settled into tonight's accommodation at American River.

Day 5... Up early and head out in a boat for a couple of hours of whiting fishing. Kangaroo Island is one of those places where you are virtually guaranteed to catch every time you go fishing. The whiting (Australia's finest table fish) you catch can be iced down and packed in the sidecar. The afternoon will take you to the very easternmost point of the Island then back to catch the mid afternoon ferry to the mainland with a gentle afternoon ride back to Adelaide

Outback Desert Tour -Selected Months Only

On this tour we are accompanied by a 4WD support vehicle. We''ll be camping out and everything will be supplied. The tour is for up to 8 people, with everyone taking turns swapping between the 4WD and the sidecar or, if appropriate, becoming the sidecar rider.

There are some words that mean remote to those that travel the outback. Marree, William Creek, the Oodnadatta Track, Cobber Pedy Opal, Lake Eyre, The Dog Fence and The Old Ghan Railway are just a few of these words. This tour starts in Adelaide but you get into the serious outback at Marree, the real gateway to outback South Australia. From Marree we follow the route of the Original Ghan Railway and many abandoned fettlers outposts and sheep stations, past Lake Eyre South and on to William Creek. We travel west from there across the world's biggest cattle station  to Coober Pedy, the home of the world's finest opal, a town where many residents live underground to escape the heat of the Australian Summer. From here you travel on the black top through desert country on the Adelaide/Darwin road (The Stuart Highway) back to Adelaide.

The Tour:- Day 1:- Leave Adelaide and head north through the Barossa and Clare Valley with to visits to a winery or two, then continue up through some interesting country towns. We enter the Southern Flinders Rages and spend night one at the lovely bush town of Quorn.

 Day 2:- There's no need for a rush start today, we have a day made for the photographer as we head north following the ancient landscape of the Flinders Ranges, one of the oldest mountain ranges on the Earth . We visit the ruins of stations, farms and towns as we follow the old rail north into the serious outback. At Lyndhurst we pass the Strzelecki Track turnoff to Innamincka and leave the black top as we head to Marree, our overnight stay.

Day 3:- Continuing on our journey we have the choice of two roads: turn right it's a long 500k ride through pure desert country up the Birdsville Track to Birdsville in Queensland but we turn left and follow the route of the Old Ghan railway line past Lake Eyre South to William Creek. This is our road and the day is spent on the internationally known Oodnadatta Track to be in one of Australia's most recognised outback pubs, the William Creek Hotel.

Day 4:- Today is not a long riding day, but could well be the most significant of our tour. It's just 166km to Coober Pedy. On the way west we will stop off for lunch at Lake Cadibarrawirracanna. This is not a particularly significant stop except the name. How could you go within 6km of Lake Cadibarrawirracanna (the longest place name in Australia) and not stop for a visit. By early afternoon you're ready to explore Coober Pedy, a town like no other in the entire world.

Day 5:- It's a long ride down the Stuart Highway from Coober Pedy to Woomera. Keep your eyes open, whilst this appears to be barren desert country there is so much to see. By mid afternoon we'll be at Woomera, home of Australia's rocket experiments for many years but today a modern ghost town. A walk around the town before settling down for the night you'll find most interesting.

 Day 6:- We head back to Adelaide with a stop at the Wadlata Outback Centre at Port Augusta on the way. All going to plan we'll be back in Adelaide by mid to late afternoon.



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