About Kangaroo Island.....
Some Kangaroo Island facts
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. The island is a pristine wilderness, which has an abudance of wildlife, natural scenery, wineries and beaches.
Kangaroo Island is 112 kilometres south west of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is 13 kms off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsuala in the state of South Australia.
The island is about 155 kms long and between 900 metres and 57 kms wide. It covers an area of 4,405 km2. Its coastline is 540 kms long and its highest altitude is 307 metres.
Kangaroo Island's population is around 4,000 people. The largest town on Kangaroo Island is Kingscote, with a population of about 1,700 people. Penneshaw, the second largest town on Kangaroo Island has a population of around 300 people.
Kangaroo Island is 112 kilometres south west of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is 13 kms off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsuala in the state of South Australia.
The island is about 155 kms long and between 900 metres and 57 kms wide. It covers an area of 4,405 km2. Its coastline is 540 kms long and its highest altitude is 307 metres.
Kangaroo Island's population is around 4,000 people. The largest town on Kangaroo Island is Kingscote, with a population of about 1,700 people. Penneshaw, the second largest town on Kangaroo Island has a population of around 300 people.
History
Known as Karta (Island of the Dead) by the mainland Aboriginals, Kartan stone tools and shell middens suggest that Aboriginal people continuously occupied Kangaroo Island until at least 10,000 years ago when the island separated from mainland Australia due to a rise in sea level.
In 1802 British explorer Matthew Flinders, commanding HMS Investigator, named the land 'Kanguroo (sic) Island' after landing near Kangaroo Head on the north coast of the Dudley Peninsula. He was closely followed by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who mapped much of the island, and this is the reason why so many areas of the island have French names.
In 1863 Kingscote became the first settlement in South Australia and significant parts of the island were opened for farming.
In 1802 British explorer Matthew Flinders, commanding HMS Investigator, named the land 'Kanguroo (sic) Island' after landing near Kangaroo Head on the north coast of the Dudley Peninsula. He was closely followed by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who mapped much of the island, and this is the reason why so many areas of the island have French names.
In 1863 Kingscote became the first settlement in South Australia and significant parts of the island were opened for farming.
Economy
Kangaroo Island's economy is mostly agricultural (wine, honey, wool, meat, & grain). The island also has about 28 wine growers. Kangaroo Island produces some of Australia's finest gourmet foods including King George Whiting, sheep cheese, marron (freshwater crayfish), a unique variety of honey, and an exciting range of varietal wines. Kangaroo Island is famous for its honey and for being the oldest bee sanctuary in the world. Kangaroo Island bee keepers claim to have the only pure srain of Ligurian bee in the world.
Tourism
Kangaroo Island is one of South Australia's most popular tourist destinations, attracting over 140,000 visitors each year with international visitors, primarily from Europe.
Some of the most popular tourist attractions are Seal Bay, Flinders Chase National Park which includes Remarkable Rocks, Kelly Hill Caves, and Cape Willoughby.
More than half of the island has never been cleared of vegetation and a quarter of it is conserved in National Parks, Conservation Parks, and five Wilderness Protection Areas.
Some of the most popular tourist attractions are Seal Bay, Flinders Chase National Park which includes Remarkable Rocks, Kelly Hill Caves, and Cape Willoughby.
More than half of the island has never been cleared of vegetation and a quarter of it is conserved in National Parks, Conservation Parks, and five Wilderness Protection Areas.
Wildlife
Kangaroo Island has abudant wildlife and many species for which Australia is famous for can be found here. There are plenty of opportunities to see these animals close up in their natural habitat. The Kangaroo Island Kangaroo, Rosenberg's Sand Goanna, Southern Brown Bandicoot, Tammar Wallaby, Common Brushtail Possum, Short beaked Echidna, Australian Sea Lion, and New Zealand Fur Seal, are all native to the island, as well as six bat and frog species. The sole endemic (found nowhere else) vertebrate species is a small marsupial carnivore called the Kangaroo Island Dunnart. The Koala, Common Ringtail Possum and Platypus have been introduced and still survive here.
Kangaroo Island has been identified by BirdLife International as an important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of the vulnerable Fairy Tern, the near threatened Bush Stone Curlew, Hooded Plover, and Western Whipbird, and the Rock Parrot and Purple-gaped honeyeater. It also supports over 1% of the world's population of Cape Barren Geese, Black faced Cormorants, Pacific Gulls, and Pied Oysetercatchers, and sometimes of Musk Ducks, Blue billed Ducks, Freckled Ducks, Australian Shelducks, Chestnut Teals, and Banded Stilts. The island is also the last South Australian refuge of the endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo.
Penguin colonies can be located at both Kingscote and Penneshaw, with guided evening tours giving people the opportunity to see them up close.
Kangaroo Island has been identified by BirdLife International as an important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of the vulnerable Fairy Tern, the near threatened Bush Stone Curlew, Hooded Plover, and Western Whipbird, and the Rock Parrot and Purple-gaped honeyeater. It also supports over 1% of the world's population of Cape Barren Geese, Black faced Cormorants, Pacific Gulls, and Pied Oysetercatchers, and sometimes of Musk Ducks, Blue billed Ducks, Freckled Ducks, Australian Shelducks, Chestnut Teals, and Banded Stilts. The island is also the last South Australian refuge of the endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo.
Penguin colonies can be located at both Kingscote and Penneshaw, with guided evening tours giving people the opportunity to see them up close.
Birdlife
Kangaroo Island has been identified by BirdLife International as an important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of the vulnerable Fairy Tern, the near threatened Bush Stone Curlew, Hooded Plover, and Western Whipbird, and the Rock Parrot and Purple-gaped honeyeater. It also supports over 1% of the world's population of Cape Barren Geese, Black faced Cormorants, Pacific Gulls, and Pied Oysetercatchers, and sometimes of Musk Ducks, Blue billed Ducks, Freckled Ducks, Australian Shelducks, Chestnut Teals, and Banded Stilts. The island is also the last South Australian refuge of the endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo.
Penguin colonies can be located at both Kingscote and Penneshaw, with guided evening tours giving people the opportunity to see them up close.
Penguin colonies can be located at both Kingscote and Penneshaw, with guided evening tours giving people the opportunity to see them up close.
How to get there.
Kangaroo Island can be reached by air (35 minutes flight from Adelaide South Australia) or via the Kangaroo Island SeaLink ferry (which takes about 45 minutes from Cape Jervis, South Australia).
Info courtesy of:-
Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org