Day 3 Itinerary
Kingscote (home) -> Murray Lagoon -> Clifford Honey Farm ->Penneshaw -> Cape Willoughby -> Lashmar Conservation Park -> Penneshaw (7pm ferry)
As we had a ferry to catch in the evening, we thought it would be best to concentrate on the east side of the Island today. Don’t be put off by the daunting “5hr31min” estimate on Google Map – as it turned out, the actual driving time was almost half of that. A few tips:
- Take the unsealed roads from Murray Lagoon to Clifford’s Honey Farm. The roads were not bumpy in a 4WD.
- It only took us half an hour from Penneshaw to Cape Willoughby (but Google Map said 1.5hr!).
Murray Lagoon – Bald Hill Walk
Murray Lagoon is the largest freshwater lagoon on Kangaroo Island. There are three walks available in this area, namely:
- Timber Creek Walk (1.5km return, approximately 1hr);
- Bald Hill Walk (1km return, approximately 30mins); and
- Curley Creek Hike (11km return, approximately 4hrs).
We did the Bald Hill Walk.
Doesn’t the entrance look enchanted? Firebolt, up!
The scenery changed dramatically as soon as we emerged from the tree tunnel. The grass was so luxuriously green compared to the dry branches that we just walked through.
Serenity.
The walk was short and incredibly easy. We took less than 10 minutes to walk from the entrance to the lookout.
{Murray Lagoon - Bald Hill} Where: Enter via Seagers Road. Distance: 1km return. Driving time from Kingscote: 20 minutes
Clifford’s Honey Farm Shop
Queen Bee and the loyal drone. Hehe.
Kangaroo Island is known to have the world’s only pure strain of Ligurian Bee. Ligurian Bee is a species of Italian honey bee and was introduced to Kangaroo Island in 1884. I’m not sure why pure is good in the world of bees, but it is pretty cool that the only pure Italian of bees can now only be found in Kangaroo Island but not in Italy. We also learned that Liguarian Bees on Kangaroo Island are free of major bee diseases because the Island is too isolated for the mainland bees to infect them. That’s why all bees or bee products are restricted from entering Kangaroo Island!
The small room behind the shop with a brief history and background on Ligurian Bees.
The honey ice cream was the best food that I had on Kangaroo Island! Very creamy with a subtle but lovely honey aftertaste.
A tourist’s notes:
- Is it worth going: Yes, if you have extra time.
- Why: On the one hand, it’s just a small shop filled with honey products. On the other hand, the honey ice cream…oh the honey ice cream.
- How much time should we spent here: As short as 10 minutes – grab your honey, grab your ice cream and go.
- Driving Time: From Murray Lagoon to Clifford Honey Farm Shop = 25-30 minutes (on unsealed roads).
Penneshaw Sunday Market
We stumbled upon the Penneshaw Sunday Market by chance. It’s on the first Sunday of each month near the Penneshaw ferry terminal.
{Penneshaw Market Day} Timetable and more info: https://www.sealink.com.au/specials/ki-farmers-market/
Penneshaw Penguin Centre
We were surprised that the penguin centre was open because we thought it had closed down (that’s what it said on its website when we checked the night before!).
We walked in, but the staff seemed indifferent (didn’t even look at us), so we walked out. We also heard that there are not many penguins left in the colony nowadays, so we didn’t think joining a tour with a less-than-enthusiastic guide would be much fun anyway.
If you walk down to the water (right by the ferry terminal), you will find a sign that says “Penguin Rockery” that urges people not to walk on the sand. Sadly, this is probably the only proof that there was once a penguin colony here.
Penneshaw Hotel
We had lunch at the Penneshaw Hotel. The balcony had an amazing ocean view that would be perfect in summer.
The menu.
We waited about 30 minutes for our food. Of course, this wouldn’t be acceptable in Sydney – but it’s the pace in Kangaroo Island so I’m not complaining (especially as we later found out there was a sign at the counter asking the patrons to be patient…).
Salt and Pepper Squid served with dill mayonnaise, $20 (main).
Fish n Chips, $19 (1 piece).
Crab Linguini (crab meat, garlic, tomato, squid ink linguini, lemon, chili, herbs and creme fraiche), $25.
{Penneshaw Hotel} Website: http://www.penneshawhotel.com.au/
Cape Willoughby
There are only three guided tours a day, at 11:30am, 12:30pm and 2pm. We were lucky to have made it to the 2pm one as it was such a highlight of our Kangaroo Island trip. The guide gave us an in-depth tour of the historical lighthouse that had served thousands of ships crossing the Backstairs Passage in the past decades.
If you think your job is hard, I’m sure you would feel much better after learning what a lightkeeper had to sacrifice for his job. The lightkeeper’s family lived in the cottage next to the lighthouse, there were photos on the wall telling the story of their times.
Respect.
The job as a lightkeeper at Cape Willoughby was particularly difficult due to the ridiculous weather at this corner of the Island. I almost got blown away by the strong wind when we arrived! It’s incredible how the wind could take such a huge turn just minutes away from Penneshaw.
Our knowledgeable guide, Quentin.
This is a Fresnel Lens. It was used to create the light beams at the lightstation. With the carefully designed curves and angles of the lens, the light source placed in the middle of the Fresnel Lens would reflect and refract through the lens and send through a strong beam of light guiding the ships through the dark nights.
Interestingly (and sadly for the lightkeepers), the Fresnel Lens at Cape Willoughby was a revolving one that sat on a bath of mercury (!) to keep it spinning. Ding ding ding, Work Health & Safety hazard!
Pure white.
The stairs of the lighthouse were less than charming. It was one of the horrible decisions made in the 70s in renovating the lighthouse with the then “hip” and “cool” materials.
Flag language is awesome. It’s an international maritime language used between ships to communicate by simply flying the flags. For example, if the ship is flying the blue and white horizontal stripes flag, it means “I am on fire and have dangerous cargo on board: keep well clear of me.” How brilliant, a single flag serves as a warning for other ships not to try and rescue them because it could explode any minute!
A tourist’s notes:
- Is it worth going: Yes.
- Guided tour or self-guided tour: Definitely the guided tour.
- Guided tour price: $15/adult.
- More info: http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/Kangaroo_Island/Cape_Willoughby
Zest & Thyme cafe
Zest and Thyme is right next to Cape Willoughby. The entrance was unassuming, but the interior was really nice.
Full length windows. Ocean view. Sofa. Win.
You can see the lighthouse from here.
Lovely, lovely afternoon tea time. The salted caramel chocolate cake that we had was very nice, and the coffee was decent.
The friendly owner, Moss, came and said hi to us. We had a good chat and we all agreed that if there’s a cafe in Sydney that has THIS VIEW, we wouldn’t be able to make it through the doors!
{Zest & Thyme} Address: Near Cape Willoughby lighthouse.
Lashmar Conservation Park
Since we had a bit of time to spare on this side of the island, we decided to visit the Lashmar Conservation Park between Cape Willoughby and Penneshaw.
Lashmar Conservation Park is not one of the “must-see” places on Kangaroo Island. It was a last minute decision so we didn’t know what to expect. As we continued on the narrow and descending unsealed road, we felt pretty adventurous.
Our adventure brought us to…this long stretch of beach. Seriously, is there a corner on Kangaroo Island that’s not beautiful?
With no trace of human, it’s just like a movie set from Cast Away.
Old man and the sea. Hehe.
Island Grill
It’s quite funny how we found Island Grill. We saw it being mentioned on the Kangaroo Island information brochure, and we actually went and looked for it earlier in the afternoon. However, we couldn’t find it.
When we got back to Penneshaw in the evening before our ferry, we didn’t know what to have for dinner so we thought we would just get something from IGA. That’s when we saw a tiny neon “open” sign flashing on the fence of the football field right opposite IGA…Hmm, what’s “open” there? Turned out, it’s Island Grill! No wonder we couldn’t find it, we thought it was a restaurant but it’s in fact a food truck!
The menu.
Hamburger (plain), $10.
Steak-burger (plain), $12.
Island Grill is affordable and delicious. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a bite to eat in Penneshaw.
More on Kangaroo Island:
Click for [Day 1] – Prospect Hill, Remarkable Rocks, Admirals Arch, Cape du Couedic, Vivonne Bay, Oyster Shop.
Click for [Day 2] – Dolphin swim, Marron Cafe, Seal Bay guided tour.
Click for [Kangaroo Island accommodation & planning tips].