THERE’S A DIFFERENT PACE IN South Australia

Let the grand open spaces of South Australia – from the vineyards of McLaren Vale to the Flinders Ranges, the historic Limestone Coast and the natural wonders of Kangaroo Island – be your canvas on which a great road trip is traced.

Stack the CD player and head out to discover the multitude of places and people who’ve carved fascinating lives from a land of great natural beauty and character.

Luxury accommodation & cottages in South Australia

It seems Kangaroo Island is a place everyone knows about, but leaves to the international visitors to discover. Where else in Australia can you easily spot koalas high in the trees without being in a demarcated preservation area?

You can visit Kangaroo Island on a day trip by coach and ferry from Adelaide, but it’s more advised to take a vehicle and ease down the Fleurieu Peninsula to the ferry crossing for Penneshaw at Cape Jervis.

At about 155 kilometres long, Kangaroo Island is deceptively large, and drive times between the various natural attractions on unsealed roads are longer than one would imagine. More than one third of the island is declared a Conservation Area or National Park, and five significant Wilderness Protection Areas have been retained. This remnant vegetation supports a large population of wildlife and is the reason why Kangaroo Island is Australia’s best place to see fauna in its natural habitat.

Many walking trails are available and are a great way to combine a pleasant walk in natural bushland with the opportunity to see wildlife. Many of the animal species found on Kangaroo Island are most active at night. Nocturnal tours are available across the island.

Another great region to discover in South Australia is the Limestone Coast on the touring route between Adelaide and Melbourne. It encompasses the Coonawarra wine-growing region, where unique terra rossa soils have helped to create some of the best red wines in the world. You can trawl through the many cellar doors and winery restaurants and enjoy magnificent wines to accompany the fine produce, including lobster and other seafood harvested at Robe on the Limestone Coast. Another town in the region, Penola, is famous as the central location in the life of Mary McKillop, who may well become Australia’s first saint.

Drive a couple of hours north of Adelaide and you’ll find yourself in the historic town of Burra, which in its heyday in the 1840s had a larger population than Perth and Brisbane combined, due to the discovery of copper.

The town has four museums and a number of self-guided walks to some of the places of historic significance in Burra. The area is also known for its fossils of the megafauna marsupials, such as Diprotodons. You can follow a four kilometre track to some of the fossil sites.