Friday, March 28, 2025
📝 Day's Highlights
• my new car
• drive to Kangaroo Island
• Cape Willoughby
First day of driving in Australia.
Picked up the car this morning. I was very nervous about driving an automatic, and my start was not encouraging (lots of hiccups in going forward) but by the time I had got down to road level (almost) everything was smooth. I found the driving easy, even in the city traffic. I was even prepared to overtake someone!
Heading south
The ferry across Backstairs Passage was “lively”. Imagine the Steam Packet in a force 6 (and it was only a force 3) but it only lasted for 45 minutes including docking in Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island (KI). I checked in then drove over to Kingscote for lunch. I have quickly adapted to the Australian concept of nearby – it was only 50km (imagine popping from Ramsey to Castletown for lunch). I had a delicious pizza.
Cape Willoughby
On the way back, decided to go and have a look at Cape Willoughby. There was a lighthouse and not a lot else. Though I did see my first wild kangaroo or wallaby.
Most of the drive was on normal sealed roads. However, I did venture on to what the map calls “other roads – unsealed”, which means a surface mixture of bitumin. limestone, potholes and dirt.
Kangaroo Island roads
💡 Travel Tip
Most of the 1,600km road network on Kangaroo Island is unsealed
The back for an Aussie evening. A couple of cold ones at the pub, the back to my room to watch Australian “footy”.
🚗 Distance driven : 284 km