The finest elements of McLaren Vale including unspoiled coastline, an ancient gorge and the best of regional food and wine. Highlights include a morning hike overlooking 600 million-year-old Onkaparinga Gorge cliffs, the Wirra Wirra barrel hall and wine tasting, lunch at Red Poles or Wirra Wirra, a visit to an Indigenous Art Gallery, tour and wine tasting at the d’Arenberg Cube, Bekkers fine wine masterclass, and finish with a drive down Silver Sands beach.

Overnight

The Coastal Lodge is a beautiful B&B with 3 suites overlooking the rolling countryside and Fleurieu Coast. For dinner, enjoy a Wild Coast BBQ which showcases the quality beef our region is known for accompanied by wine from the owner’s private cellar.

Begin at Carrickalinga, voted South Australia’s best beach by Lonely Planet. Take a stroll in Deep Creek Conservation Park seeking out native plants and animals while enjoying views across to Kangaroo Island. Drive the steep 4WD track down to Blowhole Creek, where a short walk reveals a remote Southern Ocean beach. This beach is a beautiful backdrop for our local produce picnic served with a beer or sparkling wine. After lunch, marvel at the resilience of nature slowly reclaiming the ruins of historic Talisker Silver Mines. Cape Jervis is the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula and the departure point for your Kangaroo Island ferry, which takes you to the next part of your adventure.

Overnight

You will be met on arrival and transferred to your accommodation for the next two nights at Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge, enjoying dinner on both nights as part of the package.

Settle into local pace where things take time. Enjoy a ‘cuppa’ with home-made treats before
exploring tall forest where koalas snooze. Listen to bush sounds – noisy honeyeaters and parrots, cicadas or perhaps the sound of silence. Travel through productive farmland to the north coast. Walk bush trails seeking out small wallabies, endemic kangaroos and other birds, plants and animals. Take a break to enjoy delicious grilled fish, fresh salads and fine South Australian wines and beers a private bush camp. At Seal Bay Conservation Park take a private guided tour among Australian sea-lions on a beautiful beach – an experience reminiscent of the Galapagos. Watch pups nursing or at play in the surf, see old bulls scarred by territorial battles and learn about their unique breeding biology.

Overnight

Return to Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge for dinner.

Begin the day on the island’s north-west in an important private wildlife refuge with Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife which was unburned in the 2020 bushfires. Check out wildlife surveys using daylight and infrared camera traps, targeting tiny endangered mammals, and get an introduction to the bush. Break for an elegant picnic lunch in the bush, featuring marinated poached chicken, fresh salads, cheeses, and boutique South Australian wines. After lunch, travel into Flinders Chase National Park via the West End Highway, stopping to learn how the bush has adapted to fire. Explore Cape du Couedic including the lighthouse precinct and our most iconic coastal landscapes. This includes the massive shapes of Remarkable Rocks, a natural sculpture perched impossibly on top of a dome of granite emerging from the ocean. See the power of the Southern Ocean swell at Admirals Arch – a coastal grotto which provides a haul out for a large colony of Long-nosed fur seals who swim effortlessly through the crashing waves. Visit Rocky River, an important breeding ground for rare Cape Barren Geese OVERNIGHT Return to Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge for dinner.

Return transfer to Kingscote Airport for your flight back to Adelaide Inclusions