Kingscote, Emu Bay & Honey

Kangaroo Island was named by Matthew Flinders in March 1802… literally and obviously after the large numbers of kangaroos he saw here. There are other places on the island with similar, obvious names, such as Pelican Lagoon which was full of, you guessed it, pelicans. Then there is Seal Bay, which was full of seals – which turned out to be sea lions, but the early explorers perhaps could not tell the difference. One place we visited on our first full day on KI was Emu Bay. I assume it was named due to the presence of emus. At one time there were emus on KI, but they were a dwarf emu and were declared extinct by 1827. We did not sight any today, dwarf or full size.

Before going to Emu Bay, we called in to the main township on the island, which is Kingscote. It is about 30 km from American River. Kingscote claims to be the first European settlement in South Australia, with a date of 1836 as the year when the settlers arrived.

We walked around the centre of town, located the supermarket, cafes and other stores. It is a quaint little town and seems to have everything you could need. On the northern side of town, towards Reeves Point we found a monument to the first settlers, an early cemetery and an old mulberry tree which is believed to be one planted by the one of the early residents.

Island Beehive is a visitor’s centre celebrating the islands unique bee industry. We popped in, photographed the old truck and oversized bee before continuing on.

Emu Bay is a lovely crescent shaped beach with a playground, campground and what looks to be mostly holiday cottages. We had lunch there and then enjoyed a coastal walk. The sun shone, but the breeze was again cool.

We decided to go from Emu Bay to Clifford’s Honey Farm as had been recommended to us – in particular to try their own honey ice cream. The honey farm was located several kilometres down a dirt road. We found our way there, then looked around in the shop, tasting different types of honey and looking in the little museum, learning a little about the local honey industry. KI bees are unique in that they are Ligurian bees. This is the only place you can find these types of bees apparently. The ice cream was really nice too!  We bought some honey to take home as well.

As we were near D’Estrees Bay we decided to head there for a look. We stopped in at a couple of places, including Wreckers Beach. It felt quite isolated and wild – did not see any signs of other people along this whole stretch of coast!

Met a local goanna on the dirt road heading back towards home. The local goannas are Rosenburg goannas – they are smaller than some of the 26 species of goanna and are listed as endangered. The one we met on the road would be endangered if he hung around on the road too long, but we ensured he was safe today!

Back at the American River turn off we had a look at the mock-up of the old ship ‘Independence’ – not really a replica, more of a monument made of railway sleepers and treated pine logs. The original ‘Independence’ lays claim to another first – the first ship built in SA. An American, Captain Pendleton came to KI after meeting the French explorer Baudin (who named many of the places around the island, which is why many names are French). Baudin told Pendelton there were plenty of seals to be found. Pendelton and his crew were after seals, wanting to take their pelts back to America. The Americans landed at what is now American River and set about building a smaller schooner, Independence to help with their seal cull. All this was in 1803. They only stayed 4 months.

After a busy day out, we enjoyed dinner and our bay views again! It seems that each of our days on KI is going to be busy, maximising the time we have and trying to fit in all we want to see and do!