'This pristine beach destination is 90 minutes from Adelaide but feels a world away.'

The first morning of our holiday, I woke up early and walked two minutes down to the beach. Mesmerised by the orange light, I thought I glimpsed something in the water in front of me. Concentrating harder, I saw it again. And again. And again. It was dolphins, swimming and gracefully frolicking in front of me.

The last morning of my holiday, I walked back to the beach and, as I was chatting to my husband, a kangaroo jumped out of the saltbush on the sand and bounded right past me.

These close-up wildlife sightings set the tone for an amazing few days.

So, where is this beach of dreams?

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Hog Bay, Kangaroo Island. A mere hour-and-a-half drive from Adelaide plus a 45-minute ferry ride. Close to Adelaide but a world away.

Kangaroo Island (KI to the locals) was named by explorer, Matthew Flinders, in 1802 after the number of kangaroos he saw there. I can testify that, more than 220 years later, there are more kangaroos in the wild on KI than I have ever seen. Waaaay more!

A wildlife paradise.

At Seal Bay, we saw a colony of sea lions. There's a boardwalk and a lookout. There are also options for guided tours that take you right onto the beach. The next guided tour was not for a couple of hours so we elected just to wander the boardwalk ourselves.

The weather the preceding week had been searing heat. A cool change meant the sea lions were nestled in the sand dunes keeping warm rather than swimming and chilling out of sight. Lucky us had a prime spot watching 20-odd sea lions including a pup suckling from mum. What a privilege to see!

A sleepy sea lion resting at Seal Bay. Image: supplied.

Another day we visited Cape Willoughby Lighthouse and did a self-guided walk. The trail was dusty and dotted with kangaroo poo. The heat had returned that day so the roos were mainly sheltering in the shade under the trees. Their eyes were trained on us as we walked by — they looked more scared of us than we were of them.

At the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, we had the treat of all treats, patting koalas and feeding kangaroos. Again, we were lucky, arriving at the Wildlife Park just in time for the koala experience. This meant that we were able to go inside the locked gate and pat the nine koalas! They were so soft and so like teddy bears. We were filled with child-like wonder!

Feeding the Kangaroos at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park. Image: supplied.

For the princely sum of $3 for a bag of food, we then fed roaming wallabies and kangaroos. They came up to us, gently pawing us for food. Sooo cute. Our smiles couldn't have been wider!

The kangaroos found on KI are a sub-species of a Western Grey Kangaroo. They are endemic to KI. This means that they are found nowhere else in the world!

There were other birds and animals at the KI Wildlife Park too, including quokkas. I had only ever seen them once before, on Rottnest Island in Western Australia, so that was a treat!

Other than the wildlife, what else is there to do?

Well, Kangaroo Island is an island (derrr!) so it's encircled by beaches. Universally stunning beaches. Unspoilt with long stretches of white sand. Some of our favourites were Hog Bay, Pennington Bay and Vivonne Bay.

At Pennington Bay, there was not a soul around. We marvelled at the sand with only our footprints on it and at the water which was the colour of Cool Mint Listerine!

The view at Pennington Bay. Image: supplied.

But you don't have to be a "beach person" to enjoy KI. There is a vibrant local makers scene too. Over a few days, we visited a brewery, a winery, a gin distillery (is there a theme here?), an eucalyptus oil distillery and a bee farm.

The bee story is unique. Ligurian bees were brought to KI from Italy in 1884 and KI was declared a bee sanctuary in 1885 — the oldest bee sanctuary in the world. Even today, it is prohibited to bring in honey or bees to KI. Being protected from disease and bred with other types of bees, the Kangaroo Island Ligurian bee is the purest strain of Ligurian bee in the world.

Kangaroo Island Spirits was founded on KI in 2006 and is Australia's first dedicated gin distillery. We had pizza and calamari from the resident food truck with a gin paddle. You can choose tonic water or mineral water with your paddle. We learnt that tonic has a stronger taste and can dull the flavour of the gin but we still opted for the tonic! We bought a bottle of our favourite gin to bring home.

We had a beer paddle at Kangaroo Island Brewery and also bought some beer to bring home — lucky we were travelling in a motorhome with lots of storage!

Continuing with the theme, we visited False Cape Winery, the largest winery on KI, and we had….another paddle! This time, a paddle-tasting flight of four different wines. You can choose "The Whites," "The Reds" or a "Mixed Taster" where you choose the four wines you want to taste.

At False Cape, we ate lunch with our Mixed Taster on a gorgeous, outdoor terrace area overlooking the vines. The vineyard is totally off-grid, relying on solar panels to generate 100 per cent of the electricity used on the farm. The aim is a sustainable vineyard. Even in the toilets, a sign encourages you to dispose of paper hand towels separately so that they can be composted back into the soil.

Foodie delights at False Cape Winery. Image: supplied.

We could have had a paddle at the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Oil Distillery too. Not eucalyptus oil (!!) but cider. They offered kids' paddles too. (I had never seen that before - what a winner of an idea!). We decided we'd had our fill of paddles and opted for cappuccinos with delicious house-made cake.

What to eat on Kangaroo Island.

We stayed in Penneshaw. Two cafés are across the road from each other — Millie Mae's Pantry and Fat Beagle. We alternated each day for our morning brew. Both had excellent coffee plus a range of snacks and meals.

Penneshaw also has The Penneshaw Pub. The outdoor terrace has uninterrupted cliff-top views across to the Australian mainland. We had a drink there on a sunny afternoon looking out at the glistening water.

The island's largest town, Kingscote, is South Australia's oldest European settlement. There, we lunched at another pub overlooking the water — the historic Aurora Ozone Hotel. I had a chicken schnitzel coated in panko breadcrumbs with a choice of "Parmi toppers" (a new concept to me). I chose a topper of delicious garlic prawns.

We had never been to KI before and we had assumed there would be little to no supermarkets. We planned ahead, visited a supermarket at Victor Harbour before we boarded the ferry and stocked up on food. Then we arrived in Penneshaw and saw the very impressive IGA. Lesson — you don't need to stock up before you arrive in KI.

How did we get around?

We wanted to explore but we were concerned about taking the motorhome on unsealed roads.

Distances in KI are vast so bikes weren't an option. We decided to hire a car for a few days. The cheapest car happened to be an electric vehicle — a Polestar 2. Once we got used to not having a key to start the ignition (weird!), we loved it and we explored more than we would have in the motorhome. There are EV chargers on KI and we were able to recharge overnight.

Where did we stay?

We stayed at the Kangaroo Island Seafront Holiday Park overlooking gorgeous Hog Bay. This is a five-minute walk to the KI ferry and to the town of Penneshaw. There were powered sites like we had but also glamping tents and villas. The villas all had direct beach views.

The Holiday Park has very bougie bathrooms. Instead of the usual, communal shower and toilet blocks, there are lockable bathrooms containing a toilet, shower and hand basin. Now this is van life I can get used to!!

The verdict.

Add Kangaroo Island to your "Must Visit" list. Whether you visit for the beaches, the wildlife, the local makers or a mix, there is loads to do and see.

We saw soooo much wildlife — kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, goannas and sea lions to name only some. All I didn't see (despite several warning signs) was snakes and I am pretty happy about that!

Kangaroo Island — not very far from Adelaide but a world away.

The writer's trip to Kangaroo Island was self-funded.

Feature: Supplied.