BLOG POSTS
- Accommodation update
February 2012 - New child share touring policy
February 2012 - Partner Resources website
February 2012 - Kangaroo Island achieves National Landscapes status
February 2012 - The Trials, Tribulations and Rewards of being a w
Wildlife Guide.
June 2011 - 2010 Wrap Up of Kangaroo Island Tours and Life
January 2011 - Welcome to EKI's blog!
January 2011
Definitely the highlight and best two days of our trip. From the outdoor teatime along the river to the unbelievable grilled fish, grilled cheese (yes, grilled cheese) fresh salad and wine, to the remarkable guide, the first day was truly exceptional. The things that we got to see up close and personal were sensational
EKI Blog
Kangaroo Island is a truly unique destination, being home to rare wild flora and fauna many species are found nowhere else on earth, and offering a sanctuary to be explored.
Exceptional Kangaroo Island is dedicated to showcasing the fantastic experiences available on the island and keeping the world up to date with events occuring on this ancient land. There are a wide range of unique and adventurous Kangaroo Island tours and activities for all ages.
Accommodation update
February 2012
Stranraer Homestead: the job of running both the accommodation and farm has proven to be quite a challenge, and after initially listing the entire property for sale Lyn and Graham have now changed title boundaries to allow the sale of part of the farm whilst retaining the homestead and the exceptional hospitality they offer. Besides the 4 main Homestead rooms, the Wheatons have also made available the Residence as a separate apartment which, booked through Exceptional KI, is common rated with the other rooms.
Kangaroo Island Seaside Inn: long-time supporters of Kangaroo Island might recall the energetic Chris and Debbie Schumann who previously managed the Ozone Hotel in Kingscote (now Aurora Ozone). Chris, Deb and their son Alex bought the former Wisteria Lodge overlooking Nepean Bay and have relaunched after a significant makeover. The property is priced at 3 star although the warm hospitality means it performs above that level for guest experience and it offers a more modest entry level price point previously unavailable to us.
Kangaroo Island Lodge: a soft furnishing upgrade now completes the remodelling of the Bayview and Waterview rooms at Kangaroo Island Lodge. This has given the rooms a much lighter, more contemporary look and feel. Both room types are now really bright and it makes the most of the location overlooking the placid waters of Eastern Cove.
Fillmore’s Lombardy now Molly’s Run: due to a change in ownership the home-stay accommodation formerly known as Fillmore’s is now Molly’s Run. The large home built in French farmhouse style complete with a large shaded courtyard has had a significant makeover by the irrepressible Paul Lunn - a former guide of ours who recently returned to the Island. The 2 guest rooms are both en-suite and guests have full run of the house as Paul resides in another home on the property. This property is a good substitute if Stranraer Homestead is unavailable.
New child share touring policy
February 2012
Family travel has always been part of our business and it seems people are travelling even more as families. Until now we have restricted share touring to 10 years and above - we have reviewed this and decided to go with 6 years and above. Despite this change the best option if it fits within budget is our KI for Kids private touring programme. Choices include our wildlife safari, rare breeds farm, yabby catching, secret beaches, exploring the sand dunes and the honey farm. Additional activities can include ocean rafting, wild dolphin swims, “A day in the life of a wildlife researcher” and quad-biking.
Partner Resources website
February 2012
Check out Our Partner Resources which has our sales support material on one page. Bookmark this site as this is where the most up to date information is always available.
Resources include: high resolution images; videos; PDFs of our tours and packages; private charter options; and accommodation descriptions.
Kangaroo Island achieves National Landscapes status
February 2012
Tourism Australia and Parks Australia have developed National Landscapes, a programme providing a strategic approach to destination development. Kangaroo Island joins other key Australian destinations such as Kakadu, the Red Centre, Great Ocean Road, Australian Alps, Flinders Ranges and the Kimberley to name some of what will ultimately be a maximum of around 20 landscapes. For each landscape a Brand and Experiences Development Strategy is developed to ensure directions taken by the destination are sustainable and enhance the reasons why people visit the region.
The target is the “Experience Seeker” market - a group defined not by demographics but by travel behaviour: prepared to invest in experiences and accommodation at a reasonable per night cost; wanting to explore beyond the gateways; keen to engage with the culture and nature of the country; and wanting to ensure they do not destroy the very things they come to see.
This programme is generating excellent support materials at a level of detail previously unavailable. There are fact sheets on the heritage of eachlandscape, birdwatching, walking and voluntourism opportunities. Please take a look at www.australia.com/nl and contact your colleagues at Tourism Australia for more details. The next support tool being developed will be a Aussie Specialist module on the National Landscapes.
The Trials, Tribulations and Rewards of being a w
Wildlife Guide.
Posted June 2011
By Craig Wickham (Article prepared for wildlifeextra.com)
As a wildlife guide I find myself dealing with travellers with increasingly high expectations in terms of wildlife encounters. These expectations are created by a myriad of sources: extraordinary "National Geographic" style magazine images; wildlife documentaries shot in high definition using technology which is improving exponentially; or movies made with "animatronics" - those furry robots which some viewers cannot distinguish from the real thing. I recall years ago coming out of the cinema having watched "Babe" with my nephews and hearing some lovely old dear, having just seen white mice singing "Blue Moon" wondering aloud "which ones were the puppets!". Wildlife has also joined the ranks of the soap operas with "Meerkat Manor" becoming the "Coronation Street" of the Savannah and thereby somehow more accessible.
Also overlooked are the behind-the-scenes wildlife researchers who have been working in the field for 20+ years who through their knowledge and experience are able to put a film crew right at "spot X" to capture footage never seen before. Or the fruitless trips to some exotic wildlife habitat time after time when the elusive creature just doesn't show.
Attenborough
There is an upside to this of course - a lifetime of breathless enthusiasm from Sir David Attenborough right in front of X (replace X with the endangered species of your choice) or the over-exuberant Aussie passion from the late Steve Irwin for wrangling a Sumatran spotted whatever python has fuelled an unprecedented level of interest in the natural world. What does that mean for us in the field?
There are several aspects to managing travellers seeking wildlife encounters as part of a trip - or perhaps as the entire focus of their vacation. Firstly there is the question of sustainability - ironically (or perhaps not!) interest is at a high level when some of the animal populations approach their lowest ebb. Perhaps the scarcity factor plays a part here.
Responsibility
As a guide a core responsibility is leaving the animals on good terms - so the next time I encounter them they will not bolt on sight. Predictable benign behaviour (from us!) is a big part of this - no I am not going to dive on a tiger snake and wrestle it or chase the kangaroos so they jump! We should educate our guests how to behave so wildlife continues acting naturally without disturbance - which of course is what engaged visitors really want to see.
Craig and Janet Wickham and their enthusiastic team have been sharing Kangaroo Island's secrets with guests for many years. They have guided specialised wildlife tours since 1986 and are deeply committed to sustainability and responsibility.
Photography
A second aspect relates to photography. Being based on Kangaroo Island we have extraordinary opportunities to photograph Australian animals: kangaroos; wallabies; echidnas; sea-lions; fur-seals; goannas; snakes; koalas; possums; and a diverse range of birds. Again expectations are set by third parties: promotional images, postcards and magazine images of koalas creatively shot in captive situations or using scaffolding (seriously - I have seen it done) or using photographic equipment costing many thousands of dollars. Whilst digital cameras provide incredible improvements I still see people with a $200 camera wanting to get a National Geographic standard image of a wild animal perched right up a tree!
Nature, red in tooth and claw
The further aspect of the guiding role - one which I will expand on, is interpreting what Tennyson so aptly coined "nature, red in tooth and claw". Whilst not being exposed to this to the extent that my colleagues are in Africa, we still come across situations which challenge those who wish to see nature through a lens of "warm and fuzzy".
A regular summer encounter on our trips is heath goannas (a smaller lizard of the same genus as the massive Komodo dragon) feeding on roadkill. The sight of one of these slender creatures withdrawing its' blood-glazed head from the interior of a wallaby is confronting to some visitors, however graphically it illustrates the carrion-feeder role goannas have, and the equivalent scene is played out daily with many species globally.
Another interaction which had guests equally enthralled and aghast was observing a white-bellied sea-eagle stooping on a galah (a pigeon-sized pink and gray cockatoo) over high cliffs at Weirs Cove in Flinders Chase National Park. The galah flew out over the ocean in an effort to escape and was almost taken down at water level before evading at the last minute. We watched as it twisted and turned trying to gain elevation and finally flew back inland - passing close enough overhead that we could hear it panting.
It isn't all about wildlife; there are some amazing places to explore as well. Credit Craig Wickham. Remarkable rocks are one of the best known icons of Kangaroo island. They are located in the Flinders Chase National Park, over on the western side of Kangaroo Island.
Seconds later the eagle flashed over in pursuit and they disappeared from view. We were about to leave our cliff-top post when the galah re-appeared with the sea-eagle following doggedly behind. They passed over again and as they went flew over the sea a second eagle, previously unseen, flew up from below, effectively tag-teaming the hapless galah which exploded in a cloud of pink and gray feathers. The sea-eagles flew over to a convenient roost and started plucking their meal. We left and the mood in the vehicle was somewhat sombre for a while before discussions started. People were somewhat torn between feeling sad for the galah but pleased for the eagles - particularly when I mentioned they probably had hungry chicks in their eyrie. Again this is not unique - this happens every second on so many levels across the world but it was a graphic illustration in a spectacular setting.
Fur seal issues - More fur-seals = less penguins
Something creating tension in our community at present is an expanding fur-seal population. If our fishermen were upset many people would immediately relate to it - but it is the impact on tourism which is the cause. You would think more seals = more opportunity as marine mammals are an important draw for visitors. But the fact that fur-seals have penguins on the menu is the issue. Little penguins, the world's smallest, breed along the shore in two of our towns. In Penneshaw there has been a big investment in infrastructure to enable visitors to see penguins return nightly to feed their chicks waiting in burrows. More fur-seals = less penguins. Somehow this will reach equilibrium but meanwhile it is another opportunity for interpreting wildlife interaction.
Awkward customers
An occasion which shows just how far I can be mentally from my guests in terms of accepting the dynamics of the natural world brought together sea-eagles and penguins. A guest, on the last day of their visit, expressed a passion for penguins which had thus far been suppressed. My response was something to the effect that "it was too late as all penguins were either in their burrows and not coming out, or had gone fishing at first light until nightfall. We could have done something last night but not today." The terse response was "you're not much of a guide - you are saying that because you don't know where to find them"!
My response was something to the effect that "it was too late as all penguins were either in their burrows and not coming out, or had gone fishing at first light until nightfall. We could have done something last night but not today." The terse response was "you're not much of a guide - you are saying that because you don't know where to find them"!
I replied that we were very close to penguin habitat and I would do my best to find what I could. Down to the beach we marched and sure enough there were progressions of close set tracks going from the back of the beach down to the water's edge. In the dim reaches of a crevice I pointed out some of the first blue and white feathers from a penguin hidden in the back moulting and renewing its "wetsuit". This was as much as I expected to find in daylight but to my surprise there on the beach not far from the water was an adult penguin!
However my guest was not at all pleased - "that is disgusting - why would you think I would want to see that?" As if I knew all along we were going to come across this penguin! It is the only time in over 20 years of guiding on Kangaroo Island that I have come across a freshly killed penguin - this bird was flat on its' back with the skin flayed from the chest and the dark breast meat had been almost totally removed.
From an interpretive perspective it was superb. The entire story was written there in the sand - from the tracks from the top of the beach towards the water and then a right-angle turn as the penguin saw the sea-eagle approaching and tried to flee. Also captured in the sand were deep impressions of the eagle's talons as it landed on the beach and then one, two bounds before it caught the penguin and dispatched it. To the dismay of my guest the blood still appeared fresh on the sand. Being a very tactful person I chose to refrain from pointing out the fact that this scene illustrated precisely why we would not see penguins in daylight on Kangaroo Island!
I often marvel at my good fortune
Despite the challenges posed by some of my guests I often marvel at my good fortune in being able to live in a place where I can share these experiences with guests on a daily basis. The enthusiasm with which most visitors exhibit and the respect they show our wildlife gives me heart that we can convert this enthusiasm into making room for nature in an increasingly crowded world.
2010 Wrap Up of Kangaroo Island Tours and Life
Posted January 2011
Let me start by saying thanks to you for all of the support that you provide for Janet, our family and team on Kangaroo Island. Despite challenging economic circumstances we have managed to come through with good results for the year. Our association with Southern Ocean Lodge is very enjoyable - customer satisfaction from Ben and Lou and their team is very high and the creative marketing from Hayley and James in Sydney dove-tails well with our activities.
In July I lead two back-to-back expeditions based at Southern Ocean Lodge. This 7 day programme provides a level of immersion not previously offered on the Island. The first departure sold out in days and the second added to cater for additional demand. Bookings are open for next year - dates are 23 - 29 July 2011.
Other fun activities have been a family holiday in a rambling old homestead out of Blinman in the Flinders Ranges and on our return hosted celebrity chefs Antonio Coluccio and Neil Perry on a famil of Kangaroo Island - I showed them a few tricks cooking King George Whiting in the bush!
On our way to Blinman we had a night as guests of Pat and Sally at Arkaba Station and enjoyed their hospitality immensely. We managed to see one of their campsites used for the extended walking programme and the swag decks look great. The landscape and wildlife encounters are fabulous. Highlights of the trip:
Seeing 4 species of Kangaroos in 20 minutes! Enjoying the results of heavy rains in February - the vegetation is in great condition as are the animals Fabulous family lunch at the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna Raiding our cellar so we could enjoy endless vistas with a great red from the verandah at sunset
ACCOMMODATION UPDATE
Kangaroo Island Seaside Inn: you might recall the energetic Chris and Debbie Schumann who for many years managed the Ozone Seafront Hotelin Kingscote (now Aurora Ozone). Chris, Deb and their son Alex have bought the former Country Comfort Wisteria Lodge in Kingscote and are relaunching under this new name. The property is currently undergoing a makeover and will fit into our packages in the “Hotel” category. We are preparing a bare-bones package which is touring and room only, giving guests a more cost-effective option where they can make more modest dining choices.
Kangaroo Beach Lodges: this is a new option for people seeking a private home up on the north coast. Three very contemporary 4 bedroom/3 bathroom homes have been built overlooking remote Kangaroo Beach on the rugged north-west coast. Guests have complete access to thousands of acres of wilderness. A range of hosting and activity packages with extended walking options are currently under development.
Southern Ocean Lodge: despite being a very new property Southern Ocean Lodge has been shut down for a few days for a quick refresh. A comprehensive range of activities were undertaken to bring the property back up to “as new” condition.
Welcome to Exceptional Kangaroo Island's blog!
Posted January 2011
Happy New Year! Starting a new year gives everyone the opportunity to start fresh and start something new - we have decided to start a blog. This blog will be dedicated to the amazing adventures that behold our travellers in Kangaroo Island.
Including tours, activities, dining, and accomodation, we will share all the unique experiences available to you.
