Tour-de-Kangaroo Island, Tandem style !

If your sitting at home, wondering what to do for your next adventure, then read on...

At the beginning of the year, Kate and I had just returned from our summer holidays, and while still on a high, we started planning our next trip:

This time we fancied a touring holiday on our Tandem bike, so we grabbed a map & looked towards Kangaroo Island, SA.

We decided we wanted to use self-contained units, so we booked our accommodation along our chosen route, which would cover Central, Southern and Eastern Kangaroo Island.

Ten months on, and plenty of training rides later, we were fit & ready to go.

But, just two days before we were due to go, I was hit with a chest infection. I found extra room in the panniers for some antibiotics, and we were off.

Gavin Nugent from AvantiPlus Salisbury had done a good job getting our bike ready for our tour, so we were confident with our bike, but we took plenty of spare bits and pieces anyway. (You never know what might happen).

The next few days are best described in photos, so, here is our trip.

Hope you enjoy our happy snaps…

Arriving at Cape Jervis 

 We immediately have our first drama. The bike stand cannot take the weight of our full kit, and Snaps in half ! 

 We spent the first night in the Penneshaw YHA before setting off for our first days ride

 And soon found our first hill...

Then found our number 1 coffee stop at Browns Beach

Before arriving at American River. Our first days riding at an end.

Day 1 ride route 

43km Penneshaw to American River

Day 2 and the weather does not look good.

We set off looking for our first coffee spot.

We find Western Cove which is a great place for a Zizz....

Gale force winds cancel the Sealink Ferry & make it impossible for us to climb this hill. We had to push the bike up against 70/80km/h headwinds :(

We finally arrive at Parndana only to be totally soaked by a downpour that hit us just one KM from our cabin ...

Day 2 route

60km American River to Parndana

We started day 3 with some stretches 

Before heading South towards Seal Bay

You see a lot more fauna on the bike. 

Along this road, we saw 7 echidnas plus this Goanna

And of course we saw Seals at Seal Bay

Then headed to Vivonne Bay to complete Day 3

Day 3 Route

56km Parndana to Vivonne Bay, via Seal Bay

Day 4, and for the first time I wake up with out fire in my throat and chest YEA :)

Maybe those antibiotics have started to kick in ???

Today was to be a ride to Kelly Hill Caves, and then return to Vivonne Bay.

We were soon caught out in the rain again....

Around the caves is some wonderful bush walks that we just had to investigate.

Day 4 Route

62km Vivonne Bay to Kelly Hill Caves loop

Day 5, leaving Vivonne bay, we stopped at the general store, to stock up on food supplies, then headed off towards Kingscote.

For our lunch stop we found this little track leading to Duck Lagoon. An exceedingly beautiful spot !

Our last night on Kangaroo Island was at Kingscote.

Day 5 Route

76km Vivonne Bay to Kingscote via Duck Lagoon

We were up bright and early on our last day, to make sure we were not late for our 4.30pm ferry back to Cape Jervis

It was also the first day we needed sun cream !

Mid way towards Penneshaw, we spotted a huge hill so we decided to jump off the bike and climb it. This was Prospect Hill...

Before we knew it, we were back in Penneshaw, Holiday over, and as we sat waiting for the ferry, we started planning our next KI trip.

We both decided that we wanted to stick to the Dirt Roads as much as possible and this time, discover the North & Far West.

Day 6 Route

76km Kingscote to Penneshaw

For those that like stats, we travelled an average of 60km per day (360 total), climbed 3250m & rode for a total of 20 hours.