Kangaroo Island Feastival Part 1

A weekend trip to Kangaroo Island was just what the doctor prescribed. Thanks to the peeps at Tourism Adelaide I was here for the Kangaroo Island Feastival, now in its second year to experience ‘all things delicious’ at the Island.


John and I had a bit of time after dropping off our luggage at the Aurora Ozone Hotel and dinner seemed so far away so we hopped into our car and drove up the road to family owned seafood harvester Ferguson Australia (48 Kohinoor Rd, Kingscote). Massive snow crabs and lobsters are kept in tanks on the side of the warehouse with picnic tables scattered around the area for those wanting to order freshly cooked seafood platters. We kinda only wanted a snack so decided against ordering lobster and instead went with a dozen oysters $12, a kilo of prawns ($23) and a tub of aioli (7.50). The oysters were freshly shucked and beautifully briny but unfortch the prawns were a frozen and defrosted mess of salty soggyness.


Dinner time rolls around and we head down to the Kingscote wharf for the Sealink Launch Night.


George Calombaris co hosted the event and was surprisingly entertaining! He spoke earnestly about the ingredients that were going to be used in the dinner, a bit about the producers and bantered with the crowd during Q&A.


KI abalone and whiting, native Tetragonia salad, sprouted red lentil dressing.


Goose in pastry, roast breast, buttered KI cabbage and Samphire salad, olive puree.


KI granola, sheep’s cheese and honey parfait, KI flowers, honeycomb.


Just so happened to spot George at brekky


We hit the road!


And arrive at Clifford’s Honey Farm (1157 Elsegood Rd, Macgillivray).


A quick tour and some info in the display area, honey ice cream available for purchase and best of all free honey tastings.


Next stop, Emu Bay Lavender (203 Emu Bay Rd, North Coast). It wasn’t quite the right season for lavender but it was just down the road. I’m not the biggest fan of lavender buuut ehh there’s lavender milkshakes and lavender scones…


I’ve always loved road trips and it was cute spotting this couple pitching a tent.


What’s the time? Winery time! Yale from the Islander Estate Vineyard has got to be the most cheerful guy I have ever met! He showed us around the winery and we got to taste their range. I’m not the biggest red drinker but I freaking loved each and every one of them tho my fav by far was the Old Rowley ’08 and had to grab a bottle back for Noods.


In need of sustenance we head towards Stokes Bay and have lunch at the Rockpool Cafe (North Coast Rd, Stokes Bay). There was battered fish and chips galore, garlic prawns, scallops and a token thai noodle salad.


Why hello there little fella


Last stop of the day before dinner was the Island Pure Sheep Dairy (127 Gum Creek Rd, Cygnet River) which is a true farmhouse dairy in that Island Pure grows the grass, milks the sheep, manufactures the milk and packages the products from the property. The sheep were so clean and well looked after! The staff were incredibly passionate as they spoke about what they do and we ended our tour with tastings and moaned that we wouldn’t be able to bring anything back with us.

Part 2 to come soon!

ChocolateSuze travelled and stayed at Kangaroo Island as a guest of Tourism Australia