Introduction

Today I’m on my way to Kangaroo Island. Back when I visited nearly thirty years ago, there used to be a ferry that ran from Glenelg to Kangaroo Island. However, eventually the service was discontinued because the seasonality of traffic made it difficult to run year-round profitably. Today, the only ferry service runs from Cape Jervis on the mainland to Penneshaw on the island. And Cape Jervis is over two hours away from central Adelaide by car. And that, boys and girls, is how I find myself on the way to the airport to catch a flight over to Kangaroo Island.

Getting to the Airport

There is a bus stop on the other side of the road from the main entrance to the Sofitel Adelaide. From there, the bus lines J1 and J1a run to the airport in about twenty minutes in good traffic.

Check-In

Once I arrive at the airport, I take the escalators one floor up from arrivals to departures. The departures level is divided in two wings. The right wing is reserved for QANTAS, whereas the left wing is for all other carriers. The security checkpoint is located in the middle of the terminal. Adelaide has only one terminal building for both domestic and international services.

The QANTAS Adelaide Lounge

Security is quiet and painless to get through. There’s no queue at all. And then from there, I head for the QANTAS Lounge.

Personally, I think lounges are something QANTAS does really well, and this one here in Adelaide is a good example of that. The lounge is modern and attractive.

In addition to the selection of cold food items from the buffet, there’s a fully stocked and attended bar. The young barista makes a mean cappuccino. When I tell her that, she simply laughs and tells me that, “oh, I hear that all the time!”. I spend my time in the lounge answering office mails, even though I’m technically on vacation. It’s just easier this way. If I wait until I get back, it’ll only be worse!

Boarding

The flight to Kingscote departs at 16h30 and boarding starts at 16h10 according to the FIDS monitors, although it actually starts a few minutes early.

The gate attendant tags my suitcase for collection at the aircraft steps as I pass the gate. And then I head down to ground level to step out onto the apron.

The Cabin & Seat

This is not going to be a full flight this afternoon. I’m seated on 6A and there’s another passenger on 6F. There is nobody seated forward of row six, and from what I can tell, there are no passengers seated all the way back either, so I’m assuming that passengers were seated around the aircraft’s centre of gravity. The seat pitch isn’t bad on the Dash 8-400, even more so when, like today, there’s room to spread out.

The Crew & Service

There are two cabin crew on this flight, one male and one female. Both of them are quite senior and probably somewhere in their late forties, if I had to guess. Both of them are friendly and chatty. Probably it’s more pleasant for them too when the flight isn’t completely full.

We pushback and start our engines slightly ahead of schedule at 16h20. We taxi out for departure in a northeasterly direction and take off from an intersection. Given the light load there’s no need for us to use the whole runway length.

Once we’re airborne, we make a wide left turn over the coastline to point in the general direction of Kangaroo Island due south of Adelaide. Our flight time is 19 minutes.

Inflight Snack

We spend about five minutes in cruise flight, which is enough time for the cabin crew to pass through the cabin with small bottles of still water and granola bars. I haven’t even finished my water yet when the cockpit requests the cabin crew prepare the cabin for landing.

Arrival in Kingscote

The approach brings us in right over the centre of Kangaroo Island. What is noticeable below is just how many sheep there are. They’re basically everywhere!

We land and taxi to the small apron, which can accommodate two small aircraft at a time. And then I think I set up a new personal record, taking only three minutes from disembarking the aircraft to exiting the terminal landside. And that’s when that smell of earth and crushed leaves underfoot hits me that I associate so much with Australia. It’s good to be back!

Getting to the Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge

On Kangaroo Island I’m staying at the Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge in a place called American River – the third largest of the four towns on the island. The drive there is about twenty minutes.