Bald Hill Walk
Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park
Directions - Located towards the middle of Kangaroo Island, from Kingscote, head east along Playford Highway, continuing south on Birchmore Road. Turning left onto South Coast Road, follow this until you reach a right turn for Hawkes Pass Road. The Bald Hill Walk car park is located as the road sweeps to the left and becomes Seagers Road.
The Hike - Day One of exploring Kangaroo Island, and after enjoying an introductory hike on the nearby Timber Creek Walk, we drove the short distance to the Bald Hill Walk. Having seen limited views of Murray Lagoon from the previous walk, I was looking forward to getting better views, and perhaps some more bird life.
The start of the trail is very similar to Timber Creek, although with a less closed in feeling, thanks to the wider path through the paperbarks, which there seemed to be a greater concentration of. Everyone wasted no time in setting off, and as per my preference, I lingered behind to get some clear photos. It became obvious that that wouldn't work, as the path is long and straight through here, so people would have to be in my photos. Passing a few rocks that were scattered around, I'm not sure if they are naturally found here, but I loved the layering on display showing many millions of years of geological history. Coming across an opening in the vegetation, you get to see neighbouring farmland, where we saw some sheep grazing on whatever they could find in the dry and harsh paddock. Being autumn, everything was looking as dry as it ever would during the year, and if you look at the lush looking photos on the Walking SA website, the difference is night and day.
Popping out of the paperbarks, I stopped immediately, as off the track and to the left was a big boi Kangaroo Island Kangaroo (that's the official name) having a graze. We all stood there admiring our first kangaroo sighting of the trip, before moving on to tackle the wide track leading up Bald Hill. The naming is spot on, with a distinct lack of vegetation that I was a little disappointed with during our visit to Kangaroo Island, as the island feels like one big sheep paddock for the most part. At the top of the hill you get the sweeping views overlooking Murray Lagoon, with the striking reds of the exposed flats contrasting with the blue of the shallow water. Passing the wooden sign, there is a lookout located down the hill, where you can stand and scan the lagoon for bird life. Unfortunately the water was a bit too far away, even with my 300mm lens, so the wide views would have to do. After admiring the vistas for a while, we headed back to the start. There is the option to continue along the trail from Bald Head, and follow the Curly Creek Track, but it was late in the afternoon, and I don't think anyone was up for the extra 11 kilometres.
Final Thoughts - Wrapping up a couple of introductory hikes on Kangaroo Island, things could only get better from here, and spoiler warning, but they did.
As I said for the Timber Creek Walk, this is not a trail you'd go out of your way to visit, but is a nice addition to the activities for the day if you happen to be in the area.
It looks a lot nicer in photos from winter and spring, so don't let my dry looking photos put you off if you're visiting in the wetter months.
Get out there and experience it!
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