Ashendens at Penneshaw

Kangaroo Island


Down a steep casuarina-lined driveway just east of downtown Penneshaw (follow the shoreline road around), Ashendens is a contemporary Aussie beach house with a wrap-around deck looking out across Backstairs Passage, beyond the grassy paddock out the front. There are two double bedrooms, plus a four-bed bunkhouse. Sleeps eight; two night minimum stay.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kangaroo Island attractions

1. Frenchman's Rock

0.37 MILES

When intrepid French explorer Nicholas Baudin surveyed the KI coast in 1803, he came ashore at what's now Penneshaw for a look around. He left his mark:…

2. Kangaroo Island Farmers Market

0.82 MILES

Has baked goods, chutneys, seafood, olive oil, honey, eggs, cheese, yoghurt and of course wine and dodgy buskers (including, once, a certain Lonely Planet…

3. Penneshaw Maritime & Folk Museum

1.19 MILES

Inside a 1922 stone school house, this salty museum displays artefacts from local shipwrecks and early white settlement (check out those girthsome…

4. Browns Beach

7.26 MILES

A lovely protected beach, around 14km southwest of Penneshaw en route to American River and Kingscote. Good for a quick dip.

5. Island Beach

10.01 MILES

Loong beach between Penneshaw and American River, backed by rows of fancy beach houses. Go for a wander and see what's washed in on the tide.

6. US Schooner Independence

11.11 MILES

In a big tin boatshed near the American River jetty, the timber ribs of the new US Schooner Independence are slowly starting to resemble a hull. A…

7. Cape Willoughby Lightstation

13.01 MILES

About 28km southeast of Penneshaw (via an unsealed road) on a treeless headland, this tidy white turret started shining out in 1852 (SA's first lighthouse…

8. Flour Cask Bay

18.19 MILES

Down a well-maintained dirt road south of American River, this remote beach is just the spot for a little soul-searching, a breezy paddle in the brine or…