MEET YOUR HOSTS

Your hosts Craig and Janet Wickham and their enthusiastic team have been sharing Kangaroo Island with guests for more than 30 years.

In the words of Craig and Janet:

We specialise in deluxe wildlife tours and seek to create an atmosphere where you find yourself treated as friends. Our tours run as a conversation, not a commentary. You can travel as part of a small group or chart your own private adventure to enjoy excellent food and wine and seek out wildlife in its natural habitat.

Our team arranges small group wildlife tours, luxury private touring and special interest programmes. Special interest guests have included the South Australian Museum Waterhouse Club, San Diego Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History to name just a few.

Whether making your own travel plans or working with a trusted travel advisor, our collaborative business model brings together Island businesses as a seamless package of travel, accommodation, transfers, touring and experiences as a destination management service.

We focus on delivering consistent, sustainable, high-quality experiences and take our responsibility to the environment, you as our guests and our neighbours as the host community seriously. This is reflected in our advanced ecotourism accreditation and operational code of ethics. We invite you to share this special place we are lucky enough to call home.

Craig and Janet Wickham

MEET OUR TEAM

THE WICKHAM FAMILY

Craig and Janet Wickham are the owners of Exceptional Kangaroo Island, a family business. Their adult children, Blair and Skye, have an increasing interest and role in the enterprise.

CRAIG WICKHAM

Craig is Managing Director and handles sales and marketing, product and itinerary development, staff training, planning and vehicle management. Craig grew up on the Island and was part of a business family with a range of tourism ventures. He studied wildlife management and worked with the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service before getting into private enterprise. He has been involved in a diversity of community and industry roles including Local Government, Regional Development, Planning and Tourism Management. He is not doing so much guiding these days – although he provides a back-up for the guiding team in busy times.

JANET WICKHAM

Initially trained as an Intensive Care Nurse, Janet provides oversight of all of our quality management, checklists and customer service. She also shares the management role with Craig and back-fills reservations, sales and catering when other team members are on leave.

BLAIR WICKHAM

Born into the business when it operated out of Craig and Janet’s home, Blair has a deep understanding of the enterprise. He studied commerce and marketing and his roles include international sales and marketing, website management, social media and business development. Exceptional KI is one of a stable of clients he services from Adelaide through his business, Wickham Marketing. He also backs up our guiding team which keeps him in touch with what is happening on the ground.

SKYE WICKHAM

Skye is also Adelaide-based where she is studying to become a midwife. She comes to the Island to assist during busy periods – working as a back-up guide and also helping with the catering team. Being based near Adelaide Airport, she often supports with guest contact roles to assist in our customer service.

IN THE OFFICE

JAMIE CHRISTOPHERS

Jamie worked in retail and administration before coming to work at Exceptional Kangaroo Island. She handles accommodation liaison, contracts, systems management, group itineraries, reservations, and quoting. She is a life-long Islander and is very involved in community sports with her partner and two sons.

CARINA WILLSON

Carina is family – Craig’s sister, and manages our touring inventory and shares the reservations and operations roles with Jamie. Outside of work, she has her own sheep farm so is pretty busy round the clock.

Collectively, Jamie and Carina are integral to the smooth operation of the business. They handle bookings, supplies, daily passenger briefings and rostering. They also manage the optimisation of itineraries and vehicles. They pride themselves on fast, efficient service and aim for a same-day turn-around every time.

KATHY FLACK

Kathy is our bookkeeper and looks after accounts payable and receivable as well as our payroll, HR and compliance. She has a keen interest in well-being and is a qualified yoga teacher with a local practice.

IN THE WORKSHOP

STEVE FARNDEN

Steve is our maintenance man and an excellent problem-solver. He looks after the vehicles, lunch sites and equipment, and also backs up with luggage transfers. He is also a supplier – he and his partner Deb make solar-evaporated sea salt.

ON THE ROAD

We have quite a team of guides with a mix of newer members joining a very experienced bunch – some of whom have been with us for over 25 years.

TIM WILLIAMS

Tim has been a lifelong guide – starting his own tour company exploring the Island, the Outback and Cape York. He is our longest-serving team member and, if not guiding, is fixing or sailing his yacht, building all sorts of things and running his apiary. At the last count, he had about 150 beehives!

DAVE FOREMAN

Dave is a cameraman, cinematographer and recognised Australian Director of Photography – having worked on many films and television series such as Shine and McLeod’s Daughters. He has a passion for all things environmental and has worked as a guide in Outback South Australia with camel expeditions. Dave brings a subtle enthusiasm to his hosting that is appreciated by our guests.

MICHAEL CASPER

Michael came to the Island to work in the Experiences team at Southern Ocean Lodge. He has a background in education and a keen environmental interest. He has made the Island his home and splits his time between guiding with us and guiding at the Australian sea-lion colony at Seal Bay.

LEE BERRYMAN

Lee, another one of our surfing guides, grew up on the Island and has an extensive resume of roles across the Island including lobster fishing, bee-keeping, shed-handing (working in the wool industry), and abalone farming. He has guided on Fraser Island in Queensland and enjoys sharing his diverse life experience with our guests.