Blowhole Beach
EasyThe shortest of the four and the one most guests do first. Naiko calls it their most popular trail, and the one that suits young children.
Deep Creek
Four trails, and nobody else on them
All four start at the door and finish at it. They are private, they are marked in stone, and for the length of your stay you are the only person with permission to be on them.
The walks
From twenty minutes to most of a day
Open rolling hills, forests of native trees, grass trees thought to be around fifteen hundred years old, lush gullies and rugged coastline. Naiko has never published the distances, so neither have we — the Information Compendium in the house has the route descriptions.
The History Walk
EasyLess taxing than the two long ones and no less interesting — the walk that explains why there is a Cornish mining town in the next valley.
The Talisker Mine Walk
ModerateOut towards the boundary with Talisker Conservation Park. There are remains of exploratory shafts and tunnels on Rarkang itself, visible from this trail.
The Rarkang Loop
LongThe one for keen walkers. Open rolling hills, forests of native trees, the ancient grass trees, lush gullies and the rugged coastline, in one circuit.
How they relate
A diagram, not a survey. Naiko has never published the trail geometry, and drawing an invented route across a real property would be worse than drawing nothing. This shows what connects to what.
The Heysen Trail crosses the property on its way from Cape Jervis to the Flinders Ranges, 1,200 kilometres north. Walkers on it are the only people you are likely to see.
- All four start at the doorEvery walk starts and finishes at the Retreat. Route descriptions are in the Information Compendium in the house.
- Marked in stoneThe routes are marked by stone markers cut with the Naiko wave.
- Guests onlyAll four are private and for the exclusive use of guests staying at the Retreat. Nobody else is on them.
- The Heysen crosses the propertyThe Heysen Trail starts at Cape Jervis and runs 1,200km to the Flinders Ranges. It traverses Rarkang on its way.
The weather changes at a moment's notice
Naiko's own advice, and it is not a formality — this is exposed coastline ninety minutes from anywhere, and a clear morning is no promise about the afternoon.
Take with you
- Proper walking shoes
- Water and something to eat
- Sunscreen
- A windbreaker or a Drizabone
- Your phone
And one that carries on
The Heysen Trail runs through the farm
It begins at Cape Jervis, a short drive from the retreat, and runs twelve hundred kilometres north to the Flinders Ranges. It crosses Rarkang on its way out of the peninsula, then turns inland past Kings Beach and runs close to the west of Jagger Road — which is to say it passes both Naiko properties before it is properly started.
The Heritage Trail below the Villa at Encounter Bay is the easy coastal equivalent, and will take you to Kings Beach on foot.
