Attracted to the possibilities for pastoralism and land speculation in the nascent colony of South Australia (founded nine months earlier), he arrived there on 5 September 1837 aboard the schooner Currency Lass, accompanied by James Fisher, son of James Hurtle Fisher. During the next four years, either alone or with associates, Hill actively engaged in the exploration of the province, particularly in what became the highly productive, closer-settled districts. Hill's first priority was to reconnoitre a viable route for overlanding livestock from New South Wales, particularly through the Mount Lofty Ranges, which was the unexplored gap between the Murray River and Adelaide.