This well-liked island was ravaged by bushfire – right here’s what it’s actually like to return

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It’s odd how so many Australian birds look prettier than they sound. It’s my first night on Kangaroo Island and raucous shrieks and squawks are accompanying my seaside stroll within the sleepy village of American River. Although the calls are something however musical, the birds which can be making them – rainbow-bright lorikeets and silver-and-candyfloss galahs – are as lovely because the stately gum timber rising alongside the shore, their sculptural, twisted trunks all weathered and worn by salt, sand and time.

Equally unmelodic are the black cockatoos flapping over the treetops on gradual, deliberate wingbeats that appear barely adequate to maintain them aloft. I smile when an Australian magpie chimes in as if displaying the others the right way to do it. For me, these birds’ light warbling is the definitive sound of Down Underneath.

However chook calls of any form are to not be taken with no consideration on Kangaroo Island (KI). In 2020 – simply earlier than the world shut down for Covid – this Australian outpost to the south of Adelaide was one of many worst-hit spots within the horrible Black Summer time bushfires. This jap a part of the island (together with American River) was spared, however a unique destiny performed out elsewhere. Sparked by lightning, the fires engulfed 70 per cent of KI, devastating its western finish and annihilating the wildlife.

I hear extra about it subsequent morning on a go to to eco-luxurious Southern Ocean Lodge, which burned to the bottom however was rebuilt from scratch, reopening simply this February.

“For nearly a 12 months afterwards, we heard no birdsong in any respect,” I’m instructed by common supervisor, Alison Hird. “Australians are used to bushfires however we’d by no means seen something like this.” She goes on to elucidate how scorching, dry climate, sturdy winds and an enormous “gas load” of forest tinder created a worst-case state of affairs fireplace whose depth was adequate to blister concrete and soften glass.

The all-new, linear, low-slung lodge is gorgeous. From its clifftop lounge, we admire the unblemished shoreline stretching out under; however with rooms costing about £1,700 per night time, it’s past my funds. Mine is a flying go to. As I drive alongside the unmade street that leads again to the freeway, I notice how 4 years of regeneration have seen the forest attain a uniform peak, with vivid inexperienced, fresh-looking regrowth standing solely simply taller than me.

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Above this layer, skeletal branches grasp on the sky, charred and lifeless. It appears to be like as if somebody has repainted the surroundings with out utilizing a ladder. It’s an identical story throughout a lot of KI’s western finish, together with Flinders Chase nationwide park, whose burned-down customer centre nonetheless hasn’t reopened.

Much more lucky was the panorama surrounding Ecopia Retreat within the coronary heart of KI. Like Southern Ocean Lodge, it sits amongst a whole bunch of acres of nature reserve, however its handful of visitor lodging are far more reasonably priced. I discover my completely off-grid, rainwater-fed villa to be stylish and cozy, combining Scandi-inspired design with considerate, thought-about facilities from high quality bedding and kitchen utensils to hampers full of island-grown goodies.

Due to escaping the fires, Ecopia is wealthy within the wildlife for which KI is famed. Koalas snooze away the day within the block of timber beside my villa, whereas wallabies emerge at nightfall to nibble on the garden. Whether or not watching from the terrace or the living-room window’s banquette seating, the proximity of wildlife turns staying right here into a relentless reference to nature.

For even nearer encounters, I head up the street to Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park: a zoo that performed a pivotal position in rescuing animals from the fires. “Koalas have been the worst hit,” says the employees member displaying me round. “They’ve neither pace nor underground burrows, so their survival technique is to climb as excessive as doable, which in a fireplace of this magnitude was disastrous.”

In complete, it’s thought that half of the island’s animals have been misplaced; and even lots of people who have been rescued didn’t survive their burns. “Of the 600 koalas we took in, solely about half made it again to the wild,” she explains. “We additionally rehabilitated 400 kangaroos, echidnas, goannas and different animals. These survivors are actually serving to wildlife populations to bounce again.”

In fact, not all of KI’s wildlife was impacted by the fires. In a while, I observe the street to the south coast’s Seal Bay: a stunning, white-sand sweep identified for its Australian sea lion colony. A number of of the animals (discovered nearly solely in South Australia) are stretched out, absorbing the solar after foraging in frigid waters. They howl and bark at each other as in the event that they have been a pack of canines.

It’s golden hour by the point I begin heading again in direction of Ecopia, the cooler temperatures encouraging kangaroos to stir. Teams of them graze roadside pastures: far fewer than there would have been 4 years earlier than. However maybe in one other 4 years, any Black Summer time reminiscences can have been misplaced to the forest, and wildlife will likely be commonplace as soon as extra. That may actually be value coming again for.

Journey necessities

Self-catering villas at Ecopia Retreat begin at AU$800 (£415) per night time (two-night minimal keep).

Audley Journey combines Kangaroo Island with Adelaide and the winelands in a 12-day, tailored South Australia fly-drive from £4,450pp, together with flights.

Extra info: southaustralia.com

Learn extra: Australia journey information – the whole lot you must know earlier than you go