DESTINATIONS KANGAROO ISLAND | AUSTRALASIA


FROM FAR LEFT: (top) Dudley Wines, Kangaroo Island; (bottom) Oceanview Eco Villas; Stowaway Kangaroo Island; a koala and echidna in fire-damaged habitats; new shoots on burnt trees; an orphaned joey at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park; sea lions at Seal Bay


PICTURES: South Australian Tourism Commission/Ben Goode, Ian Routledge; Sarah Marshall; Heidi Linehan; Oliver McGivern


BUSHFIRE RECOVERY


home surrounded by native vegetation and casuarina trees favoured by glossy black cockatoos. Even greater seclusion can be enjoyed at Stowaway


Kangaroo Island’s two villas, where guests are left with food and wine hampers to enjoy a barbecue, before soaking in their own hot tub in the middle of the wilderness.


WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS Wildlife is still the island’s biggest drawcard, and although an estimated one billion wild animals were killed by Australia’s bushfires, there’s still plenty to see here. Perhaps it was the cooler temperatures – another reason to encourage guests to travel in the shoulder seasons – but I clocked up more animal sightings on my second visit, after the fires, than before. Koalas dozed in the forks of branches, and in the absence of thick understory (the layer of shrubs and plants that lie between the canopy and the forest floor), elusive echidnas were much easier to spot. Once its boardwalks have been repaired, Flinders Chase will initially reopen to guided tours along a designated ‘safe corridor’ to Admirals Arch, exploring areas carpeted with electric-orange fungi and shiny green shoots. Resident scientist Peggy Rismiller, a veteran observer


of fire-ravaged landscapes, hails this as a unique opportunity to study regeneration. “Recovery is not an endpoint,” she insists, urging


visitors to focus on the positives. “Recovery here is happening every day.”


travelweekly.co.uk TW


There’s a misconception that huge swathes of Australia were wiped out by the bushfires, but although events were catastrophic, only about 3% of the country was heavily impacted. Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19,


affected states had launched a successful #BookThemOut campaign to drive domestic tourism and many businesses were already up and running. Despite losing this year’s harvest, for example, wineries in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia’s Adelaide Hills were welcoming visitors, and a number of new hotel openings were still scheduled to go ahead as planned. Paul Cooper, marketing and business


development manager for Sydney-Melbourne Touring (which operates scenic driving routes between Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra), said tourism businesses had been “incredibly resilient” in their recovery efforts.


BOOK IT


Anzcro offers a seven-night itinerary spanning Adelaide and Kangaroo Island from £1,964. It includes a night’s accommodation and sightseeing tour in Adelaide, ferry crossing to Kangaroo Island, four nights at Kangaroo Island Seaside Inn, a Seal Bay Discovery day tour and full-day food and wine tour, ending with a two-night stay on the mainland at Longview Vineyard in Adelaide Hills. The price is based on two sharing, and includes Cathay Pacific flights via Hong Kong departing October 2, limousine transfers, and car hire. anzcro.co.uk


16 APRIL 2020 31 Cooper drove the popular coastal route


shortly after roads reopened and calculated just 18% of the journey had been visibly affected by fire. “I was really surprised at just how much


escaped the fires, and how many of the beautiful parts of the drive and the wonderful people and tourism businesses were not directly impacted by the flames,” he said. “Even in places where the damage was


quite significant, the regrowth out of the trees just six weeks after the fire broke was absolutely amazing. That regrowth in some of those areas has more than doubled since I was there. The Australian bush is so resilient. “The main thing is that we are open for business – the collection of experiences is as


wonderful as ever.” E For the latest updates, visit the Tourism Australia website at tourism.australia.com


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