Today, Condé Nast Traveler’s Matt Ortile is joined in Australia by Gayle Kabaker, an artist for The New Yorker, to explore the country’s incredible natural beauty and wildlife on Kangaroo Island. From the vistas of Stokes Bay to the prehistoric wonder of Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island has something beautiful to see around every corner.
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00:00As a travel editor, I visit Australia over and over again because each time is always different and exciting.
00:07For this trip, I'm traveling with an artist for The New Yorker, Gail Kubaker.
00:11We've just experienced a food lover's tour of Tasmania, now on to Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
00:18Australia is full of places with stunning landscapes and conservation efforts.
00:23But today, we're visiting Kangaroo Island.
00:26Kangaroo Island sits off the coast of South Australia.
00:28You get there via a 45-minute ferry ride or a quick flight on Qantas from Adelaide.
00:33We start our journey at Southern Ocean Lodge.
00:36Oh, my God.
00:37This is stunning, isn't it?
00:39A great hotel sets the scene for a great trip.
00:42Cheers.
00:43Cheers.
00:44And Southern Ocean Lodge is not just a beautiful property.
00:47It's a story of the future of sustainable luxury travel.
00:52The colors, I'm actually speechless.
00:55You're speechless.
00:56I'm just taking it all in.
00:58That's a straight shot to Antarctica.
01:01Yeah, we're really at the edge of the world.
01:04The edge of the world.
01:05And this spot, you really feel it.
01:09The simplicity of the design, it's like a blank canvas in a way that just lets the color from the outside be the star.
01:20The sage greens, light blues, beige, that's my favorite palette.
01:26It's classic Gale.
01:29For a true local's guide to the island, I've enlisted Craig Wickham of Exceptional Kangaroo Island Tours.
01:34Where are you taking us today, Craig?
01:36We're going to Stokes Bay and Flinders Chase National Park.
01:39I'm hoping to find kangaroos, koalas, and some beautiful, beautiful landscape.
01:45Kangaroo Island has been isolated for about 20,000 years from the Australian mainland.
01:51And a lot of the animals we get here are different from the adjacent mainland.
01:56Craig, I've heard a little bit about the fires a couple of years ago.
01:59I'm curious, everything looks so lush and green, but how has the environment changed at all since then?
02:05It's coming back unbelievably fast.
02:08I'm just going to stop and turn around.
02:10I just saw a local.
02:11Wait, you just saw a what?
02:13Look up here.
02:15Oh, wow.
02:17We were talking about the fire recovery, so this is sitting in a tree that has burned.
02:21So that's where he's camping during the day, but at night he's going to come down and be feeding on all that new growth that's coming up.
02:27So that's what I was saying about that recovery, it's awesome.
02:29Is that a eucalyptus tree then?
02:31Yes, it is, yep.
02:32This is possibly one of the most magical moments I've ever had.
02:37So it's one of my favorite places, Stokes Bay.
02:40This was declared Australia's best beach.
02:43Oh, my God.
02:45Oh, my God.
02:47See, I said it was a nice beach.
02:49See, there's a little pad.
02:51Oh, my God.
02:52So the wallaby is coming this way.
02:54So bean down maybe around the corner.
02:56Anyone hungry?
02:57Absolutely.
02:58Got a nice little picnic here, come and join me.
03:00Here's cheers.
03:01Welcome to Kangaroo Island, my way.
03:03Thank you so much, Craig.
03:06What's your favorite part about showing everybody, not just Stokes Bay, but all of Kangaroo Island?
03:11What we do is guides, we're storytellers.
03:13So really it's about bringing all those elements of history, culture, people.
03:19People make a place, and you are Kangaroo Island personified to me.
03:24To new friends.
03:27Next up, Remarkable Rocks, a truly sculptural landmark on the island created by 500 million years of rain, wind, and pounding waves from the Southern Ocean.
03:38Gail is going to love this spot.
03:40So welcome to Remarkable Rocks.
03:43Wow.
03:44Obviously didn't spend a lot of time naming them.
03:46They're rocks and they're remarkable.
03:48I love this place.
03:49It's really different depending on who you are.
03:52Artists will see the sculptural forms.
03:55How do you see this?
03:56I am seeing animals.
03:59They look like bison or elephants.
04:03I'm just totally inspired and blown away.
04:08This is just so incredibly unique and out of this world.
04:16Over there, look, over there, look.
04:18Hopping.
04:19This is a really important thing.
04:21As soon as you see them reacting, we stop.
04:23So it's that slow development of trust.
04:25So we end up having that sense of shared space.
04:28We're the visitors here.
04:30I love that we've stopped at the side of the road, Craig, and you've shown us this secret spot.
04:36And we just kind of followed our whimsy.
04:39And I think that's what Australia is all about is those magical moments.
04:44This trip has ignited and inspired me so much as an artist.
04:49Because there's so much to discover about Australia.
04:52The diversity of landscapes and wildlife.
04:54All the wonderful people that we've met on our journeys.
04:57And how do you boil that down into one trip?
05:00And I think the answer is that you keep coming back.
05:03So let's toast an incredibly magical experience of Australia.
05:09Thank you for bringing me here.
05:11Thank you for coming along, Gayle.
05:13I truly can't wait for my next trip to Australia.
05:17Where should I take Gayle to next?