It felt surprisingly emotional to be back at the Southern Ocean Lodge, the South Australian hotel that was reduced to rubble in 2020 when bushfires swept through Kangaroo Island. When I was last there, it was still a construction site surrounded by scorched vegetation. But now, after a two-year, £28.5 million renovation, the Lodge has reclaimed its position on the clifftop, with every floor-to-ceiling window enhancing the sublime turquoise and ivory crescent of Hanson Bay below.
Sunshine, Indiana James’ kangaroo statue, was back in its usual spot in the lobby, but subtle improvements were evident throughout. Arranged downhill from the Great Room (the aptly named amphitheater lounge), the suites have been repositioned for better views while maximizing privacy. There is a much extensive spa with sauna and plunge pools; and the fire prevention and extinguishing systems have received a clear upgrade, in addition to sustainability initiatives such as solar panels and water conservation. Ocean Pavilion, a four-bedroom mega suite that stands out from the rest of the hotel, can now accommodate larger groups. New works of art have been created from objects recovered from the rubble.
For a famously remote hotel, SOL 2.0 is also surprisingly well connected. “We’ve got Starlink satellite, Wi-Fi and 4G,” John Hird, the hotel’s longtime manager, told me with the kind of enthusiasm you’d expect from someone who’s won the lottery. There is a good reason for this: the new technology would allow him to operate the building’s sprinkler system from anywhere in the world. “So in the event of a fire, we will evacuate the entire building. No one will be left behind. Unlike last time.”
The fire season dubbed ‘Black Summer’ was traumatic to say the least. A particularly hot summer left Kangaroo Island’s eucalyptus forests nearly dry. When lightning struck from electrical storms in December 2019, sparks exploded in an inferno so hot it created its own weather system. It was only a matter of time before flames licked the rust-brown front door of the Southern Ocean Lodge; The hotel was surrounded by conservation land that merged into Flinders Chase National Park, the origin of one of the fires.
Hird was one of six people who stayed behind to start the sprinkler system after all guests and most of the staff had been evacuated. The idea was that, if something went wrong, four people could carry a stretcher while one person tended to the injured. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary; the bunker under the Great Hall survived the fire storms that destroyed the rest of the hotel. Even Hird, who had undergone heart surgery just two months earlier, escaped relatively unscathed.
The rest of the island was not so lucky. By the time the fires finally stopped burning in February 2020 thanks to a change in wind direction, almost half of the island had been scorched and tens of thousands of animals had died. It was the most destructive fire ever.
The Australian bush thrives near fire; it depends on it for regeneration and for seed germination. But despite knowing this, the first fire ecologists visiting from other parts of Australia thought it would take decades for the landscape here to recover. Kangaroo Island’s resilience surprised everyone.
Within days of the flames being extinguished, several types of fungi were already growing, changing the pH of the soil as they digested the ash. This almost imperceptible change in the environment allowed other organisms to become established and eventually make way for larger plants.
In fact, scientists saw the return of species that had not been seen for decades and whose seeds had patiently waited for just the right conditions to germinate. What probably made the biggest difference, according to biologist and long-time resident Mike McKelvey, was the fact that Kangaroo Island had no rabbits that devoured new growths.
When I visited Kangaroo Island just over a year ago, Craig Wickham, who had led the way in ecotourism through his company Exceptional Kangaroo Island, took me to areas that had been completely destroyed by the fires. Most of what I saw was green, with dense vegetation and impenetrable undergrowth.
There was wildlife everywhere, from echidnas (a feather-covered mammal) digging for insects on the side of the road, to koalas picking eucalyptus leaves from the branches they were clinging to. At dawn and dusk, groups of kangaroos emerged from their hiding places to graze on green hills and at all hours of the day birdsong could be heard from the bushes. It was magical.
It wasn’t until we drove deep into Flinders Chase National Park that I started to see blackened branches pushing through the new growth, and clearings where the only thing left standing were the fire-resistant yakkas (Australian gum trees) with their aerial flower spikes piercing the sky.
It was creepy, with a post-apocalyptic vibe. But even here, everywhere you looked, life was trying to create a new ecosystem; insects used hollowed trees for food and shelter, while birds nested in the branches or used them for better visibility
I revisited some of the same spots as part of Southern Ocean Lodge’s signature experiences, and the change was even more remarkable. On either side of the boardwalk leading to Remarkable Rocks and the nearby Admiral’s Arch, fields of wildflowers were now interwoven into a delicate carpet. At Bunker Hill Lookout, the sea of yakkas that dominated the landscape was now obscured by other plants; the only evidence of their existence was a sign explaining that they responded to fires by “flowering profusely.” Even in Flinders Chase National Park, the scorched branches have weathered to silver and fresh leaves are creeping up the sides. In a year or two, these too will be swallowed up by the new life bursting out all around them.
Considering all that has changed, the reopening of the Southern Ocean Lodge is only a small part of the island’s regeneration after the fire. But it is also symbolic of his rebirth; because until the hotel’s original opening in 2008, few had heard of Kangaroo Island, not even South Australians. The Lodge simultaneously reimagined experiential luxury travel in Australia and put the island on the world map. The triumphant reopening keeps it there.
Essentials
Qin Xie traveled as a guest of Tourism Australia, the South Australia Tourism Commission and Southern Ocean Lodge (00 61 2 9918 4355; southernoceanlodge.com.au), which offers suites from £1,757, all-inclusive, with a minimum two-night stay.