While the dolphin encounter was a welcome novelty on this voyage to KI, as the 96- by 34.5-mile island is known to locals, I had not been so sure about other alterations to the island that had first enchanted me during a solo trip in 1992. A major concern was damage wreaked by the 2020 wildfires that had scorched much of the western end, killing two people and many thousands of livestock animals, koalas, kangaroos and their smaller wallaby cousins. I worried also that the island’s charms and sustainability had been challenged by an increase in tourism. Since 2001, the number of annual visitors has risen from 150,000 to 274,000 in 2024.