A strange set of stones
© Christian Handl/Getty Images
Kangaroos aren't the only critters you'll encounter on a trip to Kangaroo Island. Aussies have introduced rare species like koalas and platypuses to this large isle's western end ever since it was set aside as a nature reserve in 1919.Even rarer and older—to the tune of hundreds of millions of years—this rock formation developed from an ancient volcano's cooled lava flows. Eons of erosive wind, rain, and salt spray from the Indian Ocean has left these precariously perched boulders looking as if a giant attacked them with an ice cream scoop. Still set upon the volcanic dome where they formed, the surreal stone shapes have acquired a straightforward nickname: the Remarkable Rocks.