'I'm calling it, this is Australia's number one state for wine and wildlife'

A MASTERCLASS IN WILDLIFE

That night, we stride into the bush with red torches on a nocturnal tour at Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. I’m staying nearby at the beautifully rebuilt Southern Ocean Lodge and this is among many included excursions.

Kangaroo Island is a stronghold for Tammar wallabies, and we soon see one. A bush-tailed possum crosses our path then we cap that with a mother and baby koala feeding at eye level.

Within Flinders Chase National Park, the non-living nature is no less extraordinary. The strangely eroded Remarkable Rocks live up to their name. Some are smooth mounds, like Uluru in miniature, others have curved overhangs topped with orange lichen. Most striking is a huge wedge with hollows like a cartoon cheese.

Kangaroo Island has given me a masterclass in the first of South Australia’s twin draws of wildlife and wine. For the second, I head to Adelaide Hills, east of the city.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

Not that I’m leaving nature behind. Two kookaburras are perched on posts and kangaroos nibble the grass as we arrive at Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard, founded by the Croser family in collaboration with Bollinger.

Though Adelaide Hills is lesser known than McLaren Vale and Barossa, the region has around 40 vineyards producing sparkling whites and colder-climate reds. It has a reputation for bucking the trend with European production styles, and there’s another difference.

“From a tourism perspective, we’re closer. You’re only 25 minutes from the city, you can Uber it up here,” points out direct to consumer manager Molly Yang as she pours us tasters.

At our next vineyard, Deviation Road, my Coast & Co tour group lunches on mini pies and salad on the terrace, while cockatoos shriek in the trees. Co-owner Hamish Laurie tells us his great, great grandmother was South Australia’s first registered female winemaker, her husband a magistrate who brazenly sentenced people to

labour in their vineyard.

Deviation Road is among Adelaide Hills’ many small artisan producers. So, what do these relative wine hipsters see as the next big thing?

White Burgundies are on trend internationally, explains Hamish, the price of some vintages increasing tenfold. The French region has a near monopoly but, he muses, “as it’s scarcer, where in the world do you go? I think Adelaide Hills is a real contender.”

I’m here in autumn and as there’s a five-degree difference between Adelaide and its hills, so it’s good to soak in the spring-fed hot pools at Sequoia Lodge, on the slopes of Mount Lofty. This 14-suite adults-only property teams sweeping views with classy meals in a cosy lounge.

In my suite, activating the electric blinds covering the floor-to-ceiling windows and balcony each morning prompts a teasing slow reveal of the Piccadilly Valley. The lights, recessed TV and even fireplace are controlled the same way, as is mood music, set to soothing during turn down.

The same estate includes botanical gardens and the lodge’s sister hotel Mount Lofty House. This heritage building of dark woods and four-poster beds has been a setting for Australian MasterChef. I feel like a judge myself as a stunning tasting menu unfolds in the much-awarded Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant. I mentally applaud artistically presented dishes like seafood with celeriac cream and foraged sea herbs.

The neat alliteration of wildlife and wine makes it easy to remember South Australia’s draw cards. They’re also pleasingly accessible, as I’m reminded on a final morning bush walk from Sequoia Lodge when I glimpse both a kangaroo and a view of Adelaide peeping between the trees.

Book it: Gold Medal offers two nights’ room-only in a Majestic Suite at Majestic Roof Garden Hotel, Adelaide; two nights’ B&B in a Sequoia Suite at Sequoia Lodge and three all-inclusive in a Southern Ocean Lodge Flinders Suite from £6,599pp, for departure on 11 March, 2025. The holiday includes international and domestic flights, four days’ car hire and complimentary mini bars and activities at both lodges; goldmedal.co.uk

For more on the Southern Ocean Lodge experience, see ttgmedia.com/luxury