Here’s an excerpt:

‘We stayed at the Southern Ocean Lodge, a place so confidently swish and friendly, I
instantly felt like a burglar. It’s easily the most upmarket place I’ve ever
stayed: I was almost ashamed to go to the toilet. The architecture is straight
out of Grand Designs: all floor-to-ceiling windows and
understated modernity, not to mention stunning views across the ocean – the
lodge is perched atop a cliff, overlooking a beach, situated in between two
national parks. If it housed a death ray (which I’m fairly sure it doesn’t),
this would be precisely the sort of place a taste-conscious Bond villain might
construct…’

Click on the link to read the full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/jan/27/australia-diving-sharks-tuna-brooker?newsfeed=true

27th April – 2 May 2012

There’s lots to be excited about this autumn, with the fine producers and chefs on Kangaroo Island coming together with an itinerary of nine great dining events around the island, with a common theme: fabulous, singing-fresh seafood!

In a series of events at idyllic seaside settings around the island, feasters can choose between fine dining tasting menus, campfire cooking and seafood barbeques by the sea. Other dining events include master class demonstrations and exclusive dinners with celebrity chefs such as Pete Evans from My Kitchen Rules and Simon Bryant from The Cook and The Chef.

This is an island festival that connects visitors to the Kangaroo Island community through the celebration of fine seafood, local produce, location and conversation.

Southern Ocean Lodge has some exciting food events as part of the Feastival:

Sunday 29th

Luxury Accommodation Package; SOUTHERN OCEAN LODGE FEASTIVAL

PACKAGE DATES: 29th April – 1st May 2012

An exclusive opportunity to enjoy a weekend of luxury at the Southern Ocean Lodge; guests enjoy an exclusive pass to dinner with Simon Bryant at the KI Seafood Feastival down at the historic Kangaroo Island Jetty.

Includes:

Two nights luxury accommodation
All lodge dining, open bar with premium wines and spirits
In-suite bar
Signature Lodge Experiences and island airport transfers
Special KI Seafood Feastival dinner with Simon Bryant from the TV series the Cook and the Chef

From $1,980 per person – two nights all inclusive (excluding air)
Children from 6 yrs – $350 per child per night
Capacity 8 suites only

For more, please call DIRECT 02 99184355

Then, on Monday 30th…

A SOUTHERN OCEAN DEGUSTATION
Lunch 12.30pm – 4.30pm

This is a  rare opportunity to dine at Southern Ocean Lodge. Experience a true gastronomic journey of Kangaroo Island; the ‘produce to plate’ approach is a real passion for Chef Tim Bourke and his team.

TICKET PRICE: $125 per head, sit down formal lunch and beverage package.
No children under 18 sorry.
ALL BOOKINGS – Please call DIRECT 02 9918 4355

Capacity 60 – hurry to reserve your place!

See you at the first-ever Kangaroo Island Seafood Feastival!

ANDREW HARPER REVEALS 2012 GRAND AWARD WINNERS

Southern Ocean Lodge named Hideaway of the year

NEW YORK, NY – (December 30, 2011) Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report, the most respected publication in luxury travel, today revealed its 2012 Grand Award winners. We are pleased to announce that Southern Ocean Lodge was named Hideaway of the Year, at the top of a very prestigious list comprised of Mr. Harper’s favorite 19 properties he visited within the past calendar year.

World-roaming luxury travel reviewer Andrew Harper notes of his anonymous stay at Southern Ocean Lodge, that it was,  ’Unquestionably the highlight of our three-week trip to Australia.’

Read the Southern Ocean Lodge review in full online in Andrew Harper’s just released January 2012 Hideaway Report at http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/25423322#/25423322/6

Each of Mr. Harper’s Grand Award winners possesses exceptional character, a commitment to classic hospitality and a profound sense of place. Since 1979, Andrew Harper has provided members of the exclusive Andrew Harper club with honest insights and recommendations about the finest luxury travel experiences worldwide. Mr. Harper does not evaluate hotels by means of a checklist, but uses his three decades of experience to distinguish the truly enchanting from the merely excellent.

The Lodge shares its achievement with fine Australian company and fellow Luxury Lodges of Australia members Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa (including a special mention to Joost Heymeijer, GM) and fellow SA property, The Louise.

Congratulations, all!

The full list of 2012 Hideaway Report Grand Award winners:

View the full list of winners and their reviews, including Special Recognitions, Indelible Memories of 2011 and Disappointments of the Year, by downloading the complimentary January 2012 Grand Awards issue.

Read more press online at http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2011/12/andrew-harper-hideaway-report-2011-winners/592014/1; and download the Hideaway Report in PDF http://www.southernoceanlodge.com.au/press/HideawayReportJan20123385.pdf

About Andrew Harper Free of advertising since its inception in June 1979, Hideaway Report is a private monthly publication for sophisticated travelers. The selection of hotels, resorts and restaurants for inclusion in this publication is made on a completely independent basis, with Andrew Harper LLC paying full rate for all meals, lodging and related travel expenses. Andrew Harper and his editors travel incognito to write candid and unbiased travel reviews for a private membership service, which provides personalized travel-planning assistance, bespoke tours and valuable travel privileges to its members.

For more information about Andrew Harper, visit http://www.AndrewHarper.com.  Inquiries? Contact press@andrewharper.com.  Be sure to follow Mr. Harper on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AndrewHarperTravel and Twitter at HarperTravel.

Named ‘Dirt(y)’ for the pure dirt in which the grains are grown, the new range so far includes super Yorke Peninsula Kabuli Chickpeas and Kangaroo Island’s delicious Red Nipper Lentils, and the larger Red Nuggets.

Dirt(y) grains and pulses are ngle origin, traceable, non-GMO, grown in the pure, clean SA environment, drought resistant and waterwise. And, as a nod of thanks, return precious nitrates to the dirt for future crops.

Duncan MacGilvray of Kangaroo Island Pure Grain is happy to see his Kangaroo Island red lentils packaged so perfectly..

The product was up for sampling at the Good Food KI Food Industry Expo last Wednesday 16th November. “As you can see,  the product looks fantastic and Simon is out sorting distribution as we speak,’” explains Duncan.

The Dirt(y) website is now up and running – check it out for more info and to buy online

http://www.dirtyinc.com.au/

Dirt(y) Food Produce

Simon Bryant, Duncan & Caroline at the KI Good Food Expo

‘Like’ Southern Ocean Lodge on Facebook and enter to win your own luxurious ‘Prime Time’ Chair

Bring some Southern Ocean Lodge luxe to your loungeroom

Like to add a little luxe to your favourite chillout space?

Valued at AU$4,250, the contemporary Prime Time Chair is a popular favourite at both Capella and Southern Ocean Lodge; it’s ideal for reading stories with a loved one, or for relaxing in sublime, stylish comfort.

Prime Time Chairs are distributed in Australia by Great Dane Furniture .

To enter, it’s easy!

Simply ‘like’ us on Facebook and stay in touch with all that’s going on, meet like-minded travellovers and more.

Be in it to win some Baillie Lodges luxe at home. Good luck!

We’ll see you on Facebook!

The Southern Spa is a private oasis of calm, perched high on a cliff top and commanding dramatic views of the Southern Ocean stretching toward the Antarctic. A destination in its own right, the spa fuses the unique landscape and location of Southern Ocean Lodge with the acclaimed Australian-made Li’Tya range of spa products and professional staff.

A signature spa menu offers a selection of traditional and cutting edge treatments. A steam room, chill out lounge and spa cuisine program will complement an international spa design showcase.

Combined with the crisp Antarctic highly oxygenised air from the pounding surf, the Southern Spa invites guests to immerse in a pure, natural environment that is assured to rejuvenate and relax.

http://www.southernoceanlodge.com.au/spa.asp

Read the full story here

KI Food Safari 2011 was a tremedous success, thanks especially to a terrific group of guests, an enthusastic team at Southern Ocean Lodge, our fabulous foodie ‘safari leaders’, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant and of course the producers on Kangaroo Island, happy to open up their farms and vineyards to share their stories, their food and their wine.

See following for an outline of the itinerary for 2011. The album is up on facebook now, hop on to check it out!

This gives a hint of what’s in store for KI Food Safari 2012, with a new six night format – bookings are open now. The 2011 event sold out fast, so don’t delay in reserving your place!

KI Food Safari |Southern Ocean Lodge | 2011

Saturday 27 August – Arrive at Kingscote Airport to be met by Maggie Beer and the Southern Ocean Lodge team.  We head across to the picturesque Islander
Estate Winery for a ‘First Taste of Kangaroo Island’ standup lunch and oak
barrel wine-tasting. From here we drive south to Andermel Marron, home of KI’s
prized freshwater crayfish and a leader in sustainable aquaculture. As the sun sinks
to the west we arrive at Southern Ocean Lodge, our ‘luxe base-camp’ for the KI
Food Safari, 2011.  Refresh and reconvene to meet the team before Tim Bourke’s welcome dinner in degustation style, designed to showcase the finest, freshest KI produce with Islander Estate matched wines. Welcome.

Sunday 28 August – Today the Safari heads out towards the
KI’s eastern end. We start our journey at Island Pure, the island’s sheep milk
dairy. We see sheep milking and enter the factory for hands-on ricotta
making. From here we head across to Antechamber Bay and the home of South Rock Lamb. Here we have lunch, meet the Gilfillan family who are passionate about raising free-range lamb and who coordinate the Farmers Market at Penneshaw.
We enjoy a wine-tasting with nearby Dudley Wines, before heading west again
to the oyster leases at American River. Return to the Lodge for Maggie’s
‘glass-in-hand’ cooking demonstration and dinner menu.

Monday 29 August – An optional fishing charter explores the waters to the island’s north to bring the catch back for dinner, whilst the remaining Safari travels to Seal Bay and the third largest colony of the Australian Sea Lion. Simon Bryant arrives in time for lunch, and the afternoon is at leisure with choices of our Chef Tim Bourke’s Masterclass which includes a three part ‘Journey of the Southern Sourdough’, spa treatments, bespoke experiences or just relaxing around the Lodge. In the evening we join Maggie and Simon in the kitchen for a Chef & the Cook Challenge, KI Style as they prepare the canapés for sunset drinks. Maggie and Simon jointly host dinner.

Tuesday 30 August – This morning the Safari offers the experience of KI’s wilderness highlights on a half day excursion to Flinders Chase National Park. Walk amongst the Remarkable Rocks, get amongst the fur seals colony at Admirals Arch and hear stories of shipwrecks, early light-house keepers and more. We suggest you don’t leave KI without it! Alternatively as a fun foodies’ adventure for the morning, Tim Bourke takes a group tour to the Ildoura Fruits Farm, a KI farm at its most quirky and producer of Australian native bush conserves and muntry berries. KI’s Bay of Shoals Winery joins us for a tasting at a ‘Southern Sizzler’ BBQ style lunch. We divide for Tim Bourke’s Masterclass, time at leisure and an optional walk (or later drive) to neighbouring historic property, Grassdale. For ‘Kangas and Kanapes’, Simon Bryant cooks alfresco at Grassdale as the ‘roos and wallabies emerge to graze at dusk. We welcome Barossa winemaker Charles Melton as our host sommelier, who cracks his pre-release 09 reds especially for us and who brings a selection of museum wines to match Simon’s own hosted dinner.

Wednesday 31 August – The KI Food Safari heads north for a full day out and about. The day starts with a visit to Island Beehive, home to the Ligurian Bee and its pure, prized honey. We travel to the canola fields to the north, which are pollinated only by the locals, and have morning tea in the vast fields of yellow flowered canola crops. Next stop is KI Abalone – a fine example of aquaculture with fresh, premium abalone to be savoured, damside. A mother humpback whale burses her newborn calf just off the coast. Lunch is long and lazy on the beach and cooked for us by Nick Hannaford at Life Time Retreats on the picturesque north coast, before we begin our journey home via the groves and fig trees at
KI Olive Oil for a tasting and a wander. Dinner is in ‘Family Style’ – a
cooperative ‘Chef and the Chef’ creation from Simon Bryant and our own Tim
Bourke.

Thursday
1 September – A late breakfast for those who like it precedes a last chance for a clifftop walk, spa treatment or Tim Bourke’s final Masterclass. The Safari bids adieu to Southern Ocean Lodge and heads back to the airport to return each to their home ports.

A
flexible approach: The KI Food safari offers
wonderful possibilities. With this in mind, our itinerary is always dependent
on a number of factors, weather certainly being one, and changes may be made to
take advantage of opportunities nature may have in store for us.

Read the story online at http://southernoceanlodge.com.au/press/BellePaulMyersOct-Nov20118792.pdf