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.
Charlie Brooker from the UK’s Guardian posts a terrific recount of his adventures in South Australia, from swimming with tuna to a rest at swish Southern Ocean Lodge.
