South Australia Exploration

Arrive in Adelaide and board a private charter flight for the Flinders Ranges, watching the city and coast give way to red earth, rugged ridgelines and wide Outback sky.

The destination: Arkaba Conservancy, where conservation and hospitality run on the same clock. The same field guides who track the property's wildlife and manage its land also lead the walks and open-top safari drives that reveal it. Settle into the homestead this evening and let the scale of the ranges start to sink in.

The Flinders Ranges began as an ancient seabed, lifted and folded by tectonic forces over millions of years, then carved by wind and rain into the gorges and creek beds you'll walk today. Twice-daily guided outings, on foot and by safari vehicle, move through cypress pine country and along dry creek beds lined with river red gums, with your guides reading the landscape as they go: geology, wildlife and the property's ongoing conservation work. From the high ground, the Outback plain stretches to the horizon in every direction, with little to interrupt the view.

A second day at Arkaba gives you more ways to explore. Four-wheel-drive routes climb knife-edge ridgelines and drop into red gum creek beds as guides share the geological and pastoral history of the land. On foot or by mountain bike, keep an eye out for red and grey kangaroos, wallaroos and emus, regulars on the property, or head toward the Elder Range in search of yellow-footed rock wallabies. For a different vantage point, take a scenic flight over Wilpena Pound and the salt-white expanse of Lake Torrens, or make a full-day excursion to Lake Eyre.

Red earth gives way to the greens of rolling farmland, vineyards and forest as you make your way from the Flinders Ranges to Adelaide Hills. Perched high above the Piccadilly Valley, Sequoia Lodge awaits.

Settle into your suite, then ease into a very different side of South Australia. Sequoia draws on the food, wine and natural landscape of the Adelaide Hills, with experiences ranging from local tastings to the artesian spring-fed hot pools overlooking the valley. This evening, take in the view and settle into the quieter pace of the hills.

South of Adelaide, the Fleurieu Peninsula holds two of the state's best-known wine regions, McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek, along with restaurants built around regional produce, farmers' markets and pockets of bushland where native wildlife still holds ground. A day touring the peninsula might take in established McLaren Vale names like Coriole and Wirra Wirra, the unmistakable d'Arenberg Cube or smaller cellar doors such as Samuel's Gorge. In Langhorne Creek, wineries like Kimbolton offer another side of South Australian wine country, with vineyards spread across the river flats.

South Australia's coastline changes character one more time today. Fly from Adelaide to Kangaroo Island, then continue to Southern Ocean Lodge, set on the limestone cliffs of Hanson Bay along the island's southwest coast.

Twenty-five suites trace the curve of the clifftop, built with limestone and blackwood and furnished with work commissioned from South Australian artists. Each opens to views of the Southern Ocean and the coastal wilderness beyond.

Today belongs to Kangaroo Island. Southern Ocean Lodge shapes each stay around a personalized program of guided experiences, taking you out among the wildlife, coast and bushland that make the island so distinctive. Depending on the day, you might set out with a naturalist guide in search of native wildlife, walk a stretch of the island's rugged coastline, or spend time learning about the conservation work underway across Kangaroo Island.

No two days on Kangaroo Island need look quite the same. Depending on the program designed for your stay, you might venture into Flinders Chase National Park to see Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch, join a naturalist at Seal Bay, or stay closer to the lodge for a walk along the clifftops above Hanson Bay.

There is room to leave part of the day unscripted, too, whether that means time at the spa, tasting some of Kangaroo Island's craft spirits or simply watching the Southern Ocean from the lodge. As evening approaches, Southern Sundowners offers another kind of wildlife encounter at historic Grassdale, where kangaroos and wallabies emerge to graze as you settle in with a drink and watch the light fade.

Your time in South Australia comes to an end today, but your Australia itinerary doesn't have to. Head home from here, or continue on to another part of the country. Nine days in South Australia fits easily into a broader luxury Australia itinerary.