HEAD for the HILLS

South Australia’s new luxury lodge is so close but also worlds away, writes MAX ANDERSON.

- MAX ANDERSON.

Sequoia Lodge is waiting for a delivery of bettongs and potoroos. These might sound like obscure ingredients destined for a dégustation menu, but they’re actually small kangaroo-like creatures once common in the Adelaide Hills. They’ll be taking up residence in bushland below Sequoia’s 14 luxury suites.

“They’re supposed to be arriving from a local wildlife reserve,” says host, Jessica Bibbo. “Trouble is, they’ve got to be trapped – and last night, the reserve only managed to catch two possums.”

The marsupials have three days to give themselves up in time for the launch of Australia’s newest luxury lodge. Bibbo, however, is not worried. For one thing, the fact that Sequoia is launching at all leaves the well-seasoned team truly thankful. And for another, even if the marsupials don’t show, guests have plenty to look at.

Sequoia sits on the side of Mount Lofty Summit and enjoys one of Australia’s greatest, if under-appreciated, views. Elevated on an escarpment at 727 metres, the lodge looks down into the Piccadilly Valley – a picnic blanket of century-old farms, vineyards and thick forests – and further out past the peaks of Lenswood where the Barossa begins. Magic strikes throughout the day: dawn mists thread like silver ribbons, cockatoos show like diamonds against the canopies, and when the sun retreats, Adelaide’s food bowl slowly fills with apricot light.