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Dubbed Australia’s Galapagos, Kangaroo Island, seventy-five miles southwest of Adelaide, has a dramatic rocky landscape that’s teeming with Down Under wildlife including wallabies, sea lions, kangaroos (of course) and some of the world’s smallest penguins. This March, when the Great Southern Ocean Lodge—Kangaroo Island’s first luxury hotel—opens, it will generate the biggest wow factor in the Southern Hemisphere in a long time. Hayley and James Baillie—the latter helped manage high-end properties along the Great Barrier Reef, including Lizard Island Resort—have spent years on the project. Designed by architect Max Pritchard, a local known for his striking modern houses, the property, located along Hanson Bay on Kangaroo Island’s southwest coast, seamlessly blends into the natural landscape, with an exterior that’s composed of local limestone, recycled timbers and glass, and consists of twenty-one suites. In-house guides and naturalists will take groups of up to ten guests out to nearby Kangaroo Island attractions like Seal Bay Conservation Park, where you can watch seals sunbathing along the shore, and the Remarkable Rocks, a collection of gigantic, jagged rocks in Flinders Chase National Park. And as only befits a place as pristine as Kangaroo Island, where over 30 percent of the land falls into one of several conservation parks, Southern Ocean Lodge is an impressive example of sustainable architecture or, as the lodge puts it, “organic luxury.” Pritchard is also well-known for his economical use of both financial and natural resources: an innovative design scheme stores natural heat and a special filter system helps protect the local wildlife from sewage and food waste. Winter, which lasts from June through August, is when the joeys or baby koalas emerge from their mothers’ pouches, but there’s spectacular wildlife year-round. From $771/night; minimum two-night stay; price includes all meals and guided tours and some alcoholic beverages.

Special offer: Uncharted Outposts has an exclusive offering three nights for the price of two. Valid from March 1 to November 31, 2008. Indagare Members will receive a guaranteed upgrade to the next room category and $100 spa voucher. To book, call 888-995-0909 (in the U.S.); 505-795-7710.