Surrounded by a national park on the southwest corner of Kangaroo Island, just a 45-minute ferry ride or short flight from the mainland, this eco-friendly clifftop resort was known for all-inclusive luxury amid remote coastal wilderness for a dozen years. It was a favorite of Andrew Harper members and staff alike — reason alone to make the trip to Australia. And so we felt particular dismay when we learned, in 2020, that bush fires had leveled it. Now it has been rebuilt on its original footprint, and I made reservations to stay at the 25-suite resort as soon as possible after its reopening.

When we arrived, the gracious and inviting staff treated us like favored houseguests. My companion and I checked in at happy hour and, with welcome drinks in hand, we were swept toward armchairs overlooking the Southern Ocean. They needn’t have poured for us; the great room, centered on a free-standing fireplace, features a generous bar where guests can fix their own drinks and select bottles from the lodge’s extensive South Australian cellar.

They get help from wine-savvy John Hird. He and his partner, Alison Heath, manage the lodge and foster a convivial atmosphere. Guests often invite one another to meals in the dining room, where chef Tom Saliba helps keep things light, spinning local seafood and foraged plants into inventive, vegetable-rich dishes. I especially relished the curried marron (a large, local crayfish), with wakame and ice plant from the beach, and gnocchi flavored with saltbush and served with clams and spinachlike warrigal greens.