James and Hayley Baillie have committed to rebuilding Southern Ocean Lodge after the resort was destroyed in fires that swept across Kangaroo Island.
The owners of the award-winning property, Baillie Lodges, say their immediate focus is on rebuilding. However, it is currently too early to estimate a date for re-opening.
“In reality, this is a very emotional time for us all, and we’ve shed many tears over the past few days for the loss of a dream realised and a life’s work for us,” the couple said in a statement.
Southern Ocean Lodge was destroyed in fires that consumed 40 per cent of Kangaroo Island on Friday 3 January.
Before and after of the Southern Ocean Lodge, one of the fanciest hotels in Australia https://t.co/C7cUvZSHCb pic.twitter.com/tSsPs73ADn
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) January 9, 2020
None of the team at the resort were harmed, and reportedly survived the blaze by staying in an underground bunker while fire burnt through the property above them, according to The Advertiser.
The staff village remained untouched, but Hayley Baillie told the outlet everything else “disappeared off the face of the planet”.
“We put our heart and souls into this creation,” she said. “Even though it’s a building, it feels so much more than that.”
“It’s hard not to remember the very first time we set foot on the site on Kangaroo Island’s wildly beautiful southwest coast with our baby son Finn and envisioned a luxury lodge that would offer an experience of the island to guests from Australia and around the world,” the Baillies’ statement said.
Australia is currently experiencing a fire season that emergency responders, experts and politicians on both sides have described as ‘unprecedented’. At least 28 people have been killed in out-of-control blazes across the country.
But while the South Australian island – along with the rest of the state, Victoria and New South Wales – continue to weather fires that have consumed an estimated five million hectares of land, the Baillies said the emphasis should be placed on “the bigger picture” of the future of Australian tourism.
“Stepping back from the horrific footage of the bushfire crises in regional New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia this summer, the bigger picture is that we need now to rally together and present a positive picture of this incredible country and all it has to offer,” the statement read.
“Your generous, ongoing support for Australian tourism is vital for the industry’s future and for it to best recover from these challenging times.
“Whilst it might seem from footage that ‘Australia is on fire’, there are many parts of the country that are unaffected and a host of incredible destinations are ready to welcome visitors from here and around the world.”
On Kangaroo Island, around 250,000 hectares in the east remains unaffected by bushfires.
Southern Ocean Lodge will be rebuilt using its original plans, which survived the fires, under the guidance of its original architect Max Pritchard.
