BYRON BLISS
Byron Bliss - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Byron Bliss | |||||
| By: Hilary Doling, Issue 28 – Spring 2006 | |||||
| (Ice Hotels) | |||||
| RETREAT FROM THE WORLD AT TWO PROPERTIES THAT COMBINE SPAS AND SPIRITUALITY WITH TRUE LUXURY STYLE. | |||||
| GAIA RETREAT & SPA | |||||
| Byron Bay has long been known for its alternative therapies, not so well known for up-market spa retreats. Olivia Newton-John and Gregg Cave have created a sanctuary that mixes innovative therapies with a high level of comfort and style. What Newton-John likes to call, “a combination of bare foot and Armani”. Gaia Retreat & Spa sits in the rarefied air high in the hinterland above Bangalow and Byron Bay. From the moment you drive up the winding road and walk through the main entrance with its trickling water fountains, you know this is a special place to be. Cave was an art dealer and interior designer before he was an owner and General Manager of the retreat, and it shows. The resort is made up of a main building with lounge and restaurant, and individual villas dotted around the lush sub-tropical gardens. All decorated beautifully. In the main building there are sweeping floor to ceiling silk curtains hand–dyed in warm shades from burnt orange to fuchsia. Buddha paintings and eastern statues blend with modern sofas and lamps. Wide verandahs look out on stunning views of Byron Bay. But there is more going on here than good design; the place has soul. Over dinner, made with organic ingredients, Newton-John explains why the retreat is so special to her: “Gaia is a place where I can relax and just be me; I know that I don’t have to be ‘on’ ”. She and Cave came across the property when they were staying at Olivia’s northern NSW farm shortly after the death of her beloved mother, Irene. They were driving around when they spotted a ‘For Sale’ sign. “We were immediately struck by the peace and tranquillity here,” says Newton–John. “It just seemed very special. That night I dreamt about the resort and so did Gregg, after that we both agreed it just felt as if it was meant to be”. Along with three other friends and investors they bought the property and set about changing the rundown old resort into a very special retreat. The name ‘Gaia’ means Mother Earth and has special significance for Newton–John. It was what she called her first solo album. “This is a place where you can communicate with nature and get a sense of spirituality, and what is really important in life – that’s why Gaia is the perfect name”. For twenty-five years Newton-John has been coming to northern New South Wales to re-charge her batteries and keep her grip on reality. It is clear that she and Cave love the retreat with a passion and they’ve filled it not just with their ideas, but with some very personal touches. The fabulous love seat in the main building came from Olivia’s home and has been re-covered with Jim Thomson silk brocade. Some of the books in the rooms are Gregg’s while the bookshelves and the books in the main house all belonged to Olivia mother, Irene Newton-John, a talented photographer whose flower studies have been blown up and used to decorate the rooms. At the heart of Gaia is the Amala Spa which translates as ‘pure’ in Sanskrit. Two of the word’s purest spa brands, Sodashi and USPA are used. The best Byron Bay practitioners – and in Byron there are a few to choose from – have been enlisted to offer a range of treatments from facials to Reiki and spiritual healing. Those who stay tend to drift between the spa or yoga room, the perfect pool, and their own balconies where they read and relax. In the evenings people drift towards the lounges in the main building. There is a sort of houseparty atmosphere where everyone is friendly but privacy is respected. At the end of a blissful day I climbed up to the highest point in the shire, to watch the sunset. The name of the lookout means ‘the wind of God’ in Sanskrit but on that particular evening only the gentlest of breezes was blowing. From here you can see across the undulating hills and valleys from the ocean to the Nightcap ranges. I watched until the landscape glowed gold and orange with just a touch of pink, exactly the colour of the curtains in the main building. Trust Gregg to arrange a sunset to match. | |||||
| BYRON AT BYRON RESORT & SPA | |||||
| Sit at the restaurant at Byron at Byron Resort & Spa and look out and all you see is a curtain of green, as if the rainforest in front of you were about to put on a show. And it does. The curtain of course never lifts but instead light flickers through the trees, changing the view from morning gold to sunset pink as the day progresses. It is tempting to sit here all day because the main building, which houses the restaurant, pool, spa, and lounge area, is the heart of the resort. It is here that people are drawn to swim, to eat, but often just to sit and stare at the compelling tangle of forest beyond. Managers John and Lynne Parche and owner Harvey Norman have created a resort that is all about contact with nature. The magnificent main building is a mix of Balinese style and the best of Australian design. It brings the outside in, with wide glass doors that roll back, wide verandahs and a soaring ceiling pointing skywards. It is light and airy and full of space. Set back from Tallow Beach in 18 hectares (45 acres) of rainforest the resort is on the outskirts of town and really you feel there is almost no reason to leave this sanctuary to head to the bustle of Byron – and many don’t. The Byron at Byron, with its gently turning ceiling fans and relaxed, friendly staff gently lulls you into a state of relaxation you didn’t even know you missed. Lyn Parche worked for many years launching the Aman brand in Australia and husband John has extensive experience with international five star hotels – and it shows. The Byron at Byron has brought a new sense of class and style to hippy, trippy Byron Bay. There are 92 one-bedroom suites but you’d never known it because rooms are staggered along boardwalks weaving between lily ponds and lush rainforest, so you never really feel you’re in a sizable resort. Suites are built in a mixture of timbers and designer steel with each suite featuring a kitchen, separate lounge and dining area, plasma TV as well as two enclosed balconies. Luxurious bathrooms have deep free-standing bathtubs and separate showers and, as they say in the brochure ‘the king beds ensure dreamtime really does exist’. The bright, white rooms have cushions and lounges in a mix of muted natural colours; purples and muddy browns and rich greens, the colours of the water lilies and Bangalow palms outside. Since Byron at Byron is the kind of place where you can’t help but unwind, it’s a good idea to go with the flow by visiting the Spa and Wellness Centre. The motto of the spa is ‘healing through tranquility’ and they work miracles in the six luxurious treatment rooms. There is a relaxation area with glossy magazines to flick through, and herbal tea to drink, a deep spa pool edged in natural stone like a rainforest pool and a Vichy shower. There is also a range of indulgent treatments on offer from Lithos hot stone massage, to body wraps, facials using the top class Environ products and hydrotherapy treatments. In celebration of spring the spa has launched some special treatments to scrub away Winter. “We tend to hibernate our bodies in Winter so it is important to ready ourselves for the warm months ahead,” says Spa Manager, Marionne De Candia. Marionne suggests a Salt Glow Exfoliation to remove impurities and stimulate the circulation. Followed by a Vichy Shower to pummel away the winter aches and stimulates the lymphatic system. Finally, a foot therapy treatment and a pedicure to ensure the feet are ready to face the world after months of hiding. Guests who can drag themselves away from the spa can have a languid swim in the deep blue infinity pool or wander through the rainforest on a series of boardwalks curling like tree roots through the green. You can also stroll out to the aptly named Bolli Point for a glass of champagne with a view of the lake or down to white, bright Tallow Beach with its pounding surf. Always, however, you are drawn back to the main house to sit and think awhile. As night falls the full moon seems to be struck in the tops of the trees, a prisoner of the forest. Floating candles twinkle in the pools around the restaurant and the main swimming pool, illuminated with underwater lights, gleams like a sapphire against the darkening forest of jade green. | |||||
| Details: | |||||
| The Byron at Byron Resort & Spa: www.byronatbyron.com.au | |||||
| Gaia Retreat & Spa: www.gaiaretreat.com.au | |||||
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