Wellness

Retreats so relaxing, you’ll forget you’re on Sydney’s doorstep

At two in the afternoon, where else would you want to be but soaking in Epsom salts in a freestanding tub on a timber verandah, staring up at gum trees and eyeballing a goldenbrown beetle as it scurries by? It’s only about a one-hour drive or train ride from Sydney’s CBD but Billabong Retreat feels like a true bush escape. The Deluxe Cabins are decorated plainly but elegantly and are built from plantation pine and recycled hardwood. There are also Lodge and Treehouse rooms, all discreetly tucked around the billabong, where bellbirds ring, kookaburras laugh and water dragons are behind those occasional splashes. Teachers adept at reading a room and coaching a beginner lead excellent yoga classes, which are held in an airy bower constructed from telegraph poles and second-hand doors, with bamboo flooring. The food is also exceptional – colourful, vegetarian and glorious – and a return visit just for the bliss balls is totally understandable.