EAT, SLEEP, RETREAT
A getaway to one of Australia’s most secluded escapes will leave you completely restored, writes ANNA McCOOE.
The water is slowly turning from 20 shades of blue and green to a gold glomesh, one sparkling crest at a time. It’s all the entertainment I need as the refuelling process begins. I’ve been in zombie mode for weeks, but this is different. It’s something the attention restoration theorists call soft fascination – or effortless attention – and it’s working a treat on my tired, sorry soul.
At Elysian Retreat on Long Island in Queensland’s Whitsundays, the focus is living luxury: a belief that quality of life is measured in rich interactions with nature and other people, not material wealth. The result is a lo-fi, five-star escape with exceptional food and service. By design or just by intuition, it also happens to be a tailormade testing ground for environmental psychologists Stephen and Rachel Kaplan’s 1989 theory of the four cognitive states that lead to restoration.
The first vital step is the clearing of the mind. Being on an island with patchy wi-fi and mobile reception only in the lounge certainly helps to put an out-of-office on nagging everyday thoughts. Even leaving the guest villa without having to scramble for keys, phone and wallet alleviates habitual worry.
Phase two: mental fatigue recovery is the process of lightening the load. We’re on the sun decks out the front of our villa when the constant hum of deadlines and disruption starts to quieten. At this point, it’s been six hours since touching down in the Whitsundays and a quarter of a day without making any major life choices.
The seeds for this moment were sewn much earlier. It was well before we were whisked off to enjoy lunch while our bags were transported to our rooms. It was even before we made the best possible arrival: by helicopter from Hamilton
Island airport. It was when an email was sent two weeks before we were due to depart asking for flight numbers, dietary requirements and credit card details. From that point on, all contingencies were taken care of.
In real life, I’m usually a sucker for the adrenaline of travel – the airport dash, foreign languages, currency conversion, even jet lag strategies, and the way the world looks so fresh when you’re out of your comfort zone. On this day, though, ease feels good.
In the third stage of soft fascination, nature works its magic. Between the rainforest and water, sunrises and starlight, there is enough low-stimulation eye candy to bring on a sense of stillness.
Reflection and restoration are the final stages; they enhance how we reconnect with what’s important once we’ve recharged. This is when Elysian’s eco-credentials come to the fore. The boutique resort of just 10 guest villas is completely solar-powered and offsets 150 per cent of its annual greenhouse gas emissions. Plastic is minimised here, food waste is composted, wastewater is treated and recycled, and natural reef-safe insect repellents and sun-screens are provided for guests.
Each morning feels like a reawakening. The day starts with yoga by the water, a wholesome cooked breakfast and then, for me, reading, board games and swims in the magnesium pool. We try paddle boarding and kayaking and have canapés by the fire pit at dusk. There’s an all-day hike and a day trip to Whitehaven Beach that I happily decline. A massage, though? Yes, please. We head to the Ayurveda-inspired Jala day spa to be lathered in Edible Beauty oils and have our muscles kneaded.
Elysian is an adults-only retreat. Around the fire pit, the guests all start to reveal their stories. Some are honeymooning; others are celebrating anniversaries and milestone birthdays. A mother and daughter are reuniting after Covid, and a couple is recovering from decision-making fatigue post-renovation. One thing is universal; after 72 hours, restoration is complete. elysianretreat.com.au
Between the rainforest and water, sunrises and starlight, there is enough low-stimulation eye candy to bring on a sense of stillness.