Down to the river
Maruia River Retreat changed course last year to become an affordable wellness destination, with welcoming yoga workshops, beautiful surroundings and delicious food. Naomi Arnold reports.
Covid changed the focus from luxury to affordability at this world-class lodge.
Luxury accommodation can sometimes feel impersonal, steeped in pretentiousness without real connection or warmth. But that’s not the case at Maruia River Retreat, tucked beside a wide green trout fishing river in the upper South Island. Instead, the small, sharp and convivial international team makes this a place of true hospitality. Coupled with its far-flung setting, an atmosphere soaked in lush green, and that sublime river, you leave feeling like you’ve been staying with old friends.
It took five years on the market for the former fishing lodge to find its new owners, and the collection of seven luxury villas, dining and lounge areas, spa and yoga shala has the perfect caretakers in Cristina and Lasse Holopainen. The couple bought the lodge in November 2018 and set about renovating it into a series of sleek, minimalist and eco-friendly spaces to create a luxury lifestyle, yoga, spa, and wellness destination.
Several months after their formal opening in October 2019, Covid-19 hit, and they spent lockdown at the lodge with staff.
‘‘Fifty-nine days; I counted every day,’’ Cristina says with a laugh. ‘‘Thank God I was there during that turmoil.’’
They refocused their target market from providing luxury hotel-type accommodation into a high-quality wellbeing destination. Cristina calls this a shift towards ‘‘affordable wellness’’, a way to reach a spiritual haven without the 12-hour flight and hefty price tag.
‘‘We share what we believe we can help with,’’ she says. ‘‘That thoughtful care is what ended up being the focus. Instead of coming to stay somewhere with nice beds, how do you thread everything together – the people, the place. What can you create with that magic formula? Why do you need to travel to Bali when you have everything right here in New Zealand?’’
My husband and I visit Maruia River Retreat on a weekend in mid-summer, when Cristina, Lasse, and Aucklandbased writer, yoga teacher, and personal trainer Rachel Grunwell are hosting a wellness workshop for a group of women from around the country. We explore the local area while the cheerful, down-toearth group take in Rachel’s teachings, and we join them for meals, walks, meditation, and yoga sessions with Cristina.
Having practised yoga on and off for many years, I discover within a few minutes of class that Cristina’s instruction is warm and reassuring, but as precise as cut glass. Indeed, yoga really shines at Maruia. The Holopainens cofounded the Philippines’ three popular Urban Ashram yoga studios, quickly turning to online classes when a case of Covid emerged at the studio. They continue teaching internationally online.
This experience, coupled with the setting, makes Maruia the ideal place to either start or deepen your yoga practice.
Upcoming workshops include a breathing and energy series in March with Lasse, also a respected yoga teacher. In a former life, he was assistant secretary for the Philippines Department of Energy and has since founded an alternative energy company. It’s his dream to re-establish Maruia’s mothballed hydro scheme and have the property run off its own power.
The property itself sports proper oldgrowth beech forest, with boardwalks and tracks taking you to the edge of the river or along forest trails spilling over with rich undergrowth. The current is nicely swift, perfect for jumping in at one end and letting it carry you downstream to the far bank. There’s also a Stoked stainlesssteel hot tub set into the bush, two beautiful saunas (including infra-red chromatherapy) and an outdoor shower to get your blood truly pumping.
We enjoyed dinners and breakfasts at
Maruia and the food, also, is exceptional – and not at all what you’d expect to find at a river lodge off remote State Highway 6. The focus is local, seasonal and nourishing, and we start dinner both days with a must-have local spirit, Reefton Distilling Co’s Little Biddy gin. As for the food, we fell for it all: perfectly rare eye fillet, tender salmon, crispy coconut prawns, cashew cheesecake, chocolate mousse, local bread, honeycomb, Nelson granola, coconut yoghurt, eggs from their hens and vegetables grown in the flourishing kitchen garden alongside the lodge.
As for the villas themselves, they are new, warm, spotless and full of natural textures such as leather and wool. They also each have a view of the river, which is not just surprisingly close, but surprisingly diverting; it is amazing just how much time you can spend staring at it flowing between the beech trees. In fact, Maruia offers plenty of distractions other than yoga: there’s a day spa, massage, naturopathy, walking, fishing, rafting, heli tours, picnicking, jetboating. And, visits to the nearby country village of Murchison includes a unique curiosity: the Natural Flames, the world’s only perpetually burning fire.
The lodge will be far-flung for most, being 90 minutes’ drive from Westport, two hours from Nelson and just over three hours from Christchurch. But the experience will be worth it. With the world in disarray for the foreseeable future, it’s the perfect place to enjoy topnotch food, accommodation and a worldclass yoga experience with that elusive family touch.