Say the words ‘yoga retreat’ and I think of getting on a plane to blissful sanctuaries high up in the mountains in India, the lush green jungle of Bali or on secluded beaches in Thailand. I could do that, or I could experience bliss by making an hour car trip from Sydney CBD to out the outer Western suburbs of Sydney called Maraylya near Windsor, deep in the Australian bush which is home to the Billabong Retreat. The scenery of the billabong, gum trees, the Australian bush on the door step are as blissful as Billabong’s yoga classes and vegetarian food.
We’re all tired. “How are you today?” “I’m so busy. I’m so tired” is often the response I hear from a Sydney sider who works 5, 6 or even 7 days a week whether an office worker, a full time parent or a parent trying to juggle both children and work. Perhaps in today’s rush, we think too much, seek too much want too much, other people placing demands on us and what we really need is time and place where there are no distractions and to appreciate just ‘being’. Billabong Retreat essentially offers you that place.
It is August and the air at Billabong Retreat is crisp and fresh when I arrived with my friend Pradnya. Amongst the secluded bush setting I immediately felt relaxed and thought, “Are we here already?” The retreat is not far from Sydney but feels like you are miles away from Sydney. We were ready for three days of mindfulness and yoga in the beautiful bush setting. Our eyes are drawn to the large billabong in the beautiful Australian bush setting, which I’m sure I’ve seen in oil canvas painting before. The hilly path from the main community area to our lodge winds around the billabong and the walk in the morning to yoga class is very scenic. The sunlight reflection in the billabong with only the sound of the native birds just before 7am is such a beautiful scene and a memory you want to capture and draw upon next time you need to close your eyes in a stressful moment to dream of a happy place.
The land was purchased in 2008 by Paul and Tory von Bergen who moved from their small 70m2 unit in Bondi to 44,000m2 of pristine Australian bush. Paul had been working in corporate marketing and after a business failure had found himself living in Thailand next to a yoga and health retreat and found his life transformed. The couple realised their vision in 2010 of setting up a healing place to reconnect to nature and a place to find peace of mind and discover wellness.
There are many options to choose from when you stay at the Billabong Retreat in both the type of accommodation and the duration. You can do a day retreat or an overnight stay which starts from around $250 per night for the most basic accommodation or a deluxe private cabin at $500 per night for a single person. You can also do a themed retreat program like what we did that ran for 3 days, 2 nights. We did the Wellness Essential Retreat that ran midweek from Wednesday to Friday. The Wellness Essential Retreat explores health holistically and includes twice daily yoga movement classes at 7am and 3.30pm suitable for all levels of fitness, evening meditation plus nutrition talk, fermenting ‘foods for life’ gut health workshop and additional workshop exploring developing mind-body connection.
There are various accommodation options to choose from suitable for any budget. We stayed at the Lodge Ensuite which is a simple ensuite room with twin single beds, air conditioning and use of The Lodge. The Lodge is situated a five minute walk from the main retreat and is the original owners residence. It was comfortable and clean has stunning views over the Billabong and all rooms feature fans, screens, sliding doors to the deck plus use of the shared lounge, kitchen and veranda. One aspect I liked about the Lodge was the morning walk from the Lodge to the yoga studios as you appreciate little things like sunlight reflection on the billabong.
Another highlight of the Wellness Essentials retreat was the twice daily yoga sessions in the studio amongst the bush setting, the food that Executive Chef Simon Favourito cooked up every meal and his nutrition talk which we found informative and well balanced (in the sense he didn’t preach that eating certain foods will so such and such to your body but disclosed upfront the different schools of thoughts and explained what and why he believed certain foods were beneficial for you) and it is worth talking more about this as we really got value out of Simon’s workshop which gave an insight of how Simon approaches food and why and tips to integrate wholefoods in your diet.
You can read more about Simon and the workshop he ran for us at the Billabong Retreat in this story.
The appeal of the Billabong Retreat is you can getaway and become a better person. Once you get there, you don’t need to make too many decisions. A wellness retreat at the Billabong is mapped out for you, menus chosen, exercise sessions sorted. Just focus on relaxing and feeling better in mind and body.
Billabong Retreat
41 McClymonts Road,
Maraylya, NSW 2765
www.billabongretreat.com.au
See.Taste.Do stayed as a guest of the Billabong Retreat
