TWO SPAS IN THE RAINFOREST —
|
Spa resorts are all the rage, and two of the best are in Far North Queensland - Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa and Silky Oaks Lodge & Healing Waters Spa.
Check into your room at Daintree Eco Lodge, just 4km south of Daintree village, and head straight for the spa. Pampering treatments include a 90-minute Mala Mayi body treatment ($185) in which you are wrapped in mud as you recline on a magnificent carved timber "wet bed" - shaped like an exotic leaf - and the Jalaymba rain therapy treatment. It's bliss.
Daintree Eco Lodge has recently won two Australian Tourism Awards and is a multi-award winner for "green tourism". But don't think "eco" means sacrificing creature comforts: the large rooms have marble floors, timber and bamboo furniture, and tiled bathrooms with robes. Five have Jacuzzis on their balconies, which are screened to keep out the mosquitoes.
You can also join a yoga or Ki (based on Japanese Aikido) session, laze by the small solar-heated pool and sun deck, walk rainforest trails, join members of the local Aboriginal Kuku tribe on a bush tucker and native medicine stroll, or take a four-wheel-drive day trip. The Bilngkumu Restaurant overlooks a lily pond, and serves food with a gourmet bush tucker slant.
Call 1800-808 010 or 07/4098 6100 for more information or check out www.daintree-ecolodge.com.au.
At Silky Oaks Lodge & Healing Waters Spa, near Mossman, laze in the hammock on your veranda and listen to the waters of the Mossman River gushing through the rainforest. Stroll down for a swim-no crocs here.
Despite its popularity and relatively large size, this luxury resort exudes a restful feeling. Tree-houses are scattered through the rainforest and gardens; the Riverhouses overlook the river frontage.
The resort's most recent renovation and included the addition of the Healing Waters Day Spa, where I had the best facial I've ever had. Guided nature walks, mountain bikes, and nature slide shows are free, and there is a daily activities program and a wallaby sanctuary where you can feed the animals.
Call Silky Oaks on 1800-737 678 or 07/4098 1666. www.poresorts.com.
|
|