The Elysia Wellness Retreat has a well-established reputation for tempting weary Sydneysiders northward to its hilltop site in the Hunter Valley to relax and reset. I am here to take part in a new venture: a three-day, all-male retreat, aimed at the growing number of men now seeking out the kinds of experiences more traditionally enjoyed by women.

I discover upon arrival, however, that humans aren’t the only species seeking out the establishment’s verdant locale. A collection of red-bellied black snakes have staked a claim on Meditation Hill – a man-made gravel mountain in the centre of the property. The unwanted visitors are a common problem in summer, but staff assure me that no employees or guests have been bitten since Elysia (formerly called The Golden Door), started serving up treatments in 2004.