Stop, revive and survive 2008

NEED a tune-up after the festive season's excesses? Jane Fraser finds the perfect retreat on the Gold Coast to prepare for whatever the new year has brought.

AT first, the big and impressive looking spa building appears inaccessible, a curtain of water falling across the entrance like a waterfall.

But as you approach, the water quietly parts, allowing you to enter before it resumes its flow behind you.

You take the big wooden steps down into the spa and are greeted by a sculpture of a woman holding a bird, as though ready to set it free.

Behind the sculpture is another wall of water, temporarily separating you from the architectural excellence of the building.

This new spa, at Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland, is world-class yet unmistakably Australian, with high ceilings, exposed timber beams and floor-to-ceiling glass providing views of towering gum trees.

Access to treatment rooms is through a raised, circular boardwalk, designed around several of the smooth-barked eucalypts to splendid effect.

Yet a beautiful building alone does not make a spa.

Thankfully, the treatments and experiences on offer are equal to the surrounds.

Highly trained therapists, organic products and attention to detail make every visit a nourishing experience.

Staff at Gwinganna take a genuine interest in the wellbeing of their guests.

Treatments include a wide range of body and facial treatments, as well as specialist therapies.

But the magic occurs outside the main spa, in a nearby pavilion created especially for Gwinganna's four-hour signature experience.

Separation from the world

Far from being a series of spa treatments thrown together to make up a four-hour session, it is a true ritual, choreographed with great care so you move from one experience to another like water being poured from vessel to vessel.

The experience, which is designed for couples, starts with a tea ceremony with your two therapists, then moves into the spa suite for the start of your journey.

A soak in twin baths is followed by a body scrub, a head-to-toe coating of clay and time spent switching between a hot steam room and a cold shower before you retire to the sofa for afternoon tea.

Next is a unique, flowing massage, with the two therapists working together on one person while the other relaxes with hot stones on their back, followed by a foot massage.

At this stage of my own ritual experience, I am in such a deep state of relaxation I can barely stand up and cannot manage anything more than a heartfelt "thank you" to the talented therapists, Stephen and Dragana.

We meet Gwinganna's general manager, Sharon Kolkka, on the path, and she offers to send dinner to our room, allowing us to stay in a wonderful state of separation from the world.

The sense of peace created by our Friday afternoon ritual in the spa remains with us throughout the rest of the weekend, which involves active mornings of bushwalking and other exercise sessions, followed by organic food, restful afternoons of reading by the pool and nights of deep sleep.

We leave feeling rested and rejuvenated, ready to face whatever the new year may bring.