There’s something inherently health-giving about spending three days barefoot. Throw in yoga, meditation and sound-healing and you’ve got a pretty flawless recipe for a wellness retreat. Add private chefs serving (probiotic) ice cream and three resident horses, and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d found yourself in a thirteen-year-old’s fever dream. Sitting (barefoot) at a table in the sand dunes on day three of my stay at Ballina’s Sugar Beach Ranch, with a plate filled with fresh pastries and a view of migrating whales, I did – admittedly – find it hard to believe that I wasn’t dreaming.
I removed my shoes the moment I arrived, and – aside from a two-hour equine wellness session for which we were advised to wear closed-toes shoes – didn’t put them back on until I left the property three days later. As with the other guests, I spent my time on the ranch between yoga classes and alfresco dinners, taking breaks to walk on the long stretch of beach that borders the property and cuddle the horses whose presence in the neighbouring paddock was a constant, calming force.
The invitation to join a three-day wellness retreat at the 60-acre property came towards the end of autumn, and after a wildly busy summer, the idea of switching off my phone for a weekend and spending three days between the ocean and a pony paddock seemed too good to be true. And though I’ll do my very best, it’s impossible to capture the magic of this experience – the feeling of peace combined with puppy-like joy that settled over me on the first afternoon at the ranch. All I can do is hope that by writing about it, more people will be afforded the opportunity to live out their very own Sweet Retreat.
Brought to life by Stevey Arena – whose late father Chris Murphy (the band manager credited with taking INXS to international fame) had lived on the ranch until his death – Sweet Retreats are a series of all-female retreats that use horses as a conduit for holistic human wellness. For the equine element, Stevey has partnered with equine psychotherapist Maxime Willems, whose insight into how horses can be worked with to facilitate self-discovery was striking.
Our days were filled with the kinds of activities that naturally slow the heart rate and reduce the chatter in your mind: gentle yoga classes, meditations, painting classes and a fireside intention-setting ceremony. Between activities, we’d snack on the raw cakes that waited for us in the communal cabin, read on the deck or take a walk on the beach to watch the first whales of the season make their journey north for the winter.
Magnesium-enriched swimming pool and world-class private chefs (the incredibly talented and loveable Pip Sumbak and Wal Foster) aside, the retreat isn’t what you’d class as luxury. Our bedrooms were carefully decorated 4m x 4m yurts, and bathrooms – though beautifully designed and always stocked with fresh towels and locally-made products – were shared. If you’re looking for a hyper-luxurious wellness retreat, you might want to look elsewhere, but the intimate experience that Sugar Beach affords you is – in my mind – far more special than what a large-scale hotel could offer.
The final brunch was perhaps the most magical of all the meals we ate during our very special few days at Sugar Beach Ranch – the kind of meal that’s impossible to forget. As the waves crashed on the seemingly-infinite stretch of coastline in front of the ranch, we gathered around a table on the sand with plates piled high with fresh sourdough, handmade fish rillettes and boiled eggs fresh from the farm. Breaching whales punctuated the sparkling stretch of ocean as we filled our glasses with homemade kombucha and reflected on our stay.
Stevey and her team describe the experience as “uncomplicated and un-materialistic, but also rich in experience” – a description I think perfectly captures the essence of the retreat. I didn’t leave feeling indulged, but entirely nurtured – with a cup full of all the right things.
The retreats are set to take place on a couple of select dates throughout the year, but if you want to book a stay outside of retreat time, it's still possible to book an equine wellness therapy session during your stay. You can learn more about Maxime's therapy approach over here, and you can book your stay over here.
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