Lead me beside the healing waters
What do you do when you’re in one of the most chilled, relaxed places on Earth?
Take the edge off by having a massage, of course.
Healing Waters Spa at Silky Oaks Lodge is so laid back, by the time you leave you will have trouble finding your room, as in “Dude, where’s my room?”
Huge windows reveal the encroaching rainforest, just barely kept at bay on all sides.
Inside, smooth dark timbers absorb all light, even as my masseuse removes what tension she can find in my body after a few days At Silky Oaks Lodge.
Among the offerings are offer vichy showers and various other treatments, including a two-hour ritual complete with facial, a steam experience and a bath.
They easily cater for couples, with large rooms, side by side tables, big baths and roomy showers.
Then there’s the 2 1/2 hour Romance Ritual, which begins with a gentle all over body polish using Jojoba beads a soak in a warm bath “rich in purifying mud’ overlooking the lush tropical gardens.
You then get the choice between a pure radiance facial or 60 minute massage. Both treatments use products rich in pure plant oils and essences followed by rich mud being massaged into your hair and scalp to release pressure and tension, leaving your hair soft and shiny.
I opt for the 60-minute Sodashi Signature Body Massage, which the menu assures me, combines the healing power of touch with Sodashi’s unique techniques.
“This deeply relaxing massage uses smooth stroking movements with light to medium pressure to encourage an increase in lymphatic circulation and balance the energy meridians in the body. The synergy of Sodashi’s natural plant oils and aromatic plant essences will nourish your skin and help relieve emotional and physical tension,” the menu says.
There follows one of the most extensive treatments I’ve ever enjoyed, with lots of gentle stretching and kneading of cartilage and a tonne of oils and various Sodashi unguents.
My masseese leave almost no part of my body untouched, her ministrations reaching a crescendo of tingliness as she finishes at the back of my neck while I’m lyoing on my back. It is almost indecently pleasing.
It must have worked, whether it is my merdians being aligned or just a fantastic treatment and a few days of great food, wine and relaxation in one of the most beautiful settings in Australia, the effect is the same.
I vow to take the vichy treatment and mud bath next time.
Who knows, I may even have a facial, the good Lord knows it can’t hurt.
Silky Oaks Lodge Healing Waters Spa
Finlayvale Road, Mossman, Queensland
Australia
Email: reception@silkyoaks.com.au
