The Garden of Eden is a fable from a time gone by, but recently I got to indulge in a polished version in the form of Eden Health Retreat- formerly known as Camp Eden in the Currumbin Valley, Queensland.
The planets aligned and I got the call to check myself in to 400 acres of pristine rainforest in the southern Gold Coast Hinterland. Immersed in green open spaces with twin mountain peaks overlooking cascading fresh waterfalls, Eden truly is the mother of all nature.
From the moment you enter the retreat gate you feel nurtured and its as though the sacred land takes away any woes from the outside world. I arrive in a somewhat frazzled state and announce “its a jungle out there” to which the reception staff calmly offer me a fresh strawberry and mint tea.
Checking into to my freshly renovated mountain top cabin, I switch off all digital devices and sink into a deep meditation with the rainforest and birds as the backdrop.
From the whole-food kitchen to the curated spa treatments, Eden is one of the best and well thought out wellness retreats I have been to and Ive been to a few. General Manager and all round fitness guy Chris Van Hoof has been at the helm for the past year, after a 9 year stint as the retreats fitness leader.
The team that works at Eden, eat-sleep-breath a wholistic life and you know when you’ve got the right people in place it comes down to their integrity and care. The guests needs are at the forefront of Edens mind, waking up with yoga and Qigong classes and going to bed with sound bath meditations.
For the more adventurous there are boxing classes, body movement, a flying fox, tree climbing and swing rope activities. From counselling sessions to nutritional advice its all there to be accessed as part of your daily program.
The food is next level with an array of tasty (healthy) dishes served promptly for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They include a wholesome dose of meat, seafood and vegetarian options-with the odd raw dessert treat. The truth is you don’t want for anything and you don’t miss what you don’t have.
A spa schedule is carefully curated for you when you check in on the Sunday and seems to flow effortlessly throughout the week. From Bali chocolate, cinnamon and ginger body wraps to life changing Kahuna massages to fluid body alignments. The spas products are from Eminence organic range, with luscious ingredients like acai, berries and cactus.
The key to Edens success (Australia’s oldest health retreat-36 years) is they aspire to give you the tools to take with you back into the outside world, its a detox designed not to retox but to chill-out from the fast pace life we live.
I vow to return to Eden each year to refuel and fine tune my body, mind and spirit- like a good old faithful car we all need an oil change and our tyres pumped up once in awhile.
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Do U still have the glow worms I came there when I was 24 and I’m 51 now and want to come with a friend and I would like to know what’s the shortest amount of time U can stay and how much is the cost please thanku