‘My wife convinced me to trade golf for a day spa’

To golf or to day spa? That was the question that took some soul searching to answer when this writer could only do one or the other during a weekend stay at the Hunter Valley’s exquisite Chateau Elan.
Golf was the initial answer. After all, how often do you get the opportunity to play 18 holes at a course designed by two-time major winner Greg Norman? Email sent to PR. Job done.
However, that choice was tested when a travel companion with a taste for the finer things in life got wind that it was either that or a couple of hours at the resort’s day spa, relaxing and unwinding without physical exertion.
Did I mention that said travel companion is also my wife?
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All of a sudden it seemed the wise choice to make a nagging shoulder complaint a reason to ditch the clubs and my comfort zone and succumb to the mysterious activities to be found behind the reception desk at a resort spa for the first time in my almost 40 years.
The other option? Dig the heels in and face the consequences that inevitably flow from a breach of the golden rule: happy wife, happy life. Not much of a choice, is it?
As with most sports reporters who neatly fit the stereotype, scented candles, meditative music and float sessions in a sensory deprivation tank aren’t the first options that come to mind when a spot of R&R is on the agenda.
So it was with more than a small measure of trepidation – from me, not so much my chipper companion – that the mystery was unravelled as we picked up our locker keys from the reception desk and were instructed to change into our robes.
Robe and slippers on, we walked through the hallways past a series of rooms with closed doors – apparently it was a busy Saturday at the spa, as Chateau Elan guests picked from an extensive menu of relaxing treatments.
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Earlier, as we had walked past the spa facility on the way to the tennis courts for a morning game of tennis, some of my fears of the unknown were eased by the sight of a group of young women – a Hen’s party, I wondered to myself – sitting in one of the hot tubs in a scenic courtyard sipping on champagne.
That kind of pampering isn’t so foreign, so it was without hesitation that we made a beeline for the courtyard with its hot tubs, food and beverage service and a beautiful view out onto the golf course.
What better way to get comfortable with a new situation than in warm, bubbly water on a beautiful winter’s day, with the added bonus that the weekend hackers on the course in the background were a fairly constant reminder that golf can make you feel like wrapping your club around a tree after the 10th or 11th poorly hit shot.
Forty-five minutes later and the feeling of lightness you get from escaping reality and getting lost in the rumble of the hot tub readied me for the next tentative step in the day spa exploration, which came in the form of a infrared sauna.
Usually when I think of a sauna I imagine a group of shrivelled older gentlemen sitting on benches together pouring water on the coals to bring on the steam. None of that in this scenario. Instead, it was a pleasant solo experience, in a phone booth sized wooden box, with a dial to control the heat levels.
A helpful sign inside the sauna encouraged me to close my eyes and hone in on my breathing, making it a meditative experience as toxins were purged by the pores. Twenty minutes later and the cleanse had taken full effect. There was time still for another spell in the hot tub before taking the biggest leap of the day – a couples float tank experience.
After some brief instructions, my wife and I lifted the lid of what can only be described as a UFO looking pod, before taking a step into the unknown. Even for two people, this float tank was quite spacious and we were instructed to lie on our backs in the water, close the lid and let the sensory deprivation experience begin.
The water, which is set to a comfortable temperature, is filled with highly concentrated Epsom salt, meaning you can’t help but effortlessly float on your back and surrender to the isolation. We spent almost an hour in there and if you close your eyes and let your brain empty of thoughts, that time passes quickly as you fall into a deep sense of relaxation and peace.
By the time we emerged it was difficult to conceal from my wife that I no longer felt I had made some great sacrifice by forgoing the game of golf. I felt light. The mysteries that lay behind the reception desk were no longer to be feared.
Feeling fresh and showered, a wonderful day at Chateau Elan was capped off by an excellent dinner at the resort’s Legends Restaurant.
Boasting a fine range of modern Aussie fare, our eyes were drawn to the ‘from the smoker’ section of the menu, having earlier witnessed a smoker at work in the courtyard of the restaurant.
Legends offers Hunter Reserve beef brisket, Portuguese chicken wings and baby back ribs, all smoked right there on site, within a few steps of the dining room.
Add baked lamb shoulder and spanner crab risotto as well as a selection of flame-grilled steaks and there is no shortage of mouth watering choices to accompany the wide range of wines, both locally sourced in the Hunter and from further afield.
After a bottle of red, slow cooked short ribs and Hunter beef fillet, we managed to squeeze in a sticky date pudding to share for dessert.
Full but deeply satisfied, we took the option to walk it off with a lovely evening stroll roughly 400 metres back to our beautifully appointed villa, where we settled in for some more wine by the fire while watching the Wallabies’ first Test of the winter (the spa experience may have changed me, but the sports lover within remained).
All in all a perfect weekend stay in the Hunter!
The writer stayed as a guest of Chateau Elan.