5 Things To Love About Maruia Springs Retreat

Alice O’Connell hits the reset button in an energising haven

For months, I’d started each day by reaching for the snooze button – constantly feeling run-down, tired and fighting off another cold. I was well and truly over it. So after researching wellness retreats near and afar, I booked into a piece of paradise, right here in New Zealand!

1 Spring into heaven

Hanmer Springs often gets all the glory when we talk about the healing powers of thermal pools in the south, but travel an hour further north-west along State Highway 7 and you’ll find a truly magic spot without the crowds. Maruia Hot Springs is like something out of a fairytale. Surrounded by rugged mountains and dramatic forests in Lewis Pass National Reserve, European settlers built thermal bathhouses here in the late 1800s, but its history goes back much further, with weary Maori pounamu traders using it as a spot to rejuvenate.

2 The best from over the ditch