Dreaming On
The Age
Saturday May 25, 2002
Place: Mizu Spa, 175 Devonport Drive, Fingal (Rye), Mornington Peninsula. Tel: (03) 5988 6088; e-mail: mizu@bathe.com.au; online: www.bathe.com.au
On the spa menu: Spa treatments "from the Dreamtime" that combine Aboriginal medicine, aromatherapy, colour therapy and herbal treatments derived from Australian flora, earth, sea minerals and plants in a method called Li'Tya.
Sensation: Japanese-style hot spring with a laid-back Australian seaside flavour.
Accommodation: Mizu can accommodate two groups (of between one and three couples) in either the enormous winery room (with three bedrooms separated by draped fabric washed with plaster and an array of Japanese and Aboriginal art) or an Arabian tent, which has plastic windows looking out over grape vines.
Food: Despite mention of an in-house Japanese chef, dinner was luke-warm, preordered takeaway Japanese from Rye township's King Sushi (half sea creatures, despite a request of no seafood). At $40 a pop, your money could be better spent venturing into Rye or Rosebud for a meal. Breakfast is served in your room.
Apres spa: Take a tour of the Red Hill, Main Ridge, Merricks and Flinders wineries. If the weather's fine, book a dolphin swim in Port Phillip Bay, stretch your legs on a stroll along Koonya Beach behind Blairgowrie, or button up your cowboy shirt and go for a horse trail ride.
Average spend: Accommodation is $240 per couple per night including breakfast. Dinner and treatments are extra. A Mala Mayi body treatment takes 90 minutes and costs $155.
OUT the back of Browns Road, down Gunamatta way, is not the sort of place you expect to find a spa resort, but there is Mizu, huddled on the ocean side of Rosebud on a three-hectare property.
Mizu prides itself on an eclectic mix of Japanese spa, treatments derived from indigenous (Aboriginal) medicine, Yemen-style sauna, steam and relaxation rooms and accommodation with an Arabian aftertaste. It's this melange of Arabic, Middle Eastern, Asian and Australian influences, invested in the artwork, architecture and all-over design, that makes Mizu an intriguing place to visit.
I opted for a Mala Mayi Body treatment (which the spa notes attribute to the Ngadjon people, rainforest Aborigines who lived in far north Queensland), which comprises a full body cleanse, exfoliation and mapi body mud-wrap. Then comes a scalp massage said to employ Aboriginal massage techniques followed by rain therapy (a shower) and a Kodo body massage.
Mizu's real delight is its series of outdoor spas, paved with granite from Mount Martha. You can splash about, adjust the water to your preferred temperature, listen to the wind whistle through the tea-tree and, when you overheat, you can wander over to the Yemeni-inspired steam and relaxation rooms and either roast yourself a little more or restore your body temperature to normal.
On the downside, Mizu isn't particularly good value for money: an overnight package with massage and dinner for two will set you back around $490 plus GST.
© 2002 The Age
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