New Zealand health retreat - Tikapa Moana

Packages: From three-hour Total Indulgence treatments to two-night Couples’ Getaways.

Specialty: A place to relax, invigorate and sow the seeds for change, regardless of religion or life philosophy.

Details: From $NZ165-$245 for two. tikapamoana.com

At the risk of offending my fiancé, my hour of Watsu therapy was (almost) better than sex.

Watsu what, I hear you say? That’s what I wondered, soon after arriving at this sustainable lifestyle acreage with its orchard, vegie garden, chooks and big “Welcome Sarah” sign. Hosts Bill and Marilyn duly explained; a gentle warm-water body therapy that combines massage, shiatsu, joint mobilisation and stretching, enabling pain relief and body strengthening, awaited me.

Freshly showered, I’m ushered into the solar-heated indoor pool. I float on my back as Marilyn, using her body weight, bends my body in a rhythmical, dance-like flow, cradling and stretching me. I’m a weightless whirlpool in human form.

As my body relaxes gradually and deeply, I let go. The inner monologue disappears from my mind, as does the stiffness from my muscles. For once, I feel truly in my body, entirely well, whole, and beautiful. I sit on the poolsteps, eyes closed, for 10 minutes before I can bear to speak.

After lunch, there’s more Watsu and massage in the outdoor spa with its massaging jets. A sauna banishes all my toxins, judging by the startling volume of sweat. Come evening, I join Bill and Marilyn for a homegrown, home-cooked meal before disappearing into the adjoining rammed-earth apartment with its own bathroom, kitchenette and lounge. You can be as private or as separate as you want here. The flat sleeps three, there’s a couples’ “Gardener’s Retreat” off the barn, plus a roomy cabin sleeps eight at the narrow property’s ocean end.

Something changes in me at Tikapa Moana. I already know life is a treasure to savour rather than a test to pass, but here I see this philosophy in action and resolve to make it my own. Bill and Marilyn’s lifestyle is inspiring and simple, and it’s not a slog. Rather, it’s a reminder that how I spend my days is how I’ll spend my life.