Travel Dates
Departing 15th Sep 2021
Package Provider: Coral Expeditions
Package Type: Package
Region: Australia
Duration: 9 Nights
Set sail to discover the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef and embark on a journey of personal wellness that will leave you refreshed and revitalised. Aboard the expedition ship Coral Discoverer, a specially developed program draws on the latest wellness practices and incorporates connections with culture and the natural environment to provide an enriching and immersive wellness experience.
Morning yoga classes at remote beachside locations, evening relaxation sessions and workshops on fitness and nutrition will help you achieve a feeling of space, freedom and mindfulness. With our wellness expert Kris Abbey and yoga and meditation practitioners Wendy Jones and Sue Pope from Soul Sisters, you’ll enjoy a customized wellness program against the backdrop of extraordinary marine life, World Heritage-listed rainforest and Indigenous cultural heritage.
Discover little-visited reefs and islands of the Great Barrier Reef while enjoying soul-nourishing cuisine. Relax and reconnect with nature while creating lifelong memories. Explore our underwater wonders with guided snorkelling and diving over remote outer coral reefs and share active walks on rainforest paths and isolated island outposts. At Cooktown, make unique connections with Indigenous culture and awake each day surrounded by the seabirds and rhythm of the Coral Sea.
After your cruise, a personalised 4-week program is included, led by Kris Abbey, which will guide you through applying what you’ve learned on your wellness cruise into your day-to-day lifestyle.
Your Fly, Stay & Cruise Package Includes:
For flights ex Auckland please add $400pp
Extend your flights and stay longer - talk to our travel experts about more options
Expedition Highlights:
Itinerary:
Embark: Board Coral Discoverer in Cairns at 4:00pm for a 5:00pm departure
Disembark: Arrive in Cairns at 7:00am and disembark at 8:00am
DAY 1: DEPART CAIRNS
Board Coral Discoverer at 4:00pm where there is time to settle into your cabin before our 5:00pm departure. Take the time to become acquainted with all the facilities onboard as we cruise northwards from Cairns toward Cooktown.
At days end join fellow explorers and crew for the Captain’s Welcome Drinks.
DAY 2: COOKTOWN
Come ashore in historic Cooktown and experience a traditional Indigenous welcome to country ceremony. Share a spiritual connection through storytelling and the traditional smoking ceremony with the Guugu Yimithirr, the first people of this ancient country. Discover recent European history with a visit to the site where Lt. James Cook beached HMB Endeavour to effect repairs in 1770 and visit James Cook Museum, where the story of Cook’s landing is told from an Aboriginal perspective and where artifacts are on display.
Take a walk to the summit of Grassy Hill and enjoy panoramic views of Cooktown, Endeavour River and the Coral Sea. Participate in a private Yoga Class in the historic Botanic Gardens before strolling through the rare flora collection.
Later, we cruise towards Lizard Island, arriving in time for sunset drinks at Turtle Beach. After dinner, relax with a moving meditation under the stars to enhance overall health and wellbeing.
DAY 3: LIZARD ISLAND
We spend a whole day at Lizard Island where there is time to hike to the summit of Cook’s Look and enjoy the same view Lt. James Cook did when searching for safe passage through the maze of coral reefs. Snorkel over giant clam gardens, take a guided nature and reflection walk across Chinaman’s Ridge to the Blue Lagoon and enjoy a yoga class on the beach at Watson’s Bay.
Participate in a hands-on workshop and learn about the principles of nutrition and how to adopt them into everyday meal planning.
There may be an opportunity to visit Lizard Island Research Station, operated by the Australian Museum to facilitate coral reef research and education on the Great Barrier Reef.
DAY 4: OSPREY REEF
Awaken to a seascape with no land in sight and connect with mind, body and soul with a sunrise yoga class.
Osprey Reef is the summit of an undersea 2,000m mountain located beyond the continental shelf with no landmass visible. Enjoy amazing underwater visibility here, and observe magnificent corals, plummeting drop-offs and many fish in the crystalline waters. Osprey Reef is a highly prized tropical dive location amongst scuba divers, called an ‘oasis for living creatures of all kinds’ by Sir David Attenborough.
Enjoy a group Thai Massage class, participate in a nutritional afternoon tea cooking demonstration and prepare for a restful sleep with a group chant session.
Osprey Reef is a true expedition-style destination and our visit is subject to appropriate weather conditions.
DAY 5: RIBBON REEF #9 & HOPE ISLAND
Awake early at the Ribbon Reef for a sunrise Qigong class coordinating body posture and movement in sequence. The Ribbon Reefs are a narrow line of outer coral reefs on the edge of the continental shelf and are renowned for their prolific marine life and extensive coral species. Enjoy the rare opportunity to snorkel and dive on the edge of the continental shelf.
Due to their location far offshore from the Australian coast, the Ribbon Reefs offer excellent diving and snorkelling opportunities, with Ribbon Reef #9 a favourite for its wide variety of marine life and pinnacles cloaked in coral. Join a guided snorkel tour led by our expert Expedition Team and witness this extraordinary ecosystem up close. These northern reefs are renowned for spotting iconic marine species such as potato cod, wrasse, sharks and turtles.
In the late afternoon we stretch our legs on remote Hope Island and participate in a meditation session before enjoying sunset drinks on the beach as the sun sinks below the horizon.
DAY 6: DAINTREE RIVER & ESCAPE REEF
Explore the 127km-long Daintree River which cuts through the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest, the world’s oldest tropical rainforest. With an expert guide onboard we look for the region’s famed wildlife such as saltwater crocodiles, rare and endangered cassowaries and the prolific bird species that inhabit the forest and mangrove-lined river banks.
Step ashore at a Daintree wilderness centre on the banks of the river and walk on forest trails overhung with lush vegetation. Learn about the diverse Wet Tropics ecosystem, which contains the largest habitat of flora and fauna in the world, while immersed in the rainforest.
After exploring the Daintree attend a workshop and learn how a wellness program can empower you following your cruise.
DAY 7: FITZROY ISLAND & SUDBURY CAY
At Fitzroy Island enjoy a walk through the Secret Garden rainforest or for the more adventurous, a walk to the de-commissioned lighthouse rewards hikers with panoramic views of Coral Sea, islands and mainland mountain ranges.
Snorkel over the fringing reef, relax on the beach and lend a hand to the volunteers as we learn about the turtles at the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, where sick and injured turtles are cared for before being returned to the wild.
Late in the afternoon, we arrive at Sudbury Cay, a tiny sand cay that barely rises above the Coral Sea. Far removed from the bustle of civilisation, we enjoy a yoga class on the beach bathed in the warm glow of the sun setting over mainland Australia.
Surrounded by glistening sea and bathed in the glow of twilight, we enjoy sundowners and the Captain’s Farewell Drinks at sunset on our own private sand island before dinner back onboard Coral Discoverer.
DAY 8: ARRIVE CAIRNS
Our Great Barrier Reef adventure concludes in Cairns this morning as we bid farewell to new-found friends, the Master and crew, disembarking at 8:00am.
Your Wellness Experts:
KRIS ABBEY
Wellness expert Kris Abbey has been passionate about health and fitness her entire life. She led her first fitness class at 15 years of age. Graduating from university with qualifications in Physical Education, Science and Nutrition, by the time she was 22 she had developed a successful corporate health company employing 15 staff. Her company developed health and exercise strategies for multi-national corporations and Kris soon became a sought-after keynote speaker aimed at motivating women in business.
She went on to work with a global pharmaceutical company where she trained employees and learned valuable information about mental health. With a burning passion for fitness, health and wellness, went on to become both Publisher and Editor of some of Australia’s leading health magazines before purchasing Spa Life magazine and relaunching the glossy magazine as today’s Spa & Wellness International magazine.
“Health and fitness is not a fad, it’s a lifestyle. 30-odd years later after discovering healthy living, I’m even more passionate about feeling vital and love that wellness is finally becoming a lifestyle worth investing in.”
YOGA SOUL SISTERS – WENDY JONES AND SUE POPE
Wendy Jones and Sue Pope specialise in wellness retreats and workshops and are both qualified in a variety of yoga styles including Vinyasa, Yin, Qi Gong, Myofascial Release, Thai Yoga Massage, Reiki and Meditation.
Wendy is the owner of private yoga studio Brahminy Yoga and says “Yoga has been a part of my life for over 20 years. My practice has helped me grow stronger, more flexible and calmer, both on and off the mat. Yoga inspires me to challenge my beliefs and work on the best version of myself. In my classes I love to create a deep feeling of calm and connection and my hope is that you step off the mat feeling at peace.”
Sue has been teaching yoga for over six years. Her true passion is Yin Yoga and enjoys the still, quiet and meditative practice that is open to everybody regardless of age or level of fitness. Sue teaches from the heart with a nurturing manner that supports and inspires her students. “I inspire my students to invite self-discovery, self-acceptance and good health into their lives.”
WELLNESS ACTIVITIES:
Qigong: Qigong is a centuries-old system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed by the Chinese and throughout Asia as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (pronounced approximately as “chi”), translated as “life energy”.
Qigong practice typically involves moving meditation, coordinating slow-flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and a calm meditative state of mind. People practice qigong throughout the world for recreation, exercise, relaxation, preventive medicine, self-healing, meditation, and training for martial arts.
Silent reflection walk: Connect with the environment: Opportunity to demonstrate the importance of self-care, the therapeutic value of nature, and the importance of observing one’s surroundings.
Thai yoga massage: A dynamic bodywork therapy based on yoga and Ayurveda from the temples of Thailand. In this unique healing system of Thai Yoga Massage, the practitioner guides the recipient through a series of yoga postures whilst using touch and pressure along meridian lines and pressures points. Together these actions result in a comprehensive full body treatment that relieves muscular tension, improves circulation, boosts the immune system and restores body/mind balance. Thai Yoga Massage is performed on a mat on the floor. This treatment is the perfect blend of Yoga, Massage and Meditation. Both the client and practitioner are dressed in comfortable clothing allowing ease of movement and flexibility. No oils or creams are used.
Meditation: Meditation is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. In general, the easiest way to begin meditating is by focusing on the breath — an example of one of the most common approaches to meditation: concentration. Methods of Meditation include: Concentration meditation, Mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, and moving meditations such as tai chi, qigong, and walking meditation.
Vinyasa: A vinyasa is a smooth transition between asanas in styles of modern yoga as exercise such as Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and Bikram Yoga, especially when movement is paired with the breath. Vinyasa, also called “flow” because of the smooth way that the poses run together, is one of the most popular contemporary styles of yoga. It’s a broad classification that encompasses many different types of yoga.
Yin: Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style of yoga as exercise, incorporating principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with asanas (postures) that are held for longer periods of time. For beginners, asanas may be held from 45 seconds to two minutes; more advanced practitioners may stay in one asana for five minutes or more. The sequences of postures are meant to stimulate the channels of the subtle body known as meridians in Chinese medicine and as nadis in Hatha yoga. Yin Yoga poses apply moderate stress to the connective tissues of the body—the tendons, fasciae, and ligaments—with the aim of increasing circulation in the joints and improving flexibility. A more meditative approach to yoga, its goals are awareness of inner silence, and bringing to light a universal, interconnecting quality. This practice is designed to help you sit longer, and more comfortably, in meditation by stretching connective tissue around the joints (mainly the knees, pelvis, sacrum, and spine). A passive practice, Yin Yoga involves variations of seated and supine poses typically held for 3 to 5 minutes, accessing deeper layers of fascia.
Myofascial Release: Myofascial Release is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. Myofascial release is a type of physical therapy often used to treat pain. Most myofascial release treatments take place during a massage therapy session.
Group Chant: Chanting mantras relates to meditation and is usually a group activity. Chanting vibrations with concentration enable to reduce the adrenaline level and cortisol and reducing levels of stress.
Workshops:
One-on-one consultation with Wellness expert Kris Abbey: Only 20 places are available for the one-on-one with Kris Abbey. Bookings will be taken for the one-on-one at the same time as the cabin is booked. Additional guests who wish to take the one-on-one can be waitlisted for it. Times will be coordinated on board and allocated randomly. Limit one-on-one bookings to 1 per cabin or one per booking (at Reservations discretion). The questionnaire provided prior to the cruise will have more information and questions regarding the one-on-one in order to Kris to be able to provide the best experience and assistance (assurance of confidentiality on any private details shared).
Questionnaire: A questionnaire will be sent to guests with cruise documentation 2-3 months ahead of your cruise. Completing this questionnaire will assist the wellness and hospitality team to ensure your time on our wellness cruise provides you the best experience possible. Confidentiality is assured, and this will also be a time where you can reconfirm any one-on-one time you have booked with Kris Abbey.
Post-cruise 4 week program: Following your cruise, a 4 week program will be offered by Coral Expeditions and Kris Abbey to continue incorporating what you have learned from your wellness cruise into your lifestyle. This program is included in the cruise price and will be delivered online by Kris Abbey. The 4 week program will be individually tailored based on the needs of the guest.
Conditions apply. Subject to availability and change without notice. Full supplier conditions apply. Valid for new bookings only. Prices valid at the time of publication. Prices are per person based on twin share occupancy unless otherwise stated and displayed in AU$. Member savings are calculated using the original advertised price.