Review of the Aroma Stone Therapy at the Red Ochre Spa, Ayers Rock Resort
By Daniel Scott
The only complaint I’ve got about my hot stone massage at the Red Ochre Spa is that it came at the beginning of my week-long trip and not at the end, after I’d been trekking and even sleeping in a swag under the stars one night.
However, from the start, when young Polish therapist Agmieszka greeted to me, this was a thoroughly pleasant experience. The Red Ochre Spa is small but perfectly proportioned, with two treatment rooms – one for couples and one for singles.
There are two small, lockable shower/change rooms downstairs and although the spa, like the resort in general, could do with a little TLC, it is still perfectly presentable. Treatment rooms upstairs overlook the pool at the premier hotel in the Ayers Rock resort village. With Uluru just a few kilometers away, you’re pretty much guaranteed a spiritually uplifting experience.
I’ve had hot-stone massages before and enjoyed them. I like the feel of the smooth stones and the heat does seem to seep into one’s muscles. In winter, in a warm treatment room, it feels particularly relaxing. Where I, who loves a strong massage, feel it falls down is that it doesn’t deliver the same relief to knotted muscles as a deep tissue treatment.
Agmieszka began by placing a few volcanic stones – which come from Bali, I am not sure why they couldn’t find any in the Red Centre – on key energy points on my back and under the front of my shoulders. She then used a combination of warmed oils and the stones to massage me. She worked with expertise, on occasion brushing them lightly and pleasurably over my back and shoulders in smooth strokes and otherwise using them to knead the muscles. It was so relaxing that I fell asleep for a few minutes while lying face-down.
All in all it was a great start to my visit to the Red Centre and meant I began what was to become something of a spiritual journey less tense after weeks of hard work. At $165 for a seventy five minute massage it wasn’t cheap but given the remoteness of the location, it wasn’t bad value.