Byron Bay v Daylesford: Which spa town wins the wellness crown?

Farewell festive season, hello Febfast and thoughts of health and wellbeing. But where will you go for your reset? Our experts help you decide.

By Amy Cooper

I'll be honest: I don't really do Febfast. When I go dry, I'm talking about switching from Moscato to pinot gris. But wellness? That I can get on board with. Especially a surfboard. And ideally out in the big, beautiful Byron Bay blue.

The ocean heals like nothing else. It's a vast, free natural spa, proven by prolific scientific research (because boffins love their beach time, too) to soothe stress, smooth skin, ease aches, and generally elevate our weary spirits.

Byron is hugged by 22,000 hectares of marine park filled with rare and enchanting creatures: dolphins, turtles, rays, the common Chris Hemsworth and the lesser-spotted Liam. Stunning to gaze at, drift on or dive beneath, Australia's most easterly point is true blue medicine. Sure, you can take a dip in landlocked Daylesford. But a mineral bath versus a swathe of spectacular saltwater the size of 10,000 football fields is like comparing a sip of bubbles to France's entire Champagne region - which, incidentally, is only slightly larger than Cape Byron Marine Park. Sorry, I seem to have fallen right off that Febfast wagon again.

Thanks to this liquid asset, Byron has always been Australia's vibes capital - even before the hippies arrived. Not convinced? Byron Shire is also energised by a bedrock of black obsidian crystal, so you could say the landscape itself is stoned.

Today, Byron's healing power embraces every element of the wellness spectrum, with spa treatments, retreats and clinics ranging from the esoteric (shamanic galactic energy, anyone?) to an om-believable variety of yoga, massage and meditation to Hems-worthy luxury haunts like beachfront Elements of Byron Resort & Spa and Tom Cruise-blessed Raes on Wategos. You can take a "visionary masterclass" at SOMA, location for TV spa drama Nine Perfect Strangers, where a sci-fi glass geodesic yoga dome looms out of the rainforest like a spaceship.

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Whether you're balancing your chakras or opening your divine channels, there's a guru for that - usually with a nom de spa that sounds like a dish at your local Indian takeaway. Some come for OG Byron, with its dreamcatchers and drum circles. Others want to bathe in the glow of Hollywood glamour; a massage plus Matt Damon sighting by an infinity pool, a flash of Hemsworth flesh in the surf. Me, I like to nourish my soul with fresh oysters at Balcony Bar or homegrown Sunday roast at The Farm. And while Mal's marinading in his minerals down in Daylesford, I'll be soaking up spiritual enlightenment via Brookie's Gin at Cape Byron Distillery, or a Stone & Wood Pacific Ale with a matching view of that magnificent ocean - our great Aussie cure-all.

Febfast if you must, but at least do it on the beaches of Byron, where nobody ever needs to be truly dry.

By Mal Chenu

Daylesford might not be able to match it with Byron Bay for Ayurvedic coffee enemas and charcoal detoxing, or have the same extensive range of dreamcatchers and singing bowls, or the natural health benefit you achieve when you randomly bump into Chris Hemsworth at a feng shui-designed coffee shop (referred to by local gurus as an en-Thor-phin rush), but the pretty Victorian hamlet - and its nearby sister hamlet Hepburn Springs - is one of Australia's few spa towns.

After you've had your stress reduced, your body detoxified, your chi rebalanced and your chakras knocked back into shape, you can check out the rest of the area. And this is when your Febfast will be seriously challenged. For this gorgeous part of the world is home to some of Australia's finest pinot noir and regional restaurants. Farewell Febfast, I knew thee briefly. Nestled in and around the Macedon Ranges, the district is home to a plethora of scenic cellar doors, including Mount Monument with its cool sculptures, Mount Macedon Winery with its wood-fired pizza oven and UUMM Restaurant, regional pioneer Granite Hills Winery and rustic Hesket Estate. Mount Towrong boasts an eclectic range of Italian varietals and paired fare.

Whether you head to Daylesford-Hepburn Springs for the wellness or the wine, or a combination, or a descent from one to the other, you're guaranteed a result. (By now the editor may be regretting her choice of writers to cover Febfast travel. But don't fret, Sarah. Dry July is just around the corner and Amy and I will be front and centre and ready to ignore that, too.)