Bathing Australia has launched its website just in time for the celebration of World Bathing Day on June 22. The platform is designed to showcase some of Australia’s most iconic bathing locations set in nature and to present the story of this growing sector to a wider audience.
As the public face of the Australian Hot and Mineral Springs Alliance, Bathing Australia provides links to wondrous hot springs, mineral springs and sea baths across the country. The selection of bathing venues includes existing facilities Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs, Hepburn Springs Bathhouse, Geelong Sea Baths, and Peninsula Hot Springs, as well as the soon to launch Metung Hot Springs (opening in Winter) and Alba Thermal Springs & Spa (opening in Spring).
Then of course there are projects in the pipeline; Phillip Island Hot Springs, 12 Apostles Hot Springs and Geelong Mineral Springs & Wellness Centre. Expanding from these destinations along the emerging Great Victorian Bathing Trail, facilities from other states are being welcomed to join the membership-based platform.
General Manager of Alba Thermal Springs and Spa, Craig Dodd says it is finally time for travellers and experience seekers to discover the nurturing benefits of Australia’s bathing culture. “There’s no better place to recalibrate than the peaceful surrounds of outdoor geo-thermal pools,” says Dodd. “Whether it be an invigorating swim in the ocean or a float in a warm bath, it will allow you to restore balance.”
On June 22, existing and emerging bathing destinations around the globe are coming together to celebrate World Bathing Day. The theme for this year is ‘Healing Together’, where individuals and communities are invited to visit their local bathing places and find time to collectively reconnect, reunite and rebirth. For Bathing Australia, it is particularly being recognised as a moment to honour First Nations connections to Country, and the reciprocal relationship that we all share with water and land ecosystems.
Together these activities will promote World Bathing Day’s powerful message of “Healing Together” with water, reaching those who may need it most.
The ability to bathe and dive deep into the process of healing is crucial for the revival of communities this World Bathing Day. Founder and Creative Director of Peninsula Hot Springs, Charles Davidson says Australia’s two years of lockdowns have had a huge emotional toll on people’s wellbeing.
“Now more than ever, after being isolated and having lost our sense of freedom, we need to reconnect with ourselves, each other and the environment around us. Laying in a natural hot springs pool is nature’s gift of connection and the perfect place to be healing together.”
Marketing Manager of Deep Blue Hotel and Hot Springs, Lauren Orero says World Bathing Day is also a time to remind people to connect back to the traditional bathing cultures of their homeland.
“Coming together in a collective sense, World Bathing Day is a time for us all to ‘heal together’ as one, and with gratitude for our local water environments, cultural rituals and traditions,” says Orero.
Bathing culture and rituals are ingrained deep within all of us, from the time we are born until the time we pass away. That is why bathing feels so natural. Being in and around water has the potential to break down barriers between people of all backgrounds, bringing communities and individuals closer together.
This simple act of wellness has the ability to truly heal and nurture one’s body and mind, something that millions of people around the world need right now.
