Tucked away in the emerald heart of Jervis Bay, two new wellness havens are redefining the local health scene by bringing the outside in. Melaleuca at Worrowing and The Nest at Bay & Bush have officially opened their doors, offering a fresh invitation to trade the daily grind for the gentle rustle of paperbarks and the transformative power of mindful movement.
Melaleuca at Worrowing
Sunrise yoga on Fridays at new venue, Melaleuca at Worrowing, welcomes the early light in through a long wall of glass doors, overlooking a natural amphitheatre and a dense forest of paperbarks that sit alongside the waterway this bush property is named after.
Better known as a premier wedding destination, Worrowing estate has recently completed a new event space on the property: a 320 square metre building with a commercial kitchen, movable walls and an expansive outlook onto bushland. With a dramatic wall of glass onto the bush and a smooth, polished concrete floor, this new venue will suit a multitude of purposes in the future, and right now is host to a range of yoga classes over the weekends.
The space was soft-launched last October after an extensive period of design and construction to ensure the new building would sit seamlessly beside the existing wedding venue and into the landscape.
Jenny Robertson, who has owned and developed the 250-acre property with husband Adrian for the past 31 years, says Melaleuca can host a variety of events, including conferences, exhibitions, pop-up dining, art workshops and more. But for now, the new weekend timetable of yoga classes is helping to bring new people in to experience this hidden gem of nature.
“We’ve been running three yoga classes on weekends since we opened in October, and a few other things,” Jenny says, mentioning sound bathing, a pre-natal yoga program and a two-hour reset yoga session run after Christmas.
“The size of the building will accommodate different styles of events, from tiny soirees to conferences – we have a two-week conference from Sydney University coming in February – and it’s designed with movable walls so we can configure it for wedding ceremonies, book launches, for retail or artwork displays.”
The full commercial kitchen and bar also give the space lots of flexibility and in the future may also play host to outdoor concerts and wellness retreats.
Jenny says “worrowing” means “small creek” in the Dhurga language and refers to the waterway that runs along the northern boundary of the estate. There are towering scribbly gums, spotted gums, mobs of kangaroos and an abundance of other wildlife, making this a perfect location for winding down.
Wellness Timetable
To fit in alongside the farm’s year-round schedule of weddings, the Melaleuca wellness calendar is currently offering weekend yoga classes, from Friday through Sunday.
There is plenty of equipment provided including mats, bolsters and blocks, stored behind one of the moveable walls.
The Saturday classes, run on the first and third weekends often have a coffee caravan available and features a roster of different instructors for the 8am class.
Sunday afternoons are perfect for a restorative yin-style session, with longer poses focused on relaxation and winding down. We attended a Restorative yoga session on a recent Sunday, with a class of 10 and instructor Emily expertly guiding us through yin poses and giving each person her attention and support.
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Casual classes are $25 and you can buy 5 or 10 class passes. The full timetable and booking system is online.
The Nest at Bay & Bush Woollamia
Also better known to date as a destination for tourists, the Bay & Bush property in Woollamia is opening up as a wellness and nature destination that has a lot to offer for locals too. The new studio, The Nest, sits comfortably within the 27-acre bush property alongside the cottages, safari tents and a café which is about to reopen to the public with a new chef and a menu that showcases honey flavours from the property’s own apiary.
Owner/manager Flo Pilorge emphasises that The Nest is part of the property’s overall focus on wellbeing and nature.
“The idea is that Bay & Bush becomes a place where you can, whether you are an international or domestic traveller or a local, come in as a wellbeing participant, enjoy a the café that will be open in a couple of weeks, and have a nice, healthy meal.”
She adds that the property’s kitchen gardens and apiary will provide ingredients for the café menu – which plans to showcase honey – as well as offering educational experiences for adults and children.
Since before Christmas, The Nest has offered a range of wellbeing modalities on a weekly timetable in their purpose-built studio which is around 100 square metres and enjoys a calming bush outlook with windows set high enough to offer privacy to the classes.
Alongside yoga, there are classes in qigong, pilates, breathwork, sound bathing experiences and more will be included as the new studio settles into the wellness routine of Jervis Bay.
Flo adds that retreats are also part of the plan with seasonal themes and holistic programs. The next one will be the Autum Retreat from 19-22 March, and details will soon be available.
“Movement is great and it comes in different ways,” Flo says of the variety of classes on offer in The Nest. “Breath, meditation, sound, all of these will help your wellbeing.”
Wellness Timetable
There is something on offer every day at The Nest, including morning and evening classes. The range of classes includes a variety of yoga, pilates mat class, sound bathing and qigong.
We attended an evening qigong class with Megan, a gentle practice of moving your energy through and around your body.
A casual pass is $29 and there are 5 and 10 class passes available. Flo says that in the coming weeks, a special introductory pass will be offered at a significant discount, while a Signature Membership is good value for anyone wishing to take 2-3 classes per week.
For the latest timetable and special offers as well as announcements of upcoming retreats, sign up to the Bay & Bush newsletter.
special offer
JBW readers can receive $5 off a casual pass by using the code JBWeekendFeb26, valid until the end of February 2026.
