Untamed Escapes has been showcasing Western Australia to travellers on wilderness and adventure tours since 2004. Then came 2020, the year we’d all rather forget. But with challenges come new opportunities.
We pressed reset and felt inspired to create a new kind of touring experience. An experience that offered long-lasting positive effects, fulfilment, and belonging.
Coincidently, one of our fabulous Guides, who also happens to be a Yogi, approached us about creating a yoga tour in Australia’s South West. After research, new partnerships, and a few downward dogs later, we excitedly launched the 3-Day Yoga & Wellness Glamping Adventure from Perth. This has now become our most popular retreat, with monthly departures from October to April. We can also offer tailor-made wellness experiences and private charters.
It is a transformational travel experience designed for those who value their wellbeing and want to mindfully connect to nature, country and spirit. Reset, and be ready for life’s next challenge.
If you’ve been missing your annual yoga retreat in Bali, we have you covered. Enjoy an hour of yoga and mediation each day. From Vinyasa to Hatha and SUP Yoga to Yin, a range of qualified yogis will cater to all levels, in pristine locations from Yallingup Beach to the studio at Fair Harvest. With some soothing sound healing thrown in, your soul cup will be overflowing in no time.
More of a discovery than a retreat, though. After your yoga practice each morning, you will unearth the region with your Guide.
Participate in authentic and meaningful activities. Perhaps even stepping outside your comfort zone. Because, after all, that is where the magic happens. Evenings will be filled with laughter with your new friends, and at the end of each day, you can retreat to your bell-glamping tent for a peaceful night’s sleep.
Nutritious and delicious food during your trip is prepared and included. But it wouldn’t be a holiday without a few naughty indulgences. How does a decadent chocolate chunk cookie at Gabriels Chocolate Factory sound? Or a wine tasting at a biodynamic vineyard?
At the end of the day, it’s the people you meet when you travel that makes the experience all the richer. When we created this wellness tour, we hunted down some of the Margaret River Region’s most respected and much-loved personalities, each with their own stories, passions and talents to share. Let us introduce you to them.
When searching for a local yogi, the creator and founder of the South West Yoga Fest – Heather Starr, was at the top of the list. We were very excited when she said yes!
Heather was first introduced to yoga in her native homeland of Canada in 2007. She completed her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Costa Rica in 2009 and headed for Australia. After settling in the Margaret River region, Heather established Starr Light Yoga in Dunsborough.
Heather’s style has evolved over the years and blends Hatha with Vinyasa and Yin. She has a long list of yoga credentials, too many to mention! But we will note the SUP Yoga Certification from the RIP Curl School of Surf, which she completed in Bali in 2019.
Heather loves teaching classes in magical Geographe Bay as it combines her passion for water, nature and yoga.
Over the years, Sarina Kamini has been successful at many things. From being a food writer and critic to a film producer, from Melbourne to Barcelona. But something was missing. She decided to face some old demons and embrace her Hindu heritage and her love affair with spice.
Sarina moved to Margaret River with her husband and two sons in 2015 and began passionately sharing her knowledge of spice while working in a local delicatessen. People started asking for classes, and as they say, the rest is history. The Spice Mistress was born, and in 2018 her memoir – Spirits In A Spice Jar, was published.
On the second evening of the tour, Sarina joins us in the kitchen at Fair Harvest for a Spice Masterclass like no other. Roll up your sleeves as you learn how to blend flavours, how the palate works, the chemistry of spices and their health benefits. Learn about the experience of flavour and how to use aromatic spices in traditional and non-traditional cooking contexts. Concluding with a delicious Kashmiri meal, this will be an evening to remember!
Local healer Dan is one of those down to earth and inspirational people you could talk to for hours. He has an incredible story, and he will openly share it with you on day two of the tour when he leads us on a four-hour guided walk along the Cape to Cape Track.
Serving as an Infantry Soldier in the Royal Australian Regiment from 2005 until 2012, Dan had PTSD, depression, anxiety, and anger issues like many returning soldiers. But a survivor to the core, he was determined to get through his lowest lows. He believes he did so he could help people.
Dan founded Southern Fire Wellness in 2019, to take a holistic approach to help community members who were struggling with their psychological wellbeing. Dan gathered other holistic practitioners across the region and created a range of 1 to 5-day forest walks and hikes along the Cape to Cape Track.
We will have the pleasure of meeting Dan on day two. He will help us re-centre through mindfulness, ritual and ceremony, and guide us through a unique Shamanic Light meditation. You are guaranteed to be feeling energised in more ways than one, after spending half a day with Dan. Nature is the best medicine, after all.
Ben is the energetic Venue Manager at the Margaret River Distilling Co., making waves with his tantalising recipes and a new way to do gin.
A hospo professional from way back, Ben has run bars and restaurants from Mexico to the Greek Islands and Scotland to the US, for over 20 years. But after living abroad for so long, it was time to return home, and he found himself settling in Margaret River about 15 years ago. He instantly fell in love with the surf, nature and, of course, the produce of the region.
If you appreciate good gin, you have probably sipped on a few Giniversity G&Ts in your time. They are the trailblazers of the gin world, continually innovating with delicious new flavours. They were the first distillers to use West Australian native botanicals and in 2018 to release a gin with hemp, which they make in collaboration with the Margaret River Hemp Co.
Meet this talented entrepreneur on day three of the tour when he passionately shares his knowledge during a ‘tour and taste’ experience. Sip on four Giniversity gins with garnishes, as you learn all about gin, from the history to the distilling process. Go behind-the-scenes at the still to learn the tricks of the trade for making delicious award-winning gins!
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