YOGA CUCINA AT RATHO FARM

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Heard of Yoga Cucina? The Sydney-based outfit is an unrivalled blend of yoga and food. To use their own words, it’s a “hot-lipped love child of our two great passions – body rocking movement and seriously good food.”
I was fortunate enough to enjoy an overnight visit to their four-day Tasmanian retreat at one of my faves, Ratho Farm. Yoga Cucina’s country-wide escapes are more adventure than retreat, Ratho the ideal playground for the bliss to unfold.

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Yoga Cucina is the creation of an eclectic bunch. The Yogis include Claire Blackwood, Aly Clarke and Rebecca Lockyer (BodyMindLife, Flow Athletic, Power Living). The Chefs are Marco Gobbo and Luca Faccin (Catalina, Icebergs Dining Room, Apollo). Clearly, good yoga and good food a certainty for these epic moveable feasts of movement and local fare.
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The crew honed their skills in Sydney’s finest restaurants and studios. They believe that through shared experience, a higher state of consciousness can be realised. They serve up a delectable degustation and a dynamic flow class with equal passion. They love that “both have the power to bring people together, hands in the air or wrapped around a glass of wine.”

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

I arrive just in time for a pre-dinner yoga session. Although clearly the most inept yoga-goer on a mat, the team immediately make me feel comfortable. Hidden at the back, a gentle hand of assistance is never far away.

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

The team are right. Yoga is followed by the most delightful feast of local produce, spread down a jovial long table in Ratho’s atrium. Tasmanian wine flows as does the chatter while Marco and Luca busy themselves in the historic homestead’s kitchen. It’s a place where many high-end chefs have worked their craft including Gourmet Farmer’s Matthew Evans as part of his SBS television series.

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image Credit: Alice Hansen

With full tummies we all retreat to comfy convict-built, thoughtfully restored quarters. The following day, early risers can revisit their mats for a morning session. Naturally, this is followed by a breakfast banquet, bursting with fresh fruits and all manner of healthful options.

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Although my time is short with Yoga Cucina, the team travelled far and wide. From their Ratho base, the crew visited vineyards, got sand between their toes and met local makers. They dropped into the subversive adult Disneyland that is Mona and were welcome to swing a club on Australia’s latest 18-hole golf course back at Ratho. During their downtime, the natural beauty, clear light and crisp Tasmanian air was theirs to enjoy.

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Why do the team love Ratho?
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Ratho Farm has a colourful history. Home to Australia's oldest golf course and chook shed, it's a working sheep and cattle farm, and a base for fly-fishing expeditions. Established in the highland wilderness by Scottish settlers Alexander and Mary Reid and a band of convict workers in 1822, the farm has been ransacked by bushrangers, housed exiled Irish nationalists, produced Melbourne Cup winners and golfing royalty. The old farm buildings including the bakery, verandah, stables and tack room have been lovingly restored into boutique rooms with original masonry and carpentry but modern features.
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Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

Image credit: Leeroy Te Hira

If you think this type of escape is for you, join their next adventure in the New South Wales Southern Highlands this September.
For more information visit: www.yogacucina.com

Images: Leeroy Te Hira (unless otherwise stated) Words: Alice Hansen
 
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