Wellness wave: the stunning new Alba and other spa escapes to help kick-start your new year

"Brrrr," I mutter to the surrounding bushland. I suspect I might be too tough a case for Alba Thermal Springs and Spa.

Yuletide has done its dastardly work. You know how it feels. Like a dollar store dancing Santa whose buttons have been pushed too many times, my battery's flat and my mojo's missing. And so here I am, a Grinch with goosebumps, out on a chilly hill, seeking rejuvenation from Alba's curative waters.

This brand new day spa is generating huge buzz. With 32 geothermal pools spread across 15 hectares of native bushland halfway between the Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait coasts, and more than 30 indulgent spa treatments on offer, Alba promises to anoint the Mornington Peninsula as a global wellness destination. Already international celebrities have blessed these waters; just the day before my visit, Brit singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor came for a dip.

Alba looks every cent of its $100 million build, with dramatic modern architecture echoing the landscape's contours and a striking water feature flowing the length of the hillside. Inside, white concrete curves are minimalist on a grand scale - soaring ceilings, tall columns and a cylindrical central staircase lit like an art installation. Wandering through the cathedral-like spaces in your white robe feels part spiritual, part sci-fi.

The fluid lines and floods of natural light symbolise Alba's liquid heart. Naturally heated water flows from subterranean aquifers deep beneath us into the various pools, ready to restore and reinvigorate tired souls with magnesium, calcium and other helpful minerals.

Therapeutic bathing is a centuries-old practice, found in cultures across the world, from Japanese onsen to Turkish hammams, and the word "spa" itself comes from the Latin salus per aquam, "taking the waters". While bathing never really went away, it's trending more strongly than ever around the world's wellness destinations - and I'm about to find out why.

Each Alba pool has a name, and I've chosen The Sands for my first dip. I slide in until I'm immersed in warmth up to my chin, lean back, gaze up into the big sky ... and exhale.

The effect is instantaneous: a head-to-toe hug heating you from within, soothing your very bones, soaking away the stress. As the healing water does its work, I soften like spaghetti in a pan - from hard and brittle to bendy and blissed out.

I spend the next hour roaming the pools. They're various sizes - some secluded and serene, others larger and more social. As baths and electronics don't mix, you're encouraged to ditch your devices and let your gaze take refuge in the landscape. Mine wanders meditatively back and forth between the rippling blades of grass nearby and the panoramas beyond: hillside, Moonah woodland, open skies. The cool air in between hot immersions turns out to be nature's bonus therapy; an exhilarating wake-up call for my slumbering endorphins.

By the time I head inside for my Artisan Massage, the worst of my knots already feel unravelled. "Bathing before a treatment really supports its healing effects," says therapist Karen, as she eases away the last traces of Grinch with warm volcanic stones and long deep strokes.

She's one of an experienced team providing a giddying array of indulgences in 22 spa suites, including Vichy and hammam treatments, massages and exfoliations, half- and full-day rituals, using female-founded Australian organic brands Vanessa Megan and Aika.

The focus on local female talent continues at Thyme, Alba's restaurant, where an all-day menu by Melbourne star chef Karen Martini showcases the region's nutritional riches in Asian and Mediterranean-inflected dishes with produce grown organically, locally and ethically where possible, often a volcanic stone's throw away from Alba.

Like Alba itself, Martini's seasonal cuisine ventures beyond typical spa traditions; her famous fish sandwich is a hero dish, alongside a chicken schnitzel and even frites with green chilli mayonnaise. But there's also the Alba red rice bowl, brimming with superfoods like furikake avocado, kimchi and shitake wakami pickle. Clean eating, or comfort - the menu does both.

Alba's medicinal liquids are not confined to its pools. Thyme boasts a grown-up bar, proffering gems from the region's 50-plus wineries. Again, accomplished local females top the bill, with Genevieve Sullivan's Penni Ave native botanical vodkas and Holly Klintworth's Bass & Flinders gins lined up alongside several female winemakers. Champagne is on the breakfast menu. I've always enjoyed the decadence of drinking bubbles in a bathrobe, and as Thyme is exclusive to Alba guests, that's the restaurant's unofficial dress code.

In the morning, I entered Alba like a shrivelled husk. In the afternoon, I flow back out again, riding a wave of bliss.

But the Mornington Peninsula's waters have not finished with me yet.

Bathing is the basis for another ambitious new spa, Aurora Spa & Bathhouse, at the fabulously renovated InterContinental Sorrento Mornington Peninsula, about 15 minutes drive from Alba.

The spa has just unveiled a magnificent indoor bathhouse with a series of dreamy dips: a magnesium-rich mineral pool, reflexology pool, vitality pool with a hydrotherapy circuit of jets and fountains, a steam room, vast Nordic sauna, dry salt room and a glacial mist room with windy, icy vapour. The 90-minute bathhouse ritual, a rhythm of hot-cold-rest-repeat to enjoy at your own pace as a standalone for $110 or with a treatment for $85, is so heavenly that when you recline in the warm embrace of a heated thermal lounge you are, like Bruce Lee said, "as water, my friend".

A Himalayan Sound and Stone treatment wraps you in a soothing blanket of sound; gentle percussion harmonised with mesmerising melodies written by therapist Louise's musician partner, while Himalayan salt rocks melt away anything that might still resemble tension.

And just when I thought I'd wallowed as much as a land-based mammal can, Aurora founder Lyndall Mitchell indicates a mysterious little white door in a wall. "Would you like to be Aurora's first floater?" she asks.

Beyond the door, Narnia-like, is a white room with twinkling lights on the ceiling and knee-deep water filled with Epsom salts and minerals. In this private float room, with the lights dimmed to darkness, you're suspended weightless for an hour, womb-like and undisturbed. While float experiences in pods or capsules can feel claustrophobic for some, this chamber's roomy enough for two and you can even keep the lights on if you'd rather not do full sensory deprivation.

I accept my destiny as floater #1, and step through the portal. Once my chattering mind quietens down (it can take time - this is why you need a full hour), the peace is profoundly calming. Your body seems to vanish completely, leaving just your idly drifting mind. No wonder one float is said to equate to four hours of sleep.

Later, in my comfy bed three floors above, I do sleep, and more deeply and peacefully than I have in a long time.

The water has washed away my rough edges and topped up my energy reserves. I feel calmer and more optimistic, too. I am now a bath-half-full kind of person.

I've had two days of watery wellness, but you'll feel wonderful on a lot less, say the experts at both spas. The baths alone are enough to renew you.

They hope people will visit the Mornington Peninsula to bask in all its liquid benefits over several days, taking in these two beautiful spas and perhaps also some of the region's 50-plus wineries, distilleries and breweries.

I thoroughly recommend a full immersion.

Amy Cooper was a guest of Alba Thermal Springs and Spa

Getting there: Alba and Aurora are both 90 minutes drive from Melbourne. albathermalsprings.com.au; auroraspa.com.au

How much: A visit to Alba's thermal springs is $110 per person, with a two-hour bathing time recommended. Private bathing in your own pool is from $225 for 45 minutes. Spa treatments are priced individually, with half- and full-day packages available.

Staying there: Luxury villa accommodation will be available at Alba later this year. Rooms at Sorrento InterContinental are from $595 a night, sorrento.intercontinental.com. Other upscale stays include art and design-focussed Jackalope, in Willow Creek Vineyard, from $537. Peppers Moonah Links Resort has two 18-hole golf courses, from $255 a night. Or stay among the vines at award-winning Crittenden Estate's Lakeside Villas, from $551 per villa. And from $185 a night, the bright, relaxed beachside Portsea Hotel is a steal.

Poised to open any moment, this two-floor urban retreat will base its signature half-day Wellness Journeys around four pillars of movement, nutrition, treatments and rest. There's a pamper for every purpose, from private yoga by the pool to an infrared sauna to indulgent aromatherapy treatments with Australian brand Waterlily - plus wholesome bites from chef Sam Moore. sofitelsydneydarlingharbour.com.au/well-being

Finnish sauna culture has arrived in Australia and feels right at home in the crisp climate of the Blue Mountains. Enjoy the ritual of "Lyly", steam rising from pouring water over hot rocks, take a bracing cold plunge, and then relax by the fire. In winter, you can go full Finnish and lie in the snow between sauna sessions. You're encouraged to repeat the "sit, sweat, chill", up to four times during a two-hour session for maximum therapeutic results. Result: euphoria. bmsauna.com.au

A highlight of the resort's recent $6 million refresh, Eleme Day Spa feels luxe but fun and approachable too, with treatment names like The Heist and Muscle Meltdown. Inspired by its lush, subtropical rainforest setting and eco-friendly philosophy, Eleme's therapies use eco-conscious oils from Byron Bay's Cura Co. Lab. crystalbrookcollection.com/eleme-spa/byron

Tiny people can start a lifetime spa habit early at this unique retreat for newborn to six-month-olds. The soothing, supportive surroundings offer sweet relief for new parents, as well as bonding moments with their bubs while the little ones soak up the muscular, cardiovascular and skeletal benefits of hydrotherapy and massage. babyspaperth.com.au

This great value bushland escape is just an hour from Sydney's CBD, but you'd never guess it once cocooned in your tranquil cabin with balcony bathtub up among the treetops. Retreats focus on inner peace with plenty of meditation and yoga, and with a soothing price tag too, from $300 a night (including meals, snacks and drinks and the all-optional retreat programme activities) and massages from $125. billabongretreat.com.au

Brand new Bodhi Yallingup is the first of WA's Bodhi day spa family beyond the Perth metro area. Amid serene bushlands beside Lake Gunyalup in the Margaret River region, this sanctuary offers massages and therapies inspired by Indigenous healing, using local botanical products. bodhispa.com

Barefoot luxe meets rock'n'roll, as imagined by American rapper Michael Franti and his wife Sara. Their "100 per cent healthy 90 per cent of the time" philosophy allows for Soulshine's famous chocolate cake or a cocktail, while bathing you in traditional Balinese good vibes through sound healing, spa treatments, sacred cultural experiences and soulful strolls in the surrounding rice fields. With built-in entertainment from Michael, this soulful sanctuary is music to our ears. soulshinebali.com

This new custom-built women-only wellness sanctuary in the trendy beach town of Canggu embodies its name, with exquisite creature comforts (think butler-drawn aromatherapy baths before bed) and idyllic facilities, including a saltwater lagoon around a firepit, swim-up juice bar, infrared sauna and ice plunge pool. Seven-day wellness packages with themes ranging from surf to pilates to Ayurveda include unlimited spa treatments with more than 30 to choose from. escapehaven.com

The latest spa opening under Soneva's new wellness brand, Soneva Soul, is a three-level pamper paradise of over-water buildings, open-air treatment rooms, relaxation suites, a treetop-level meditation platform and state-of the-art therapies as well as visiting global wellness gurus - all surrounded by sapphire lagoon panoramas and the soundtrack of waves. Don't be surprised if Gwyneth Paltrow drops in - this is one of her known haunts. soneva.com/resorts/soneva-jani/

Aro Ha, Glenorchy, New Zealand

Abundantly awarded for good reason, Aro Ha's Revive and Thrive programmes deliver dramatic wellness results amid the spectacular surroundings of the Southern Alps. You'll embark on a total cleanse (so no coffee or booze) and follow a nutrient-packed plant-based diet along with a regime of research-based, spiritually and physically rejuvenating treatments and activities, interspersed with scenic mountain hikes. aro-ha.com