This luxury Australian island resort is home to an Estonian wood-fired sauna
The HUUM stove travelled more than 15,000 kilometres.
Saunas built with Estonian design and technology can now be found in almost every corner of the world — such as on Australia’s remote King Island in the Great Southern Ocean.
King Island, part of the state of Tasmania, is home to Alexandra Quigley who decided to build a luxury home on Porky Beach where visitors can unwind.
She brought in timber from the Australian mainland and constructed a sunken hot tub and a wood-fired barrel-style sauna to create Porky Beach Retreat.
It was hard work, says Alexandra, but she’s happy that it will now endure for a long time for people to enjoy.
Look closer and you’ll notice that surfboard propped against the side is actually a beautiful mosaic with a very creatively designed outdoor shower for body and feet.
For the sauna stove, Alexandra had to search much further and discovered that the best option was a HUUM stove made more than 15,000 km away in Estonia.
She then filled it with her own locally collected stones.
Australia may not be the most obvious sauna destination, but the Australian Sweat Bathing Association has been working hard to change that.. In recent years, their members have made a great contribution to global research about the benefits of saunas — even in hot climates.
King Island, however, is located on the edge of Latitude 40 in the southern hemisphere, which is where the infamous ‘roaring forties’ winds blow in from the west and give the resort an extra wild touch.
Porky Beach is Westerly facing, which means you are looking out on 10,000 km of ocean to Africa.
Quite sensibly, the hot tub has wind shields around it to preserve an oasis of calm.
Inside the main house, the style is modern and sleek. There’s also a wood-fired stove here too.
King Island is home to just a little more than 1,500 people and the retreat is hidden from the main roads, giving visitors complete seclusion.
With so little light pollution, this also makes it a great place to watch the night sky.
You can visit Porky Beach Retreat by booking here through King Island Escapes, which is run by Alexandra.
King Island is located approximatley 120 km from the shores of both the Australian mainland and Tasmania. There are regular flights from Melbourne.
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The Estonian Saunas blog is run by Anni and Adam, explorers and exporters of Estonian saunas. You can check out our UK online store at EstonianSaunas.co.uk and global store is launching soon.
We also created our own saunas with the best of Estonian design and technology. We have a smoke sauna in Tallinn, Rangi Saun, and Airbnb accommodation in Tallinn with a HUUM e-sauna, Tondi saun.
You can follow our own adventures exploring and exporting Estonian saunas on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. There’s also a Facebook group for fans of Estonian saunas where you can share advice and stories. Finally, you can also email us at tere@estoniansaunas.com.
