The wellness ritual in country Victoria that brings strangers together

Perhaps it's the intimacy of the experience that loosens our inhibitions. Or maybe it's the utter relaxation that comes with being immersed to the neck in hot water, but by the time I clamber out of the pool, just as the skin on my fingers is starting to prune, I feel like I've made half a dozen new friends.

A water view is pretty much a given in Victoria's Lakes Entrance, where rivers and lakes flow in complex curls and tributary tendrils, curving around coves and wooded peninsulas before spilling through the man-made channel into the Southern Ocean.

At Metung, water has been harnessed for healing purposes. In 1929, miners drilling for oil discovered geothermal waters beneath the earth's crust and in the 1970s, the local council constructed some rudimentary free bathing pools. They closed two decades later.

"I remember as a child coming over with my father in the boat to visit the baths which were a bit muddy and basic back then," a lady in one of the pools tells me, as steam rises off the cloudy water. "I used to love coming here."

She acknowledges though, that she prefers the hot springs Version 2.

Metung Hot Springs opened late in 2023 with 11 pools across the sprawling escarpment property, all set to different temperatures, and on the very top level, with 360-degree lake views, bathing barrels for an individual soak. There's also a sauna, cold plunge pools for the Wim Hof enthusiasts, a spa and a shaded relaxation area beside a billabong.

Moving from pool to pool, we're given relationship advice and wine recommendations, and hear the region talked up so enthusiastically, that we start to wonder if our pool buddies are in fact tourism board plants.

Aside from inspiring social interaction, bathing in the mineral-rich waters is said to have a raft of health benefits, from enhancing sleep to reducing arthritis symptoms, improving muscle tone and promoting healthy skin.

There's also the option of a sleepover, with onsite glamping, but we've arranged our own water-adjacent accommodation.

Idle Lake House was once a floating Chinese restaurant. It's the passion project of artist Nephelle Watts and her husband Dan. It's a homage to the more stylish side of the 1970s, with blue velvet and deep brown accents, shag rugs, mosaic tiles, sensuously curved surfaces, and lots of glass and chrome. There's a record player with an eclectic collection, a hanging fireplace and, out through the sliding door, a deck with a ladder down into the water.

Watts's grandfather was a fisherman, as are her father and brother. We learn these facts when we go to dinner at a restaurant a 100-metre meander from Ilde Lake House. Sodafish, just like Idle, is anchored to the lake bed.

As the name and its position overlooking the Lakes Entrance fishing fleet suggest, it's a seafood-centric kind of place. We start with an entree, a tiny sweet dice of scallop tartare, served in the shell, with an equally fine cube of malted potato, dressed with a vivid green local olive oil and coarse Aleppo pepper.

"Where are the scallops from?" I ask the waiter as she removes my plate. We've already chatted and established that we're not locals and are staying at Idle Lake House.

"There," she says, pointing down at the dock. "The Northern Star. It's Nephelle's brother's boat."

The family connection doesn't end there. Sharing the platform of Idle Lake House is a floating sauna, owned by Watt's brother-in-law Tom Stubbs.

We've booked a session the next morning and simply walk over in our swimmers and robes, barefoot. Tom has stoked up the woodfired stove and we perch on the pine benches looking out through floor-to-ceiling glass over the mirrored surface of the lake, while we gently steam.

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The premise of Koho Sauna is to experience both extremes of temperature, to make ourselves hot before going out onto the deck and jumping in the water for relief. We should do this every 10 minutes or so, Tom says. I nod while thinking there's almost zero chance I'm going to do this, but surprise myself - if not actually jumping in with actual enthusiasm, climbing down the ladder and immersing myself for a split second in the clear green water.

It's invigorating, but not as frigid as I'd anticipated. What is unexpected is the briny-ness, but on reflection, it makes sense that the water between lake and sea flows both ways.

We've become so lake-focused, sipping sunset drinks while dangling our feet in the water and watching glossy black swans sail past as we drink our morning coffee, that it takes a couple of days for us to remember we're actually on the coast. It's not visible, the sea, tucked behind low dunes, but we walk across the footbridge, over Cunninghame Arm and past the lifesavers' watchtower, to Ninety Mile Beach, a wide golden swathe, beautiful and wild, one of the longest uninterrupted lengths of sand beaches in the world.

From a lookout high on a hill, we finally gain a perspective of the extraordinary geography and immense beauty of the largest lake system in the southern hemisphere and totally get why the locals in the hot pools were so impassioned.

Getting there: Victoria's Lakes Entrance is about a four-hour drive east of Melbourne.

Staying there: Idle Lake House is at the western harbour at Lakes Entrance. There's a minimum two-night stay from about $1040. idlelakehouse.com

Eating there: Sodafish has both an a la carte menu and a $90 tasting menu. sodafish.com.au

The hot springs: Metung Hot Springs is open daily from 9am to 6pm. Entry needs to be pre-booked and is $55 for use of all the different baths and sauna. Towels, robes and lockers can be hired for an extra charge. There's also a spa and a cafe on site. metunghotsprings.com

Floating sauna: Koho Sauna is $40 for an hour's sauna and lake access, or you can book a private sauna for $150. kohosauna.com.au

Explore more: visitgippsland.com.au

The writer was a guest of Destination Gippsland.

Pictures: Natascha Mirosch; Destination Gippsland