We’ve just returned from our 6th SBF GETAWAY and even though a major flooding situation was happening in Brisbane, there was nothing that was going to stop us having yet another cracker of a weekend away!
Day 1: Thursday
Our destination for the second time running was at Coolangatta on the Qld / NSW coastal border.
Home base was Mantra Resort which is situated on the beachfront and smack bang in the middle of all the great restaurants and coffee shops.
We officially kicked off the weekend by going interstate to NSW š Just a snappy walk up to D’bah.
Dinner that night was at the Coolangatta SLSC which was like a warm up for what was to come a few nights later. The food was delicious and the company even better!
We were scheduled to go Hot Air Ballooning the following morning but due to weather conditions this was rescheduled to Sunday morning … which meant a last minute itinerary reshuffle.
Day 2: Friday
We kicked off the day with an early morning beach bootcamp.
And we all quickly realised how much harder it is to jump up on down on the sand compared to the grass!
Followed by a quick strip (not completely) and dip.
Then some of us decided to have a short spa to warm back up again… and that short spa turned into very long spa, as by then it was too cold to get out.
After this people either:
- Headed off for “Ben’s Shopping Trip” to Pacific Fair.
- Headed off for pamper sessions at Currumbin bath house.
Group Hypnotherapy
In the afternoon we had a group hypnotherapy session which I ran and hopefully everyone found valuable.
The discussion following the session was valuable for me as I learned more about some of my members, what’s going through their mind and how I may be able to help them in the future.
Then, not long after we’d finished, I got a message to say that now Sunday was out for Hot Air Ballooning and it was going ahead Saturday morning!!!
This meant another reshuffle of the itinerary.
Murder Mystery Night
Next it was time to get ready for our “Caribbean Cruise” themed murder mystery night.
We had a French captain arrive to host the night for us and he was fantastic! Lots of laughs, lots of carry on and not much of an idea of how poor old Rick Toff was murdered or who did it… but no one seemed to care anyway.
At 8pm confirmation came in that Hot Air Ballooning was definatley going ahead.
This caused a bit of concern amongst the crowd as by this stage the rain had come in and there were severe thunderstorms forecast for the Gold Coast!
But that was the official word so ballooning we were going š
Day 3: Saturday
Most of us started the day with a sprightly 2.45/3am wakeup call as we were leaving from the foyer at 3.15am.
…… And then a message came in at 3am to say that Ballooning was now cancelled due to the weather š
So back to bed to try and catch up on some sleep before Kirra parkrun.
We head off once again, this time at 6.15am to walk around the headland to beautiful Kirra.
The rain held off and we had a great morning thanks to the amazing volunteers that make parkrun such a wonderful community event.
This was then followed by a delicious breakfast at Cafe Kirra and then back to home base again to prepare for the traditional body surfing competition.
Unfortunately I didn’t win, which was made even worse because Ben did!
Then it was back to the spa to warm up again and discuss more important topics.
Art Class
Next it was time for our much anticipated Art Class with Ninja Tan from Tanya Elbourn Art.
This was definitely a highlight for many as the snack platters came out, and the creativity began to flow.
Tan was very patient and guided us step by step to creating a beautiful beach landscape… how she did it I’ll never know but she did!
Thanks Ninja Tan, you’re amazing.
And then it was time for our…
Kaftan / Trivia Night
I don’t even know where to begin or what is suitable to tell… so I’ll leave it at:
What started out as a pretty tame dinner at the SLSC, ended up as a not so tame pyjama trivia night.
This was definitely the highlight of my weekend with so many funny stories that will last a lifetime… and I even have audio recording evidence for some of them š
Day 4: Sunday
The weather by this stage was not looking good at all. There was a major flooding emergency happening in Brisbane and reports were that it was heading south.
Luckily our final official event was a farewell breakfast at The Flying Elephant Cafe…. and we arrived to the announcement that…
One of our beautiful members had anonymously paid for everyone’s breakfast!!!
I was gobsmacked, totally overwhelmed and almost lost for words!
This really was the perfect ending for an unforgettable weekend. I only wish that person was there to see all our faces when we heard the news.
Whoever you are, thank you. You’ll never understand how much your generosity touched me and how grateful I am to be surrounded by such beautiful people.
