12 – 15th March 2020 Gymea Eco Resort, Uki NSW.
DAY 1:
This was the first full day for our retreat and we were booked in to climb Mt. Warning.
Due to heavy rainfall over the past week and safety concerns, we decided to change this to an abandoned railway hike instead.
“Burringbar Rail Tunnel” hike at Stokers Sliding NSW. *Please note we’ve since discovered this hike is officially closed and trespassers will be prosecuted!
I am so glad that fate intervened here because I LOVED this adventure!
Cruising along an abandoned railway line with the most beautiful lush green surroundings was amazing.
We even got to walk through a 500m tunnel with bats and glow worms and skeletons of old railway workers …. ok maybe not that, but it was a VERY cool experience.
The GG’s (our special chefs for the weekend) had packed our delicious takeaway snacks for the morning including a secret recipe granola slice that was a HUGE hit ….. and will also feature in an upcoming SBF recipe book (which I was going to claim credit for but I guess I can’t now ????).
When we got back to the retreat it was time for some swimming, lunch and then massages, sauna, steam room, spa …. all the good stuff.
After some down time we were in for a real treat with Dr Jodie Bradnam gracing us with her presence, wisdom and beautiful nature.
We all learnt so much from Jod’s workshop on mindfulness, personal values, the power of nature …. and so so much more. Hopefully we can convince her to come back for many more future retreats.
I would share photos of the workshop, however I couldn’t find my phone to take photos… and the reason for that was because I had placed my phone in Jodie’s box of resources.
Unfortunately that bag of resources then went back with Jodie to the Gold Coast and we all had a great game of “Where did Sally leave her phone”.
Eventually someone came up with the brilliant idea of turning on the “Find my phone” app and we all watched my phone making its way up the M1 motorway ????.
By 8pm we had come up with a plan to retrieve the phone and that was when the world started spinning again (minus some very good photo opportunities).
A 10/10 day…. (I judged the phone debacle as a really valuable learning experience).
DAY 2:
Started with a sleep in for some, bush walk for some and a road walk for others (actually more like a mountain climb it was so steep!!!).
I was on the bushwalking team and made a big spectacle that I was wearing my long SBF socks because this would prevent any leeches.
As it turned out, I got a big fat leech…. and somehow was the only one to get a leech… even the ankle sock wearers didn’t get a leech ????.
No need to fear though as we had come prepared for all emergencies and Kate searched through the first aid kit for some salt to sprinkle on him.
“Oh … that’s right, we used the salt yesterday because Anthony wanted some on his boiled egg when we were on the railway hike”.
Okaaaay….. as long as the egg tasted good, I don’t mind going a bit anaemic …. let’s just pull this bad boy off then …..
Those little suckers can hold on tight!!! I eventually got him off though and as soon as I did…
“Oh look here’s the salt, there’s still a bit left in the bag…”
We returned to enjoy another gourmet breakfast whipped up by the GG’s and then it was time for another workshop.
We were lucky enough to have Dietician / Exercise physiologist Peita Hynes come and talk to us about:
✔️Hormones & ageing.
✔️Metabolism & weight loss.
✔️Plant based diet and other current diet trends.
Everyone loved this session too and Peit’s very common sense approach to weight loss and fuelling your body for health and longevity.
The afternoon included swimming in the magnesium pool, spa treatments, a yoga/ meditation class and then it was everybody’s favourite time of the day….
A healthy gourmet dinner and the much anticipated SBF GRANDAD (he wrote the trivia questions) TRIVIA NIGHT ????
I haven’t laughed so much in a long time! and what was supposed to be a 1 hr activity turned into almost 2 hrs.
Great times, great memories, sore cheeks and abs from laughing. Another 10/10 day.
DAY 3:
We woke to the beautiful sound of rain – the perfect setting to enjoy our final yoga / meditation session with the sounds of Mother Nature ????????.
Apart from missing our hike up Mt. Warning, the weather has been absolutely spot on with beautiful sunny days and warm temperatures.
We enjoyed our final healthy gourmet meal prepared by the GG’s and everyone was very upset with the thought of having to go home and cook their own meals ????
What a treat it has been to feast on all this beautiful food prepared by 2 of the most beautiful people you’ll ever meet.
A great reminder that you can choose the people you surround yourself with and you can work hard to make them your family ???? (ie. keep harassing them until they have no choice but to put up with you).
In what seemed like a blink of the eye, it was time to pack up (thankfully with a lot less than we arrived with).
So many great memories, laughs, adventures, friendships and lessons. It was more than we could have hoped for.
It was certainly a team effort to pull it all together….
Many thanks to our generous sponsors (all Australian businesses) who filled our guests gifts bags with all sorts of great treats:
Puregg
Mood Traders
getsome_au
Mayver’s
The Base Collective
Corn Thins
A huge thank you to the GG’s travelling all the way from Sydney, not only to be our special chefs, but for also making our guests feel like part of the family.
And of course none of this would have ever happened without SBF event coordinator extraordinaire…. Kate.
6 months worth of preparation and once again she nailed it …. and now that she’s had her day to recover…. it’s time to start planning the next one.
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