Day 115: Camp Eden Day 1

I woke up very very early on Sunday morning to catch my flight to the Gold Coast. My flight departed at 6.05am. I had set my alarm for about 4.20am so I had plenty of time and planned to leave home around 4.40am (since had to be there no later than 5.35am). Correction, I thought I had set my alarm. I had somehow had set it for weekdays and not any day - bloody iphone! Somehow I woke up thinking hmm why hasn't the alarm gone off, i almost drifted back to sleep but for some reason decided to sit up to think about it. I then realised it was 5.08am. F*ck! Luckily for me I had got almost everything organised the night before, which is not always the case. I moved so quickly and we left home around 5.15am. I was stressed, really stressed but semi kept it together. When I got to the airport I just ran... The jetstar girl saw my alarm and said what flight - i said 6.05am to GC. She then said quick this way and put me through a special line. I got to the counter and burst into tears. Could barely get anything out I was sobbing so hard - so had to hand the license to the lady and hope she could figure it out. She asked me if I was upset because I didn't think I'd make it. I sobbed yes. She said "Well you made it!". Yay. This didn't stop me crying though. It was all very intense.

So at this point I'm thinking great bloody start for a week designed to destress me. LOL. Classic Ellis. I recovered quickly after this (I can go from 0 to 10 and back down to 0 very quickly - just ask my husband!), but did feel drained.

I arrived at 7.25am right on time and met my driver. He was very nice. I was the only one on this transfer. I guess the other guests didn't want to get up at 4-5am like me. He commented at how he really enjoys seeing the difference from the transfer in to the transfer out. This sounded promising but I thought "lets see if they can get through to me like that!". He he - so cynical.

The drive from GC airport through the Currumbin Valley to Camp Eden took about 20-25 mins and was a lovely drive. Everything was so green. When we arrived at Camp Eden I was very impressed with how green it looked and how beautiful it looked.

I said goodbye to my driver who took my bags to my room while I checked into reception. I was given a glass of fresh watermelon juice which was delicious. There were 2 girls checking out (people usually go Sunday to Sunday or Sunday to Friday) and they were literally bouncing on life. They were so excited and were both telling me how I was them 7 days ago and gushing about all the things I should try. Things mentioned included club mud and power pole. I just nodded saying sounds good, thanks for the tips but not really sure what they were telling me to do! And not really sure I would be like them in 5 days time either.

My next step was to meet with a guest coordinator who went through my reasons for coming (destress and get happy and healthy) and also weighed and measured me and did some other health checks. My blood pressure was high but she said that was likely because of my early start (oh yes and loosing it due to arriving with 1 min to spare at the airport). I then went and met with the guest coordinator who put me down for a massage and nutritionist appointment at this stage, saying I could add more later. I was shown to my locker where I found my camp eden bag, name tag and drink bottle and sent on my way with my program and some mixed nuts for morning tea to go and check out my lodgings.

This was when I figured out that a big part of camp eden is 'incidental exercise'. They weren't kidding. The lodgings and dining room were at the top of a very steep hill. Where as most of the activities were at the bottom of the hill. So you ended up going up and down that hill 3-5 times per day and more if you weren't organised. People learned the hard way to leave swimmers and a change of clothes etc in your locker down in the gym.



The Dining hall (at the top of the hill!)


I went to my cabin. I was in a twin cabin, but I didn't have to share. Lucky me. The room was very nice and had lovely essential oils burning and some meditation music playing. I also had a gift from the manager - a sarong. It was great to finally sit down and relax. I had a little rest and also read my book. I decided to skip archery and just go to the first official thing - which was the group intro at 12.30pm.
My cabin





Gift from management


So I headed down the hill at 12.15pm in time for the group intro. We were a group of about 25. Everyone said hello to each other and got the low down on the week ahead. Which was really only the low down for day 1. They said they like to keep us 'in the now' (this was repeated many times over the week). I would have preferred knowing the plan for the whole week - so it seems I was in need of a bit of this 'in the now' stuff. We got an official tour of all the stuff down the bottom of the hill - the gym, the pool, the sauna and spa room, the relaxation room (complete with herbal teas), the tennis and basketball courts, the boutique (for those in need of retail therapy!), the eden room and reception. It was then time to head up the hill for lunch!

Lunch for day 1 was some mountain bread filled with tuna and salads. We were also told to not drink water with our meal, only 20 mins before or after. Apparently water with your meal inteferes with your digestive enzymes... This was to be very challenging for me. I found it very hard to eat a meal with out some H20. (People often hear me say how parched I am!).

After lunch we did a 30 minute bush walk. The bush walks they have are very nice, going through the rainforest. They have a 3km, 4km and 5km one - but they are very steep so quite challenging.

Then it was back down the hill for a stretch class followed by a steam and sauna. Afternoon tea was anzac biscuits wholefoods style - delicious! Everyboday asked all week for this recipe but we never got it :(

Then we headed back up the hill for a mocktail followed by dinner. I can't really recall what we had for dinner but it was vegetarian and pretty good.

(Do you see what I mean about going up and down that hill?)

After dinner we had another orientation talk, by this stage I think I had had enough of orientation. We also got assigned a buddy in case someone went missing on an off the track bush walk or bitten by a snake in their room (someone did have to change rooms due to a snake!). We also got told what was on the agenda for tomorrow (this happened throughout the week - getting told what we are doing the next day after dinner).

Then I went back to my room to crash. A great first day and feeling very excited about the next day but completely exhausted!