Jane's BLOG

Ahh Sunday, the day of rest right! wrong….lemon water is at 7am, followed by breakfast at 7:30. Chickpeas on toast go down a treat (minus the toast for me). I cleverly mash my linseed into some banana, prune, and strawberry, a finish with a cracker with not butter & vegemite.

Then back to bed right? wrong…its off for a Promenade. This one has a scientific purpose we are testing the hypothesis that I take shorter steps than Peter and so will take more than him over the same distance…I’m guessing 25-33% more. The results are in! it turns out I take 15-20% more on that walk! the steeper the hill the larger the difference in step numbers – clearly I shorten my steps to get up the slopes! Anyway that’s enough science for the rest day!

Back at the Hacienda we get stuck into the cooking class. In a team effort Peter & I create a tofu based vegetable quiche – which becomes the sunday lunch! accompanied by a pumpkin  salad (including tofu feta). Dessert is thumbprint cookies (think jam drops) made by one of our colleagues.

We have some well earned rest after lunch and then take another promenade in an effort to wake us up! The afternoon is spent listening to the cricket and doing our homework so that all this great work is not undone.

The dinner bell rings and we meet the three new guests and enjoy some leek and potato soup, along with fruit and crackers for those who so desire. The newbies have their COVID talk and a few of us retire to the gym, not to exercise but so that our chatting does not interrupt the presentation. As the clock strikes 8:45 we head to our rooms, some of us have a blog to write.

Sweet Dreams

Today is the day we get to go on a big outing! First, of course we have our lemon water and and a scrumptious breakfast including Apple Bake, which is like an apple porridge crossed with apple crumple – it got the tick of approval from Peter…in fact we had pumpkin soup for dinner which he also enjoyed so a great food day for him.

This is followed by a Promenade, including a quick call to the G, during which I do a few short laps between the gate and a little pile rocks a hundred or so metres down the track. Back at the lodge we learn some useful information about how to eat well when you are travelling (don’t go to Macca’s!), when you’re at work (hide the lolly bowl), and out to dinner (ditch the creamy sauces) also how to sneak in some exercise when your not expecting it! (take the stairs). I’ve only included the top tips – if you want more details please ask!

Some rest before lunch – Lentil Loaf and Scallop Potato (the healthy version) Yummo, we find room for the Raspberry Chia pudding. Then it’s off on our adventure. I get some additional exercise as I volunteer for the third row seat and get to do some gymnastics getting in and out of the care. Never the less I feel like the Queen as I have a trusty footman who folds down the seat in front and places a small step (just like the G’s) so that I can perform my double pike with three twists as I get in and out of the car. I get plenty of practice as we make 5 stops during the day!

First of all it’s Belmore Falls where we stop at a pre-falls lookout and see people actually swimming – omg the water is freezing, what are they thinking….but then I remember my heat pack and ice pack treatments. I guess it’s not so crazy. The falls are spectacular (the photos don’t really do them justice! there are adventurous souls who hike in along the valley and swim in the pools at the bottom…maybe when I was twenty!! now I am content to see them enjoying (I assume) the hydro powered spa. We travel to a vantage point opposite the falls to get a better view and walk along taking advantage of several lookouts along the way.

We drive through the bustling town of Robertson, and spot the big potato (and is that coffee I smell???) on our way to Carrington Falls. Swimming is popular at these falls as you can swim in the pools at the top (you have to be careful not to fall over as it is a long way down!). We walk along the top of the ridge to get some different views. I also take advantage of the long drop provided – which I must say is not as pleasant as the long drop of the water over the falls!

After an afternoon of bushwalking and waterfall spotting we head home, taking the time in Robertson for a demonstration of the foolproof approach to reverse parking by our skilled driver. We drive back past the big potato and fields of real potatoes in various stages of growth and harvest. Back home we  are greeted with some raspberry, strawberry and loganberry iced tea  with orange and mint…..so refreshing. After all that exercise we eagerly await dinner (the aforementioned pumpkin soup)!

We take a vote and decide on a movie for our Saturday night entertainment and ..drumroll .. it is Hidden Numbers. I won’t spoil it for those who have not seen but all in all an inspirational true story about three African American Women who breakthrough the barriers and become top mathematicians at NASA.

We’re in the groove and ready for lemon water at 7am, breakfast is the orange Bircher muesli we made yesterday with some fruit salad. Peter braves the soy milk on muesli and manages to wrangle a slice of toast!! with not butter and “is honey” that puts a smile on his face. We set off to Promenade and when we hit the phone signal Peter noticed 7 messages…I didn’t take my phone so I’ve no idea whether I have any. I did a few short loops while he returned his calls and we were able to get hold of grandma!

We made it back just in time for a session on Eating the Rainbow…just don’t choke on the pot of gold! We had a few minutes to relax and then off to Fitzroy Falls in the spotting rain! We were dropped at the end of the West Rim Walk and walked back to the Info Centre via veral lookouts including Paine, the Grotto Twin Falls,

I saw the steep descent on part of the walk, and given that what goes down must come up I decided to take the 4wd option for that section (Twin Falls – East Lookout), the steps up from XX had already used up my hill climbing quota for the day.

Back at the ranch late for lunch and the rain started in earnest. It was Mediterranean themed with falafel, Hummus (we made yesterday), vege sticks and dips (beetroot hummus, basil pesto) lettuce tomato – all the trimmings.

I decided to do another Promenade with some fellow guests – getting my step count up to 13000ish, it’s getting to be a tradition. Pretty hectic afternoon of relaxation with a Spa – free play, a hot foot treatment (which gave me pink feet) and a foot massage. The rain is quite heavy now! I needed to rest to balance the relaxation (they go together those two!) so took a nap until dinner. One of Peter’s favourites bruschetta! followed by a green smoothie which was quite delicious…Peter even finished his!!

I barely stayed awake for the talk about stress and how it affects you and what to do about it…I just recall something about lowering expectations and only worrying about the important stuff, there were boats of different sizes and you have to know how big your boat is and don’t fill it with worries in case it sinks…..clearly I was in a fugue for that half hour…but it’s okay I can read it in the book (plus Peter took notes on this one!!

Sweet dreams. Step Total 13570 – a record!

Well this blog is coming out late as just as I was about to publish it last night it disappeared, there was no trace, and it had been such a great day.

We started at 7pm with the lemon water and a catch up about how each of us has slept (that way you know who will be a bit out of it during the day!). As the weather was expected to turn to rain the difficult walk to Cedar Falls was put on for today rather than tomorrow, leaving just after breakfast (which was mushrooms on toast for those gourmands among you).

Peter, headed off for to Cedar Falls just after breakfast, having read the disclaimer I decided on a less deadly walk “the Promenade”. I set off, and realised that no one had taken their poles – which seemed to be a necessity for the Falls walk, so returned to the lodge to catch the leader (who was driving to the start point) alas he had left, but another staff member took the poles – disaster averted. Of course when he delivered them no one wanted one….Oops

I did an additional 2 trips to the gate and back (which is the Promanade!) clocking up 7812 steps..yay me. Was back in time for an information session about how to eat more and weigh less…which sounds great. On to cooking demonstration where we learned to make Mexican Beans, Lemon Flan, Hummus, Cashew Mayonnaise, Jack Cheese and scrumptious little balls of deliciousness with almonds and coconut (I don’t recall their name). This had our stomachs rumbling – but with more than an hour and a half before lunch we had to find other diversions. I actually spent a bit of time on this very blog only to have it disappear just before bedtime…but lets not dwell.

I also squeezed in a stretch class so was full height when I sat down to eat our Mexican Bean, lettuce, Guacamole, Jack Cheese and Corn Chip lunch…actually I substituted the corn chips for lettuce after hearing about the horrors of corn chips and other tasty snacks at our morning information session.

A promanade, a hot – cold treatment on my liver, a Spa, and a foot massage rounded out the afternoon, with  tomato soup followed by  custard and berries for dessert. I also squeezed in a cracker with not butter and vegemite – I think I’m addicted.

Sweet Dreams