Feeling the zen…. (Adeshola)

So I’m writing this post in bed with a cup of tea and thinking how much I adore the Winter holidays. Summer’s great for the excitement, the hot weather and the endless array of outings, music festivals and beach days, but Winter is lovely to simply stay warm and not do much else. Being on holidays just adds to this!

My  fellow Arts Camp friends and I have just come back today from a week up in Hepburn Springs! You’d think as four 18 year old girls we’d be hitting the clubs to celebrate end of exams, but we opted for a week away filled with lots of tea, spas and face masks instead.

While we arrived to a miserable rainy day, the weather cleared up to bring us some lovely Winter sun. We began out trip with a walk down to the local Mineral pumps where you can fill up your water bottles (for free of course!) with fresh mineral water. Although a slightly metallic after taste was left in our mouths after a few guzzles, we guzzled it down knowing it was good for us!

On Wednesday we saluted the sun with a quick yoga sesh on the deck before heading down to the Bathhouse. This plays smells, looks, feels and sounds like relaxation! From the gentle whiff of essential oils in the air to the amazing architectural design, we were feeling tranquil as soon as we stepped into the wide doors. With our bathers and fluffy bathrobes on we were ready to go! We soaked in the minerals waters, sweated it out in the aromatherapy sauna and then almost fell asleep in the spa couches! Best way to de-stress after mid-year exams I’d say! Highly recommended.

 

 

On the final day, we decided to do a long walk along a supposed 16km track that would lead us to Mount Franklin. So off we set with our packed lunches and all. We climbed the hilly contours of the bush and two hours in my lack of fitness was starting to show. However, we soon turned our attention to the fact that as four teenage girls it was as if we could have been on the ABC show ‘Jeopardy’ where the group of teenagers experience eerie events in the Australian bush (Note: For those of you asking Jepa what!? Get onto this show!). Consequently, our distraction led us to completely miss our turn and walk about 8km in the opposite direction! Getting caught up with the ‘guess the tune I’m humming’ game and what not, it took us a while to realise that Mount Franklin was nowhere to be seen. Luckily for Alisha and I, our two of super fit friends volunteered to run back the the house, pick up the car and meet us half way. Two hours later after what felt like endless trekking through the bush, we were back in the house by the fire and feeling ever so cosy.

Coming back today, the leafy surroundings so quickly disappeared as we zoomed passed them in the car and before long greasy fast food outlets and the DFO billboards could be seen as we edged closer and closer home. It was a lovely week to just simply get away from the busy city life and de-stress with good company and great surroundings!

In other news, the words of ‘exam results’ seem to be spreading around as the date looms upon us. Although apparently if you check under the ‘Admin’ tab on the Portal and follow it to your ‘study plan’ the results are all ready up. I’m yet to try this though, mainly because I’m still enjoying the ‘I just finished exams, haven’t seen my results yet and everything’s wonderful’ delusion at the moment.

We’ve got another three weeks to go until we’ll be back at campus and uni life will once again quickly pick up! I’m not dreading going back, but I’m certainly enjoying these weeks off.

Here’s to holidays and taking some time off every now and then! It’s amazing what some tea, a good dosage of fresh air and laughter with friends can do to you in a new environment.

Until next time,

Adeshola