My Kangaroo Island Experience

Arrival, Sunday Night

The plane touched down on Sunday evening and Sue and Austin met me in their mini bus to take me to the Retreat. Sue has the bluest eyes I have ever seen. I was told about her fabulous legs and yes, they exist! This is one fit and healthy 67-year old. And direct. Sue calls a spade a spade from the outset. I can tell that the following few days will be done her way and on her terms and I am happy with that. I’m here to get rid of the garbage that has built up in my mind and body over the past 12 months working in a stressful job. It’s been a big and busy year and I want to hit the reset button.

Emu Bay is a beautiful place, quite rural and it reminds me of where I was born. As we drive up a steep hill to the Retreat I see several Alpacas and a long brick house, not unlike where my own parents live. It’s bordered by a wild, yet ordered and very colourful garden and the deck out the front has a wonderful view of the ocean.

Inside I find several bedrooms, each with a single bed and comfortable bedding, gown and shiatsu roller for your feet. Each room has its own bathroom just across the hall. The main inside area of the house is taken up by a spacious yoga studio which doubles as a classroom for nutrition and anatomy classes. There is a squeaky clean kitchen – indeed the whole place is spotless - and there is a lounge room with a bookshelf that’s packed with volumes ranging from trashy magazines through to Deepak Chopra. I later find out that as I start the detox I’ll prefer to flick through the magazines and as I get through the week and my concentration improves I will become much more interested in recipes and numerology!

Outside the sliding doors from the yoga room spans a paved, undercover area with six exercise bikes lined up with a view to the distant blue water. A whiteboard on the wall and a large water tank filled with rainwater are the other main points of interest. Apart from Sue, these two pieces of equipment will become my guides – I will end up filling my 1 litre water bottle from that tank multiple times over the coming days and each time I will mark a black line on the whiteboard so that I can keep a record during my detox haze.

Straight into it

There’s no mucking around with Sue as I soon find out. Once I dump my bag in my bedroom she orders me to get into my swimmers and meet her in a small room off the yoga studio so that she can weigh me and take my measurements – waist, hips, legs, ankles etc. She tells me that at 54.7kg and 165cm she doesn’t want me to lose any weight but that I have the scope to build muscle and lose toxins.

I am then instructed to jump on the exercise bike and as the sun goes down I punch out a 15 minute journey while Sue writes “my program” up on the whiteboard. Over the next few days this will go something like: cycle, village walk, sauna, cold shower, nutrition and anatomy class, beach walk and swim, therapies, rest, yoga, cycle, sauna, walk. I will eat three times a day and drink litres and litres and litres of water! I’m expected to have at least 5 litres a day but later in the week I will find out that I can drink almost double this amount with ease.

After my cycle I have a sauna for an hour with Sue and we brush every inch of skin to assist the detox process and reduce inflammation around joints. Then I have a cold shower and I’m left for the evening with my dinner – the most beautifully presented fruit plate I’ve ever seen. It’s like the dessert you get at a fancy restaurant. Almost wafer-thin slices of pineapple are decorated with chopped Brazil nuts, coconut, cranberries and cinnamon. By this stage I’ve been well versed by Sue on the need to cease drinking fluids 15 minutes before eating a meal and to not drink again until at least one hour after I stop eating. Each meal should take at least 20 minutes to consume and each should be nutritionally balanced. This means that 70% of the plate will consist of carbohydrates, 20% protein and 10% fatty acids.

By the time I sit down to eat my fruit plate I’m feeling refreshed from the quick burst of exercise, sauna and shower, but tired from the trip from Melbourne. So once I eat dinner I get ready for bed. Before I go to bed I have to complete two daily rituals. The first, which I have to complete every morning and night consists of dipping my little finger in a bottle of tea tree oil, coating my tongue and then repeating this and poking my little finger in each ear and up each nostrils! This is a natural antiviral. The second ritual is about as pleasant- I have to dissolve a teaspoon of Epsom salts in warm water and swallow it. It tastes gross...! To bed.

Day 1: Monday

I’ve had a great sleep broken only by a couple of trips to the loo. I love the single bed sheets and quilt and feel as if I am at home on my parent’s farm where the only noise is the odd bird or cicada. At 6am I get up and watch the sun rise before my window as I stretch, brush my skin and jump on the bike for 25 minutes. I’m starting to enjoy the bike now.

At 7am I’m met by Sue and Samba, her enthusiastic and completely loveable Staffy. By this point I’ve had a couple of litres of water already and we head off for a 5km walk. The bay is sparkling and I start to get my bearings. Emu Bay is a small village and the way that the houses are scattered by the water reminds me of Bridport in Tasmania or even the Geelong waterfront! We see two kangaroos and we climb up and down some seriously steep hills.

Back at the Retreat and it’s back in the sauna followed by a cold shower and then it’s time for my paste. This is a nutritionally-charged tablespoon of yoghurt that’s mixed in with other ingredients to form a tiny meal that packs a powerful punch of minerals and vitamins. Although a small quantity (one tablespoon) I know the rules and watch the clock so that I don’t finish the last bite until the designated 20 minutes is up. Yes, it takes me 20 minutes to consume a tablespoon’s worth of food and I enjoy every bit.

By 10.30am I’ve finished my paste and I’m waiting for my nutrition and anatomy class. I feel tired and slightly achy and wouldn’t mind a sleep. This is a peaceful place and I can literally only hear birds and occasionally the sound of a distant vehicle.

Sue arrives and delivers a very comprehensive class that takes me through the different organs in my body, the important role that each plays in the digestion process and the importance of water and oxygen ahead of food. After this we walk 10km to and along the white-sanded beach. It’s pretty hot by now and we have the most marvellous swim in cool water that is the most unique shade of blue I’ve ever seen. We gargle the water and Sue does a few very straight handstands!

When we get back I scull another litre or so of water and we have another sauna and skin brushing session. More water and then it’s lunchtime. Considering I’ve walked about 15 km, cycled, swum and had a couple of saunas I’m surprisingly not that hungry. But I’m not leaving any of the fruit plate!

I have a rest and then it’s time for “my therapies” which turn out to be a cross between pain and relaxation. Sue then takes me through a yoga class, I cycle again, have another sauna and dinner – this time a nourishing and hearty soup. I have a 5 km walk after dinner and encounter a local girl who is chasing away two rogue dogs that have tried to drown a kangaroo in the dam on her property. I’m stuffed and in bed as soon as I get back.

Day 2: Tuesday

I’m up by 5.30am and have cycled for 35 minutes before I’m joined by Sue and Samba for a 6km walk. I feel good today and I can already see some signs that this is working. My eyes are definitely bluer, my skin clearer and my bowels have loosened up considerably! Sue reckons I may have trouble absorbing calcium because during this process so far the soles of my feet have turned a bit yellow which can apparently be a sign of excess calcium pooling in my feet. But I’m feeling great now – much more clear-headed, relaxed and full of energy despite my level of activity on little food.

The day rolls much the same as Monday with the walking, sauna, paste, classes, yoga, cycling, walking, lunch, etc. By now I’m used to drinking water in big amounts at once and avoiding it before, during and straight after meals. In fact, by Tuesday bedtime I calculate that I’ve had 17 litres of water since Sunday night when I arrived. I’m also never hungry yet really enjoy my meals when I have them. The flavours, textures and presentation of Sue’s cooking make meal times something to look forward to.

It’s 6.45pm and I have finished by sauna and cold shower and have the same feeling I get when I go for a surf. By now I’ve walked 16 km and have a final 5 km to go after dinner. I have done a solid hour on the exercise bike, done half an hour of yoga and drunk 7 litres of water.

Day 3: Wednesday

It’s early evening and I’m back from a 10km walk to the beach, punctuated by plenty of swims because it’s been a hot 33 degree day with little or no breeze. I’ve been on my own and enjoyed the thinking time after spending another great morning of walking, yoga and classes with Sue. I’ve been walking and swimming for the past two hours and it’s dinner time yet I feel really energised, probably the best I’ve felt since arriving. It sound strange but I feel as if my eyes aren’t hazy and that I can see more clearly, as if I had smudged glasses on before.  

Sue has left me a delicious soup of pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, chilli and herbs in a saucepan and I heat it up and enjoy it outside on the deck. I take in the ocean, the alpacas, watch a little bird on the handrail for a while and listen to the cicadas. I then treat myself to another round of shiatsu treatments.

The weather is promising to be a brutal 36 degrees tomorrow and Sue and I plan to have an early start for our first walk of the day to beat the heat. I hit the sack.

Day 4: Thursday

It’s 9.15am and I’ve already cycled for 30 minutes, walked 12km and swum and I’m waiting for my paste. As I wait I consider the changes my body is going through. My bowel movements for instance have changed again in the past 24 hours. Over the past few days they have been spectacularly unpredictable: the contents have gone from zero, to liquid explosions, through to a consistency resembling soft serve ice cream!  This morning’s effort made me think a mysterious, ribbon-like creature was making an exit! It reminds me of the shape of my intestine (the small one?!) – all wrapped up and then expanding out bit by bit. I discuss this with Sue and she recounts a hilarious tale involving a mango and water fast.

Other points of note today - in amongst my routine of walking, swimming, yoga, classes and water drinking - was that I saw a large goanna sunning itself on the beach. By now I’ve seen several kangaroos (one with a Joey in its pouch), a graceful eagle and a black swan cruising on the bay.

Whole Foods

I had my first real whole foods of the week at breakfast. The bowl was filled with brown rice, yoghurt, banana, pear, dried apricot, coconut and walnuts. Delicious and filling.

At lunchtime Sue gives me a lesson in creating the perfect omelette, which I eat along with a refreshing salad.

Dinner tonight is a rich, hearty lamb hot pot.

Final evening

It’s been another big day and the weather was a hot 40 degrees, making it difficult to get my walking quota up. At about 7pm, when the sun has gone, I go for an 8 km walk and when I return I realise I’ve had 9 litres of water today!  I get to bed at 9pm and plan to get up early for a quick run/walk and swim before I have to catch my plane.

Day 5: Friday

I wake refreshed at 4.50am and jump on the bike for 5 minutes to wake up. This last little ride brings my cycle total since Sunday when I arrived to 3.5 hours! I then walk/run to the beach and it’s still so early that the moon is shining. I jump in the water and it’s like a bath, given the heat of the past few days. I’m the only person at the beach and the experience is magical. When I emerge from the water I am hit with an overwhelming emotion - that I have been re-born. It sounds a little over the top but it’s how I feel.

I get dressed and walk up the big hill to the Retreat. I shower, pack up and wait for Sue to arrive to take my final measurements before Austin drives me to the airport. I feel ready to leave but will also miss my busy but simple routine, the great food, natural beauty and Sue’s company.

Statistics and results

WATER	CYCLE	WALK
33 litres	3.5 hours	87km

 

	Arrival	Departure	Loss
Neck	31	29	2
Height	165
Weight	54.7kg	54.7kg
Right Arm	25	25
Left Arm	26	25	1
Chest	85	85
Waist	64	64
Upper hip	75	69	6
Lower hip	86	80	6
Right thigh	53	51	2
Left thigh	53	50	3
Knees	33	32	1 off each
Ankles	21	21
			22 cm Toning Loss

 

	Arrival	Departure
Blood Pressure	122-71	112-69
Pulse Rate	50	51

Back home

The following email sums up how I felt following my dynamic detox. I have introduced many of the techniques I learned during the five days into my life and the knowledge from the classes continues to fascinate me.

Thank you Sue,
Melbourne 34