Sharing Bali Part 1

Just returned after a fab few days in Bali at a wonderful place called Ayung Sari Indah.

If I wrote everything I would be here for a month so I will try to keep it to maybe a week, ok a bit less then.........A few installments I think.

It all started on Thursday last week with Brekkie at the Coffee Club, followed by a stretched limo ride to the airport with my intrepid travelling companions Amanda, Alison, Louise and Karen.

A flight to Darwin with a few hours to kill in their massive airport - not! So we end up in the little tavern having a wine. Already plenty of laughs. Onto our flight to Denpasar - none of us have experienced such a noisy flight and with plenty of alcohol already consumed by half the people onboard it was only going to get better the longer the flight went. Oh the joys of flying Jet Star!

We arrive at Denpasar airport go through customs and Lou gets taken into a little office becuase she has 3 bottles of wine instead of 2. We all wait, just a tad nervous and with fleeting thoughts of "you know who (Schapelle)". 200,000 rupiah later Lou emerges wine still in hand. We then get round the corner from customs to a row of about 30 money changers all calling out to us. Every window offers the same exchange rate so pick a window any window and come away with over 1 million rupiah which is only around $200 but we were still happy to millionaires in our own minds!

Out into the fresh air - only its not too fresh with smoking still allowed everywhere. The clouds have opened up and it is pouring, absolutely torrential. Karen W from Ayung Sari Indah (ASI I will use for short) spots us and eventually we traipse through ankle deep water to her partner and fellow host Wayan and climb into the car for our trip to ASI.

Holy moly this was the most intense 1+ hours in a vehicle any of us has experienced. They drive on the same side of the road as us - well they are supposed to but basically they drive wherever they like dodging bikes, dogs, people, signs, pilesof timber or rocks, you name it we swerved it. Lots of toot tooting on the horn. Eyes wide like scared rabbits in headlights is what we all looked like - this would have been a great you tube video! But guess what we made it totally unscathed and now with our jaws hanging open at the beautiful sight of ASI. Now midnight aussie time it was hard to fully appreciate our wonderful surroundings but that which we could see was lovely. We were led to our bungalows and although these bungalows would become really homely it was a little bit of a culture shock. Unable to really get settled it was time to go straight to bed. It was surprisingly cold and felt quite damp obviously due to the humidity during the day. I would liken the beds to futons a little higher, with mattresses quite hard it made for some funny bedtime joking. Outside bathrooms, so sitting on the toilet surrounded by jungle noises late at night can be a bit spooky first time around. Oh yeah and if someone looked over from the balcony they would see you - or you would see them first and yell out that you were on the toilet, well Amanda did a couple of times until we got into the habit of letting our roomies know we were "GOING TO THE TOILET". Have to say though by the end of the trip it all seemed quite normal. We did still have power and running water so it wasn't totally back to nature without any modern amenities.

So finally off to sleep and awaiting the days ahead.

I will be back with Day 1 soon - log back on it is worth the read I assure you

It's been a while!

I am back.
Things have been moving along nicely at body4u since the New Year New You challenge and we are currently into our next 8 week challenge in the club. With around 30 entrants it is shaping up (pardon the pun) to be an interesting few weeks ahead.
Next week I will be flying off to Bali with a great group of ladies to experience Sharing Bali. A wonderful retreat just outside Ubud up in the hills. Apart from an amazing time anticipated by all we will actually be doing a recce to see about offering our clients bootcamp retreats, incorporating exercise, healthy living and relaxation all in one - interested? well keep checking my blogs for more info.
Also happening at the moment is the training for our Kokoda challenge race which is taking place down the coast in the Hinterlands. It is a fund raising event and takes us on a 96km journey with only 39 hours to complete it. Myself and the rest of my trusty team, Darren, Richard and Brooke are hoping to do it in 20 hours or less. Fingers crossed.
A few hours run/walk tonight followed by about 6 hours in the hills on Sunday - very wet hills I imagine is all part of the fun in store for us.
Gotta go for now be back soon with news of our adventures - take care and remember to make someone smile> :-)

I'd Like To Thank!

I would like to thank everyone involved in this New Year New You Challenge but some special thank yous for Darren for his never ending support and for making all of this possbile, my kids for being so patient and making do without me so often. Richard and Amanda for all the hard work and effort they have put in. All the rest of the body4u team for their encouragement and support of the challenge. A big thank you to the partners and families of those involved for countless weekends away from them.
A special thank you needs to go to 2 of our wonderful clients Brett and Alison King for sponsoring the Bridge Climb today, thank you so much.
Last but not least thank you to Greg and Annette for being great sports and for putting in the effort required to achieve their goals, I will certainly miss our weekend adventures and I wish you both all the best in your future goals for a healthy and long life - keep up the good work.
Cheers Ang.x

"And now the end is here..........."

The final week. 6 am at the gym running a few minutes late after printing off the details for the final adventure. Greg, Annette and Rich are waiting at the gym. Amanda pulls in and upstairs we go.
A couple of quick pickies and into the last training session. On the treadmills for a hill climb warm up and then into a boxing session. Both of them worked really hard and there wasn't much talk. Rich and myself with focus mitts up each end of the running track and jabs and uppercuts galore, throw in lots of burpees - Greg still needs a bit more practice on these heehee. Puffing panting, red faces and more sweat and it is finally over. Good work.
A quick change and we all load into Amandas car and stop to grab takeaway coffees for all and apple scrolls (just for the trainers of course). We start our drive heading towards the city and the destination is finally revealed "The Story Bridge Climb", I think Greg may be just a 'wittle bit scared of heights' even though he said he lied. Amanda is really nervous and her palms are sweating before we even start. The getting ready takes a while, breathalyzer test (we all passed phew) jump suits on (gorgeous), head sets, safety lanyards, sunnies and off we go.
Great views from the bridge, some interesting history and a few laughs watching the guys climbing and descending, photo ops at appropriate places. Couldn't say the climb itself is challenging, maybe if you are scared of heights! but the overall experience was great. Everyone enjoyed the day and then a yummy breakfast at Bulimba.
Back to the gym for weigh ins and we will all be meeting back at the gym later today for the final measurements and photos and a celebration drink - yep Foxy a drink an alcoholic drink woo hoo! Well done everyone and we will post the results later.
Cheers from Little Miss Scary.

How time flies!

Nearing the end - sad in a way I have enjoyed seeing the effort of all involved and also some great achievements from Greg and Annette. I am sure there are a few things they didn't think they would have done at the beginning of their journey - walk run to Manly for example, climbing Pollies hill (twice) and Sundays surprise (hey Greg was it heights you were scared of?) just asking would I do something like that?
The big thing will be to see if they can keep it up - I truly hope so. They have inspired many people and the enquiries for our next 8 week body4u challenge has been great already, so you two have shown quite a few people what is possible. Back again on Sunday.

The last week!

Just wanted to thank everyone who has followed the blogs - body4u clients, friends and family (of our lucky two), trainers and non-clients too. I have had many people stop me to talk about the progress of Annette and Greg and I appreciate your positive comments and support.
I am looking forward to the last Sunday adventure and I am hoping it will be something different for A & G. (It will be for us trainers too!)
The results of their weigh ins and measurements will be posted as soon as we have them.
Stay tuned!
Little Miss Scary.

A leisurely Sunday stroll

A shaky start with the roller door breaking at home, so a quick swap to Darrens car and off I go. "BEEP BEEP" goes my phone and a nice welcoming text from Greg - smart arse! "BEEP BEEP" gee he's quick with those texting fingers hopefully his legs will be just a quick heehee.
I arrive at body4u to find Annette, Greg and Amanda waiting for me.
Annette is still wondering where on earth we are going and soon realises its the hill over off Sleath Street, I know she has not wanted to miss out on this since we started the challenge! A couple of sprints up the hill and we continue on, finally revealing our destination of Manly. The joy on the faces of G and A was priceless. The smiles on mine and Amandas faces was just as good.
Into the sequence of BEEP on the watch and we walk for 2 minutes and BEEP BEEP and we run for 1 minute. Greg takes a little while to get the pace up during our little jogs (even though he reckons he was sprinting). We keep in touch with Annette and Amanda via phone and with a bit of diverting courses we meet up at Railway Parade, a quick hello then BEEP BEEP and we have to jog again. We're now a good couple of hours into our leisurely sunday stroll, Gregs calf is playing up a bit so a little stretch and a voltarin (I am such a thoughtful trainer) and we hardly miss a beat (or should I say BEEP) ha.
Greg must be getting a bit delirious because I get a BEEP BEEP on my mobile phone and Greg starts running, its ok mate its not the watch it's a message you can still walk, for another 30 seconds anyway.
Manly is in sight, suns getting a bit of bite to it and on we run. Finally we get to the park area, a toilet break is in order and I have a bit of a giggle as Greg has some trouble with a little wall we have to climb over, his legs are not co-operating! We keep going just a little bit more until I give him the ok to turn around and head back to meet the 2 A's on their way into Manly, some sideline cheering from Jeff, Bree and Georgia (Amandas hubbie, daughter and friend) and we finally meet the girls. Greg and Amanda decide to have a little race up the road - no competition there - and Annette and I finish it off. Annette is a bit emotional as she asks if I am really going to make them walk back to body4u. I wish I could have said yes but the look of desperation on poor exhausted Annettes face was too much. Relief washes over her as she realises its over. A quick photo and off to the coffee shop to eat and drink. Darren and the kids arrive to join us and between him and Jeff get us all back. Thanks guys! Thanks Amanda! Well done Annette and Greg!

Keep posted for the final weekend adventure next week, should be fun and a little bit different, a bit more mentally challenging possibly for a few people.

P.S. Ssshhh don't tell anyone it's just between you and me, but "oh my gosh the old Greggie boy looked by far the most shattered I have ever seen him!" Hope you have recovered mate and the legs, knees, calf etc are not too sore. Oh yeah and one more thing .............

Suck it up princess!!!