Kingfisher …

Just got back from a weekend away at the Kingfisher resort/spa.

I’ve been trying to get Gerry to do a little “get away” but he’s too busy with work so when my friend Jayde asked me to go I said HELLS YES!!

Jayde and I got the It’s All About You package which included 2 nights accommodation, $100 credit (each) at the restaurant, $100 spa credit, a visit to the Pacific Mist Hydropath and a Yoga class. Woot!!

The rooms are ok. From the website I was expecting them to be a bit more deluxe but they weren’t terrible. I think “rustic” is a good description. Ha ha.

The bathroom was tiny and the whole room needed better lighting but on the plus side the room had a micro-kitchen so you can bring your own food. But with $100 credit EACH in the restaurant we ate our faces off and didn’t touch the kitchen.

The restaurant was very accommodating. We called ahead and told them we were vegan/soy-free/gluten-free and they said “no problem”. Our first breakfast we had a potato hash with seasonal greens plus a GF english muffin and avocado.

I like a restaurant that is generous with avocado.  🙂

The evening we arrived – Jayde and I went for our Pacific Mist Hydropath and it was other worldly. They take you to the basement of the spa that has been turned into a cave. Yes. I said a cave.

In the cave there are 8 different water features. An attendant brings you from each feature to the next but you feel like you’re alone. The first cave there was a Swiss Shower and you push a button and there are water jets from head to toe. You stand there until the jets turn off … it’s awesome.

Then the attendant takes you to a Mineral Massage pool where she brings you cool water and ice cold towels. We sat in the bubbly water and relaxed. It was awesome.

Then our attendant showed us to the Waterfall Massage. This was my one of my favourite features. There are 4 mini caves that you take turns sitting in. One has a waterfall that falls directly above your head. It looked like a tube of water. You can adjust your body so the stream touches different parts of your head/neck/shoulders. The 2nd cave waterfall – the water comes from everywhere. It actually knocked me off my seat. ha ha. The other two were just as amazing as the first two. The whole thing was awesome.

Then you are escorted into a steam cave and given fresh glasses of water and cool towels.

After that was the Glacial Waterfall. You stand under a rock and push the button and FREEZING COLD WATER falls on you for 10 seconds. I think I lasted 2. It was intense.

This is NOT me and Jayde. 🙂

Then you are escorted to the River Walk where you walk through warm and then cool water while jets massage your legs. You walk through that one twice.

Then we were escorted to the Sea Mineral Soak while a light rain mists over you. By the time we got to the Mineral Soak we were wet noodles but there was still one last cave.

The last feature was a bath that was carved into the rock and it looked like an egg pod. We were given seaweed/salt scrub so you could scrub your whole body and then lay down and relax in the hot water. It was like being in the womb. It was awesome.

After that you take a warm shower and head up to the relaxation lounge where we lay and drank tea and relaxed some more.

Jayde and I are both water-people. Water always makes me feel better … whenever I’m stressed I hop in the bath. It’s my happy place so I walked out of the spa with a grin on my face from ear to ear. It’s exactly what I needed… It was SPAwesome.  🙂

We lay around and watched bad TV on the ancient television in our room. I forgot that TV’s used to be square. In fact I think this TV was so old that it was deeper than it was wider.

I woke up the next morning confused about where I was and then I realized I had a full day ahead of me of spa treatments!! Yessss…..

Jayde and I hit the hot tub/pool and hung out until it was time for my facial. I explained to the girl doing my face that I had just finished cancer treatment and that she had to be careful of my port.

I made her touch it. Ha ha. My port is under my skin and it’s not any trouble but I wanted to make sure she didn’t push on it.  🙂

She was great and she scrubbed and polished my face until it was shiny and clean.

I went back to the room and had a little nap and then we went to our “restorative yoga” appointment. It was a really nice gentle class and it stretched out everything. I’ve never done “restorative yoga” before and now I’m going to look for a class in town. I think it’s what my old bag of bones needs right now.

After yoga I went back to the room to get ready for dinner while Jayde had her massage appointment. We met at 8pm at the restaurant for our dinner and the kitchen made us a delish coconut curry dish with jasimine rice and lentils. It was a very simple dish but not bland. It perfectly spiced and it was a perfect way to end the day.

Jayde and I stumbled back to our room and watched I Love You Man on the ancient TV and laughed so hard I almost fell out of bed. #slappindabass

I was telling Jayde how much I enjoyed the Hydropath and that I had been daydreaming about it all day and suggested we should do it the next morning before we left for home. She completely agreed and we booked our appointment. Weee! How wickedly indulgent.

The next morning we had a simple breakfast (fruit/gf toast) and then went to our SECOND hydropath appointment. Oh man… it was even better the 2nd time around. Seriously. I was giddy during the whole thing. 🙂

Oh yeah!! I also got to meet Monica. She works at the resort and is a fan of my cookbooks. She was so sweet and shy … I practically had to pull her out of the office to come say hi to me. HI MONICA!!

It was a magical weekend … and it was perfect timing because I had my big meeting with my oncologist on Monday.

It was also great to spend some one-on-one time with my friend Jayde. We don’t get to see each other as much as we would like. Her 2 year old takes up a lot of her time. My cancer treatments take up a lot of time. You know how it is …

It was a great re-bonding trip and I am so thankful/grateful that she invited me.

All I can think about is those caves. Do you think I could start a Kickstarter so I can buy a house and build my own water cave in the basement. Would you donate??  🙂