Last month I went on
my first ever "work" trip to The Gold Coast, for the very first
Wellness Summit put on by The Wellness Couch (the network my podcast is
on). Ryan, Brett, and I went up on
Thursday afternoon and had quite the time actually getting there! First our flight left Adelaide late, then it
had to circle for an extra half hour before landing in Sydney due to weather
trouble. Since our connection was only
an hour, we were pretty sure that we were going to miss our second flight. On airplanes now you're allowed to use your
cell phone before and after landing, so as soon as we landed I quickly checked
our second flight status and gate number just in case it hadn't actually left
yet. Lucky for us they hadn't left yet
and we just made it in time to catch it!
Ryan and I didn't have any luggage, but Brett had all of the promo stuff
for the Summit in checked baggage, so of course that didn't make the
flight. The airline couriered it to the
hotel, though, so overall it was an exciting but successful flight!
That night Ryan
decided he wanted to take Brett out for a really nice dinner to thank him for
everything he's done for my career and our health so far. We found an awesome steak restaurant called
Moo Moo just around the corner from our hotel, and settled in for an awesome
meal. Of course at every steak
restaurant they try and sell you the "best" steaks (600 day grain fed
Waygu beef, or something) but the nice thing about Paleo is that the healthier,
grass-fed steaks are always the cheapest!
It was neat how they did the menu actually; everyone picked their meat,
then you could pick a bunch of sides to share as a table. All of the food was delicious, and Ryan made
friends with the waiter who kept filling up his wine extra big every time. It was the perfect end to a stressful day.
The hotel we were
staying at was the same one we stayed at the first time we were in the Gold
Coast - the Meriton Serviced Apartments.
We're not convinced we didn't actually get the same room as the last
time too. We like that place because
it's not expensive, has an awesome pool/hot tub, ocean view, and a fully
functioning kitchen and spa tub. Not to
mention it is a 5 minute walk to the beach, conference centre, and tons of
restaurants. Friday morning we went to
the grocery store, then made a massive breakfast in our room for the whole
group (Ryan and I, Luke and Janah, and Brett).
It was very fitting for the hosts of That Paleo Show to be cooking an
elaborate Paleo breakfast!
Friday was pretty
low-key. After breakfast we all just did
our own thing, which meant that Ryan and I played cribbage, went in the hot
tub, and just relaxed. We were waiting
for a delivery of whistles, so when they arrived Ryan, Brett, and I assembled
200 whistles/tags for the gift bag promos at the Summit.
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| Photo from https://www.facebook.com/TheBusinessOfWellnessCoaching |
That night all of
the speakers and helpers for the Summit were supposed to have dinner at Cyndi
O'Meara's house (one of the speakers at the Summit) but we ended up having
dinner and the planning meeting at the Jupitor Casino instead. Man, that's a flashy place! There was an escalator leading up to what
looked like paradise, but I completely forgot to check it out at the end of the
night. I guess I'll never know… Anyway, it was a really fun dinner and I got
to meet a few of the others in the group, including Laurence Tham (Wellness
Guys host, fellow Canadian, and U Waterloo grad). I had other pictures that were more clear,
but this one most authentically shows how excited I was!
And then all of a
sudden it was Saturday - the day of the Summit!
We arrived bright and early to help with everything that needed to be
done, including assembling the promo bags and setting up our booth. I was officially the "Assistant
Executive Producer" and Ryan was originally "Mic Runner" but
turned into "Usher" and
"Testimonial Interviewer".
But in this picture before the Summit started he looks like he's running
the show!
The Summit was
awesome and a huge success. I am so glad
I was able to go, meet so many great people in the wellness world, and I guess
kind of get inspiration as to where I can be in a few years. I got to meet the girls from the show Up for
a Chat (Kim Morrison, Carren Smith, and Cyndi O'Meara), of course The Wellness
Guys, and a few other speakers like Dr. Ron Ehrlich and Dr. Peter Dingle. The speakers were wonderful, and the
participants were amazing. It was so
cool to meet so many people all at once who are as passionate about wellness as
I am. Also, at one point I was washing
my hands in the bathroom and a woman said to me "Oh, are you one of the
Paleo girls?" How cool is that?!?! I mean, fame won't go to my head at all… To finish off the day there was a dinner for
all of the VIP guests, so that was a great way to get to know some of the
participants a little bit better and hear their amazing stories.
Switching gears now,
the rest of the group went home on Sunday morning, but Ryan and I decided to
spend the day in Byron Bay. The first
time we went to the Gold Coast we spent a lot of time in the mountains. We had planned on going to Byron Bay, and we
could see it from the top of a mountain, but Ryan was really sick that day and
we just didn't make it in the end. Since
then, whenever someone asks us where in Australia we've been, they always say
"have you been to Byron Bay? It's
the best!" Well, needless to say
that was driving me crazy, so we booked a day trip to go sea kayaking and
snorkelling at a marine reserve in Byron Bay on Sunday. As it happens, there had been massive storms,
a cyclone, and flooding for the 2 weeks leading up to our trip (with the worst
beach erosion in history and life guard chairs had washed into the ocean) so it
poured rain the entire weekend and our kayak trip was cancelled. But storm or not, I HAD to get to Byron Bay! So Sunday morning we picked up our rental
car, braved the rain and drove the 1 hour trip to Byron Bay.
I have to say, it
was not worth the hype. It's just a
hippy town, so basically it's the same as Trent but just with more surfboards
and tans. I'm sure it's more fun on a
sunny day, but despite the weather there were tons of people on the beach.
We preferred the
food-related attractions though, so we waited for the restaurants to open for
lunch, ate, then pretty much went back to our hotel to relax and enjoy our last
day away.
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| mango smoothie and coconut water while we're waiting for lunch at The Balcony Bar |
Well, that was the
first of many "work" trips! In
a few days we're headed to Melbourne to do the Great Ocean Walk, then after
that, more conferences! Life's pretty darn
good.
