My Nirvana Experience

My friends at CPPE treated me to a floatation experience at Nirvana Spa for my birthday. It was such a kind and special thing I felt I had to share all my experiences. I chose to go on 16^th January ‘blue Monday’, supposedly the most depressing day of the year. But the evening provided me with so much of what makes me happy with life; the chance to be pedantic, a challenge to my understanding of the world, some great CPD.... oh and yes an evening of relaxation, rest and good food!

It started off in true ‘Angela style’ by my too literal reading of the car park signs. I drove through the entrance and could see that there was a West entrance and an East entrance and in the dark read that day visitors should use the East entrance. But I was not there for the day, it was dark and definitely the evening so I opted for the West entrance. This, it transpired, was for members only! The girl on the desk didn’t seem to understand my reasoning or accept my assertion that they should change their signage to members and non-members entrances. But since I’d parked my car by the West entrance she agreed to walk me through to the East entrance, rather than have me walk all round the outside of the complex. The significance of my strategic parking will become apparent as my experience unfolds.

So having got me to correct entrance I changed and went straight along to my floatation induction. During this we were regaled with some amazing facts and figures about the celestial pool. It contained an amazing number of tonnes of minerals from the Dead Sea; really? My disbelief was proven by revelations yet to come. We were told that these minerals would be absorbed into our bodies within the first 10 minutes and had amazing health properties. Oh yes, I thought sceptically, but in this case was proved wrong; more later. And, if we could manage to sleep whilst floating, then one hour of floatation sleep was equivalent to four hours of sleep. I struggled to suppress the urge to keep asking for the evidence for all these amazing facts but remembered I was here for relaxation and in a case I doubted the young woman telling us the facts would know!

We started with a brief practice in the ocean pool, where I was reprimanded for trying to float on my stomach since I was causing too much turbulence!  We were then allowed into the celestial pool where a gentle current floated us around in a semi-circle.  At times I felt another body brush past me but I went into total relaxation mode and ignored them. It was just as relaxing as promised and the 45mins passed all too quickly.

If anything I’d say one hour in the pool was equivalent to 15mins of real time, the opposite of what was promised. I don’t think I went to sleep, but who knows? I did feel truly relaxed though. After we came out we showered off and were given some amazing Nirvana products to use. More amazing claims for these products too. For instance the jojoba and vanilla salt scrub would heat up in our hands as we applied it. The amazing thing was it actually did and got really hot!  I just had to ask the science behind this and was told it was a reaction between ginger and water?!!  I’ve yet to find the evidence behind this.

So after the floatation I made use of all the other pools that Nirvana have. Well almost all, I asked if I could use the outdoor pool since it looked so inviting on a frosty cold night with little twinkling lights around the edge. But they said no! I did tell them I was used to cold water swimming but I think they just thought I was crazy; not sure why? So I headed next to the fitness pool, where I did quite a few lengths and then jumped in the cold water plunge pool; though it was not as cold as I’m used to. 

After that there was the surf pool, like one massive Jacuzzi with jets of water from all directions. There were jets for your front, jets for your back, jets to sit on and jets to lie on; I feared I may get an unexpected self-induced colonic irrigation at any time! Other experiences that I enjoyed were the aromatic steam room and the sauna, with the obligatory cold shower afterwards.

The pool I spent most time in was the Roman pool, a very serene natural water pool surrounded by loungers. I had the pool all to myself for the rest of the evening I can only guess everyone was at home feeling depressed on ‘blue Monday’. I swam, floated and lounged, with occasional visits to the restaurant where I had a lovely salad and all the drinks I wanted, all included in the cost of the experience; so thanks folks.

To round the day off I went to the Tepidarium where there were ceramic loungers heated to 35 degrees, with the tranquil sound of a water fountain and the gentle aroma from scented candles . Again I had it all to myself and I really did relax here to the point that I was woken up at 10.30pm and told they were closing!  My experience was ending, though not my pleasure. I dressed quickly, being the last to leave the changing room and was ushered out of the East Entrance. The evening was so cold and the ground covered with frost, yet I was so warm and relaxed. I was taken right back to some of the best experiences I have had in Iceland, leaving their geothermal pools. 

Those of you who remember the start of this story will recall I’d parked at the West Entrance so I had a longish walk around the outside of the complex which involved walking past the back entrance to the celestial floatation pool. As I walked round I saw ahead of me what looked like a pile of snow. Was I hallucinating? I went over and it was a pile of around forty white plastic sacks on pallets, but they were all covered with at least an inch of ‘snow’. I scraped this off to see what was in them and it was Magnesium Sulphate tetrahydrate, which is said was from India. So those were the ‘Dead sea salts’!

Once home I had to continue my CPD and read all about MgSO₄.4H₂0, which is seems is the most commonly used salt for floatation pools. Its hydrated form is a heptahydrate MgSO₄.7H₂0 (Epsom Salts), so what I saw was partly hygrosopic hence the thick hoar frost drawn in from the surrounding cold air. Though how this still happened with it being in a plastic sack I’m not sure. It seems quite an amazing chemical; if you believe all you read in Wikipedia![1] In seawater it absorbs sound energy and converts it into heat energy.

I then had to read about its medical properties and it seems it is absorbed into the skin[2] penetrating across the skin barrier with significant increase in blood levels of both magnesium and sulphate.  I found an amazinf site all about absorption of Epsom salts, produced by someone with a similar enquiring (nerdy?) mind to my own[3]. The ‘up your bum’ theory of absorption is especially interesting, but I think I should finish my blog here and leave you to follow up that line of enquiry yourself!

So finally thank you to all my friends for a wonderful experience. And of course you bought me two experiences so I can do it all again. Do you think my fellow floaters would like a lecture on the evidence next time? It seems a shame to waste my new found knowledge.

Postscript: My CPD continues. My current theory for the heating effect of the Jojoba salt scrub is due to a negative change in enthalpy! There is something called the heat of dilution which is an exothermic reaction. Most noticeable with sodium hydroxide but also occurs with sodium chloride.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_sulfate

[2] http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/articles/report_on_absorption_of_magnesium_sulfate.pdf

[3] http://saveyourself.ca/articles/reality-checks/epsom-salts.php

New Zealand trip July 2011

I promised I'd write a blog of my trip and here we are on the penultimate day and I've not added anything. This was partly because I've been busy but mainly because I didn't have free wifi until now, in my executive suite. So this is less of a blog and more of a reflection of the highs and lows of the trip.

Conference

That's what brought me here; the Life Long Learning in Pharmacy conference. It was well worth it for the networking. I met people who will be of help to me and also realised I can help others. I gave one presentation and ran a workshop. I felt both went well, though I was more nervous than usual. Partly because some of the international 'great and good' were listening and partly because I was suddenly aware of how the language around CPD is not universally the same so at times I wasn't sure how much I needed to explain. The most amazing thing was to discover that someone in NZ had independently come up with a very similar idea for a CPD framework to the one that I have been working on in Reading. Great minds etc etc.

Rotorua

The venue for the conference, which at this time of year seemed a bit of a sleepy place, though I'd imagine it would be different in the summer. Its on the side of a lake, surrounded by hills, which is actually an enormous caldera. It must've been some volcano. Evidence of geothermal activity is all around, not least the all pervading smell of sulphur, which after a week I hardly noticed.

Culture

I'd not realised how strong the Maori culture was in NZ. It was ever present through the conference, with a Maori welcome, a cultural evening and some presentations partly given in Maori. People who have links, no matter how far back, seem keen to declare them. It seems odd for blue eyed blondes to be telling you they are part Maori! I felt at times that there was some guilt about the past, and perhaps rightly so, by those with original European ancestry. I intend to read more about the history.

Water

This proved to be a theme of my trip in many ways. I bathed in so many different types and got rained on by yet more! In Rotorua I stayed at a thermal motel, which meant it had it's own geothermal pool of natural sulphurous water. It was about 40^o and slightly slimy with algae, but made you feel great as you sat in it. More luxurious was the Polynesian Spa, voted one of the top 10 spas in the world. I booked in after a long walk, and it was heavenly to lie in the different temperature pools, from 36^o to 42^o watching the sun set over the lake.

To the Maori water is sacred and they forbid waste water being pumped into the rivers. In Rotorua all the waste from the sewerage works is sprayed in the nearby forests. I came across this fact as I walked through the forest and found a map warning you where and when is was being sprayed. So rather than wondering was that a 'spit of rain', I was wondering was that a 'rain of shit'!

On my trips to two geothermal areas Wai-o-tapu and Waimangu I saw some amazing waters of all different colours and doing all different things; spouting geysers, forming sinter terraces, and lightly fizzing champagne pools. All amazing and though I'm loathe to say it, the geyser apart, all much better than in Iceland!

The water theme continues in my list of disappointments.

Mud

This proved to be the highlight of my trip. I found so many wonderful and amazing types of mud. I have taken videos of mud bubbling, mud glooping and mud just being mud and not doing much at all. Remind me to show them to you sometime! On my walk through the aforementioned forest I found the most amazing rainbow mud. The nearby mountain is called the Rainbow mountain for similar reasons. The colours are due to the different minerals associated with various volcanic eruptions. I'll add the details later.

Disappointments

There were three, two 'planned' one spontaneous. Firstly I was booked to visit White Island, an active volcanic island about 50km off the the north coast. It's so active you have to wear gas masks because of the fumes. But the boat which leaves out of Whakatane was unable to go due to high winds at sea. Instead I did a long walk through the forest which had it's own highlights!

My next disappointment came after I had travelled to the National Park Tongariro. Thankfully I arrived in fine weather and got to see the wonderful snow capped mountains of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu bathed in sunshine. But then the rain set in, in stair rods and lasted for 2 days. As a result my guided walk to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was cancelled. I stayed in a lodge that was mostly populated by skiers and snowboarders, and they were delighted as for every stair rod of rain is meant more and more snow on the mountains.

My final disappointment was not planned. While here there was a 6.5 magnitude earthquake centred 150km deep beneath Taupo http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5237027/Quake-felt-across-central-New-Zealand and I felt nothing! I reckon I would have been out walking at the time so perhaps that was why as there was nothing much to rattle or shake, but it seems that the land around where I was may have absorbed the shock more than the areas that did feel it in the east.

I'm sure there are more highs and lows so will add as I recall them.

Postscript

Would I recommend doing the C2C? 

• Yes, if you want to spend two weeks of your life doing nothing else but walking, thinking, eating and sleeping.

How many days does it take? 

• We took 15 days and had plenty of time to do some sightseeing on the way. Most people seem to do it in 11 days but look exhausted at the end. If the weather had been bad I guess they'd have looked worse!

Day 15 Glaisdale to Robin Hoods Bay

Weather: Sunny; Steps: 50,710 Distance: 23 miles; Time: 9h; Calories out: 1546; Blisters: nil

Our final day, and as I write this I can't believe it's all over. It was our longest day but a wonderful walk. I found several properties in Glaisdale that I would like to have bought. We walked through more lovely villages and on to the moors for the final time.

We timed our arrival at Grosmont perfectly, just in time to see the steam train, the Sir Nigel Gresley, leave the station along the North York Moors Railway. Spent some time there taking photos and buying train souvenirs for Oliver.

My thoughts today were mostly on geology. I need to come up with a project for my next module and it occurred to me I could research a geological guide to the C2C. I couldn't find one when I planned the walk so there seems to be a gap in the market. Today we passed through Littlebeck which had many alum mines, which was used in the dyeing industry.

The walk through Littlebeck woods up to the waterfall, Falling Foss, was busy, as might be expected for a bank holiday Sunday, but delightful. But one downside of two weeks without rain is that the waterfalls are just a trickle.

We had some great views over Whitby before reaching the coastline to walk down to Robin Hood's Bay. Our friends, Anne and John, who saw us off at St Bees were there to see us complete our walk, along with their friends Ron and Stacy. It was so kind of them and they'd done us a barrier and flag which they gave to us as we reached the sea, down in the bay. It made me feel really special. Ian threw in the pebble which I'd carried all the way from St Bees.

After a quick shower at our B&B we joined them all for a great celebratory meal at the Victoria Hotel; the perfect end to a perfect day, at the end of a perfect two weeks.

Day 14 Great Broughton to Glaisdale

Weather:Sunny/windy; Steps: 39,441 Distance: 20 miles; Time: 8h 30m; Calories out: 1209; Blisters: nil

Solid blue skies today, though very windy so although still in shorts needed my anorak for most of the day. Today was the longest walk so far, but also the flattest. After a short steep climb up we were back on the moors all day, for a long time following an old railway track. Then in the middle of no there was the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge and had a cooked lunch. Then back to more moors walking. It got a bit boring after a while. But there were two highlights. The first was 'Fat Betty', a stone waymark where tradition says you must leave a food offering in exchange for taking something left by a previous visitor. I left a Werthers orginal and took a rather well travelled tangerine. The second highlight was coming across an adder sunning itself by the path. Thankfully the adder slithered away when he saw me, though I did manage to get a couple of photos.

We're staying on a farm, run by an elderly lady and everything here dates back to the thirties or forties! I don't think I'll ask if she has wifi! So this penultimate C2C blog will be a day late.

Day 13 Osmotherley to Great Broughton

Weather: Cloudy/windy//sunny; Steps: 34,982 Distance: 14 miles; Time: 8h 30m; Calories out: 1051; Blisters: nil

Would you believe it, I plan a walk of 200 miles to avoid the royal wedding and on the day I'm staying in the only pub in England named the Queen Catherine. The BBC, ITV, Sky news etc were apparently all due but thankfully we were gone.

I enjoyed today's walk most of all we've done so far, probably because I love vast open spaces, and I am also feeling fitter than when we set off. We followed the Cleveland Way and the Lyke Wake walk all day across the heather covered north Yorkshire moor with great views to the north-east. Although at one point we were looking down on the clouds as they blew off the north sea. The moors were full of grouse, which seem rather stupid birds and fly quite slowly, which is probably why idiots can shoot them so easily.

Despite my views of the monarchy we did have our own 'street party'. I carried up a bottle of red wine to celebrate at midday at the highest point of the walk. I had a bit of difficulty getting the table cloth to stay on the trig point in the gales though, but the moment was captured on film.

We walked up to the Wainstones, huge chunks of sandstone. One bears the inscription 'RO 1712 WOOING JD'. It seems that this gave them their original name of the Swainstones, but the S has been dropped over time.

I spent a lot of today thinking about destiny. Probably because I'm reading Never let me go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's about cloned children who are bred for spare parts. They accept their destiny in a very matter of fact way that makes it almost plausible. Along the walk I've been very aware of all the animals that we keep for our own purposes. The lambs destined for mint sauce, the cows, who've had their calves taken from the them, so that we can have milk, and the grouse, purely bread for the 'fun' of killing. A rather sombre thought for what was an excellent day! But it made me think I'd like to try being vegan.

Oh yes, one more sombre thought, after miles of up and down hills I came across a bench late in the afternoon and sat down for a brief rest before the final few miles. I turned to read the dedication on it and it was in memory of 'Robbie' who died not far from the spot when doing the same walk!!

Day 12 Danby Wiske to Osmotherley

Weather: Cloudy/sunny; Steps: 26,079 Distance: 11 miles; Time: 4h 30m; Calories out: 802; Blisters: nil

I shouldn't have mentioned that we'd had no problems with evening meals in my blog yesterday. We got to the White Swan last night to be told the chef was not there but that the owner could offer us meat pie or chicken in a cheese sauce. Not too good if you're vegetarian. So I settled for just a plate of vegetables.

Another easy day along fields and lanes and then a climb up the Cleveland Hills. The challenge of the day was crossing the A19.

We left the C2C path and walked south along the Cleveland Way down to Osmotherley, a nice village of stone cottages, where John Wesley is said to have preached from the barter table by the market cross.

Royal Wedding fever seems to be hotting up; we had special union jack flag serviettes at breakfast and on arrival at the Queen Catherine Hotel, where we are staying,  we were faced with a life-size cardboard replica of Will and Kate. And then we were walking past the primary school in Osmotherley, when the children all came out clutching their souvenir mugs. A boy after my own heart came out saying to his mum "But I don't even drink tea or coffee and you can't even put it in the dishwasher"!