MelbourneStaycation.com

Is this the year to do something for yourself?  The CAE Summer Course Guide is out!  It contains courses on everything from cooking for healthy bones to de-cluttering your life.  Take a leaf out of my friend Trixie’s book – she’s decided it’s her time, now or never – and is doing a course to [...]

One of life’s little pleasures is relaxing in a hot tub when it’s cold outside.  The Japanese Bath House in Collingwood is a great place to do this.  Like all traditional Japanese bath houses, there are separate rooms for men and women.  The baths are not to get clean – you wash yourself before entering [...]

Some people meditate, some do yoga… and some practice the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu).  It is a practice developed in Zen temples during the time of the samurai.  It is about achieving a peaceful state of mind rather than simply brewing some tea!  Busy hands, calm mind. At the Japan Festival in Box Hill recently, [...]

Staycations are an opportunity to try something new.  If it is something new AND healthy, even better!  The Melbourne City Baths are a hub of healthy activity.  The upstairs gym is well set up, with plenty of equipment.  There is a 30 metre swimming pool with four lap lanes.  I enjoy doing backstroke in the [...]

If you really want to pamper yourself, and don’t mind spending up to do so, indulge in the Retreat on Spring experience.  I have occasionally spoilt myself by having a relaxation massage here.  Fabulous therapists, a very calm atmosphere and aromatic Aveda products.  Even the location is relaxing – the room upstairs where you sit [...]

Tucked away in Flinders Lane, with the buzz of students, and great food nearby, the CAE is the place to learn about everything from ‘singing blues’ to ‘shoe making’ .  It offers a range of courses on wellbeing from positive psychology to hypnosis.  I attended a resilience course facilitated by Katie de Araujo.  Over a [...]