Sauna
We'd get impatient and sit in there like frogs in a pot as it heated up. Gently stoking the fire while eating pizza and drinking beer. Waiting, waiting.
In the basement of my childhood home was a beautiful spruce and cedar sauna that I have very strong memories of. The smell of the timbers, and the intense steamy heat sits with me deeply.
While they're surprisingly common and easy to find, finding a good sauna in Australia is difficult. A big part of the sauna experience is the people you sauna with, the conversations you have, the silences you share, and the inevitable competitions of who will stay the longest. So while, they're physically abundant, finding one that has good sauna culture has proven difficult.
And then all the clothes. Bathers. Towels. Shorts. T-shirts. I don't get it. And I really don't understand this marketing photo from a local transportable sauna. (The sauna looks great, though!)
One morning the neighbour's driveway had a horse-float in it. Which was strange. He really wasn't the horse-type. I didn't know him very well at this time - I knew he was Canadian, but hadn't yet found out that he was a Canadian with Finnish heritage. Had I known that I would probably have jumped to conclusions.
Over the next months I saw this horse-float get slowly transformed into a gorgeous portable wood-fired sauna. The rusted metal shell needed to be repaired. Windows fitted. A new floor - fire hardened timber. Lining the interior with vapour barrier, insulation, and timber. Fitting the stove and flue. Building the benches.
I was very lucky to be able to borrow the sauna whenever fancy took us. We'd hitch the sauna to the car, pick up pizza and drinks on the way to a beach with car-access, and park up a bit before the sun started to set.
It doesn't take long to get the stove lit, and a surprisingly short time to get the sauna up to temperature. Even so, aiming for around 90°C, we'd get impatient and sit in there like frogs in a pot as it heated up. Gently stoking the fire while eating pizza and drinking beer. Waiting, waiting.
We managed to time it most times so that we were ready for the first plunge in the ocean roughly at the same time as sunset. Covered only by the near darkness, and silhouetted against the sunset's afterglow, we make the unclad dash across the sand to the cold water. Relief from the searing heat in the sauna comes quickly, and by the time we're back out of the water and across the sand, the heat of the sauna is very welcome.
Repeat until everyone agrees that it's enough. Always finish with a cold plunge. Never with the heat. Then it's time to pack up, hitch, and drive home.
Deep and restful sleep is nearly guaranteed after an evening in the horse sauna.
The experience of a portable sauna with only close friends is always going to be better than a public sauna. The location. The conversation. The silence. The comfort. The connection.
And as many or few clothes as you want.
