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Rekindling nature connections with EcoGipps, and how a Gippsland conservation project became a whole movement.



Partnership with EcoGipps


Renew & Nourish proudly partners with EcoGipps, sharing a vision to create respectful, restorative nature-led experiences that honour these beautiful environments while inspiring care, reciprocity and deepened relationship with the natural world. Together, we offer an expanding range of meaningful nature immersion experiences, including:


  • Wellbeing & Ancestral Weaving Day Retreats

  • Forest Bathing & Therapy Walks

  • Forest Bathing & Stargazing Evenings


These gathering are thoughtfully held within the protected landscapes stewarded by EcoGipps, offering guests a true immersive nature experiences and connections.


How a Gippsland conservation project became a whole movement.


On the banks of the beautiful Wirn wirndook Yeerung (Macalister River) just north of the timber town of Heyfield, in 1984 Jim and Heather Phillipson purchased a 92-acre property that had been cleared for grazing. The couple had grown up on farms in Gippsland and wanted to get back to the land. But this time to conserve it.


With children David and Kate, the couple began replanting trees, restoring the native grasslands and repairing riparian woodlands along the river. Their objective was to create a bio-link or corridor for plants and animals to move more freely between their property and the Avon Wilderness.


A few years into the restoration, a 320-acre property across the road came onto the market, presenting the Phillipsons with an opportunity to strengthen the wildlife corridor.



Eco-Tourism Collaborations in Gippsland


Together, we are excited to be expanding collaborations with local businesses and organisations in and around Heyfield to create meaningful regional eco-tourism experiences in partnership with Heyfield Adventure Hub and EcoGipps, Renew & Nourish are planning to offer special forest bathing and stargazing evenings complemented by local food and regional accommodation partners — inviting visitors to experience the beauty, stillness and hospitality of this unique Gippsland landscape.


EcoGipps recently began welcoming visitors to enjoy a day of immersion in nature with Sue Stranger, a Certified Forest Therapy Coach & Guide and founder of Renew & Nourish, who creates nourishing nature immersion experiences for guests to unwind, deeply relax, and nurture their human–nature connection.


Through guided forest bathing and therapy walks, wellbeing nature retreats, and a variety of ancestral craft experiences, Sue offers gentle, restorative spaces within nature where guests can slow down, breathe deeply, and return to nature’s rhythm — nurturing health and wellbeing in ways that feel grounded, meaningful and deeply human.


Forest Bathing — Shinrin Yoku


Forest bathing, known in Japan as Shinrin-yoku, emerged in the early 1980s as a preventative health practice encouraging people to mindfully immerse themselves in forest environments. At its heart, however, this way of being with nature is far older. Indigenous cultures around the world have long embodied deep relationship, reciprocity and stewardship with the living world as a natural way of life.


Forest bathing is a gentle, restorative practice of immersing ourselves in nature’s presence with mindful, sensory awareness. As a guide, Sue offers open invitations to return home to your body and enliven the senses — sight, sound, scent, touch and intuition — softly deepening your human–nature connection and relationships with calm and inner stillness.


Gather With Us Beneath the Trees


If you feel the calling to return home to your human-nature, let's share a conversation about how personalised coaching can help guide you along your path of remembering.


With deep respect & care

Sue

Certified Ikigai Coach | Certified Forest Therapy Coach & Guide

 


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