Come as your are. Leave a little different.

In a primal sense we lead a sheltered existence. Necessity removes many of us at arm’s length from the natural systems we are connected to. Milk comes from supermarkets and green buckets placed on suburban streets remove daily waste from sight and mind.

In a busy week we are more likely to experience nature in widescreen LCD or via a mobile device than in person. And in our spare time……..now who has that? As a species, we are more connected than ever to media, to each other, to deadlines and opportunities and perhaps more removed than ever from the beauty that surrounds and sustains our great cities.

There are places we visit that change us, transform us, fill us with new purpose and energy.

For me growing up in Melbourne it was always the Bellarine Peninsula, Victorian Alps and Byron Bay. There are also those other places we revere but for some reason never visit. What are yours?

I always felt drawn to the legendary “down south” and images of the seminal surf film “Morning of the Earth” a place of raw natural beauty, ugg boots, long hair and simple living; the mighty South West Coast on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.

Now it is a place I am lucky enough to call home. My hair is shorter, my surfing skills have atrophied to the point of embarrassment but I am blessed to have friends to share the journey, villages to raise the children and wild nature to play in every day.

So if you have been neglecting your wild side and need to hit that refresh button you best plan a date with nature to remember. But be warned…you will come as you are, but leave a little different, or stay and be changed forever!