SEPTEMBER 3-7
HUNTER REGION, NSW
Quiet
The
A 5-DAY SILENT RETREAT
12 GUESTS ONLY
CARAWIRRY FOREST ESCAPE
BEFORE WE BEGIN
You're not tired.
You're overstimulated.
There's a kind of exhausted that sleep doesn't fix. It's not your body that's depleted — it's your capacity to hear yourself over the noise.
You're managing, performing, responding, scrolling. Full of input. Starved of space. You check your phone before your feet hit the floor. You can't remember the last time you sat in actual silence — and meant to.
This is what happens when we stop integrating and just start coping.
"The discomfort of silence? That's exactly where this begins."
Silence isn't the
absence of sound.
It's the presence of you.
When you remove the noise — the notifications, the conversations, the constant pressure to be doing something — something shifts. Not dramatically. Not a lightning bolt moment.
Just quietly, clearly: you start to hear what's actually there.
How your mind moves. Where your energy is leaking. What you've been avoiding. What you actually want. What has been waiting for months, maybe years.
Science calls it the default mode network — the brain's ability to process, integrate, and make meaning when external input stops. Forest environments lower cortisol. Extended stillness regulates the nervous system in ways that a weekend away simply can't.
"This isn't woo. This is your biology finally getting what it needs."
LED BY EM CRUICKSHANKYou will be
held completely.
Em has been guiding people into stillness for over a decade. She doesn't teach silence as an idea — she holds it as a practice, a container, a living thing.
Her approach is direct, warm, and without fluff. She will challenge you, she will settle you, and she will never ask you to perform your growth for the group.
You come. You arrive. You let the forest and the practice do the rest.
THE DAILY RHYTHMA structured container.
Not a schedule to perform.
Each day has a gentle shape — enough structure to hold you, enough space to surprise you. No perfection expected. No right way to do this.Meditation
Guided and unguided sits to settle the mind. No experience required — only willingness.
3 x daily
Qi Gong
Ancient movement practice that clears stagnant energy and reconnects you to your body. Gentle, accessible, profoundly felt.
Daily Morning Practice
Yin Yoga
Long-held, supported poses that release the nervous system simultaneously. The practice that lets you surrender.
Daily Evening Practice
Dharma Talks
Em speaks directly into the experience you're having. Real wisdom for real humans navigating real lives.
Daily Group Dharma + one 30 min private session for each participant
Forest Bathing
Guided immersion in 200 acres of bushland — letting nature regulate what words can't reach.
Deep Rest
Time to journal, soak in the wood-fired tub, walk the creek, or do absolutely nothing. This counts as practice.
THE DIGITAL DETOX
Your phone stays
in the drawer.
Full digital silence for 5 days. No social media. No emails. No one needing anything from you. This is the part people are most afraid of — and it's the part that changes everything.
What leaves with your phone
The performance. The comparison. The habitual reach for distraction the moment you're uncomfortable. The noise masking what's underneath.
The forest as medicine
Phytoncides from eucalyptus trees reduce cortisol and boost immune function. Creek sounds regulate the nervous system. The environment does its own work.
What comes back
Your actual thoughts. Your appetite. The ability to sit with what's there. Clarity you've been looking for in podcasts, books, conversations. It was never there.
200 acres of untouched land
Carawirry Forest Escape is one of the most extraordinary private properties in NSW. Creek walks. Old-growth gums. Wallabies at dawn. The space your body has been waiting for.
THE VENUECarawirry
Forest Escape.
Privately booked for our group of 12.
200 acres of Hunter Region rainforest and bushland.
This is not a hotel — it's a private estate. Warm timber, open fires, pools set into the forest.
All meals, snacks and beverages included. Simple, nourishing food to support the work.
You don't organise anything. You just arrive.
ACCOMMODATION & INVESTMENTChoose your space.
All rooms are single occupancy unless booking as a couple or twin. Every option includes the full 5-day retreat — all sessions, meals, and Em's guidance. Pricing reflects your room choice only.
Please note — all accommodation at Carawirry features shared bathrooms within each house*MOST SECLUDED · PREMIUM ONLY ONE AVAILABLE
The Nook
1 King bedroom · Private house · Private bathroom*
A fully self-contained private house set within the forest. The highest level of seclusion on the property — your own space, entirely yours for 5 days. Warm timber interiors, open fire, private deck, and complete separation from the rest of the group during personal time. Full use of the Cottage outdoor bath, 4m plungepool, fireplace and deck.
$2,200 Single ·
Couple $3,600
INCLUDES
1 King bedroom
Private house — fully self-contained
Open fire & private deck
Private bathroom
All meals & retreat inclusions
LARGEST OPTION · WITH POOL
Tathra House
5 King bedrooms · Shared house · Shared bathroom
MOST SECLUDED · PREMIUM ONLY ONE AVAILABLE
The Nook
1 King bedroom · Private house · Private bathroom*
A striking architectural house set into the forest edge, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a private pool looking out into the trees. The largest option on the property with 5 King bedrooms — social during the unsilenced moments, private when you need it. The forest pool is something else entirely.
$1,800 Single pr.
Twin Share $1,550 pp
INCLUDES5 King bedrooms
Shared house & living spaces
Private forest pool
Shared bathroom
All meals & retreat inclusions
MOST UNIQUE · DOUBLE BATHS
The Tree House
2 Queen bedrooms · Elevated canopy · Shared bathroom
$1,800 Single pr.
An elevated, extraordinary space set high in the canopy with its own deck, dining area, and the most talked-about feature on the property: two freestanding baths looking directly out into the forest. 2 Queen bedrooms, rustic timber character, and a sense of being held by the trees.
INCLUDES2 Queen bedrooms
Elevated canopy position
2 freestanding forest baths
Private deck & dining
Shared bathroom
All meals & retreat inclusions
SPACIOUS & ELEVATED · WITH POOL
The Cottage
2 King bedrooms · Shared house · Shared bathroom
$1,90 Single pr
Couple $3,300 pr
Soaring timber ceilings, generous King bedrooms, and a forest deck that wraps around the trees. The Cottage has pool access and a beautiful elevated position on the property. 2 King bedrooms with natural light and that warm, grounded feeling you only get when surrounded by old-growth bush.
INCLUDES
2 King bedrooms
Soaring timber ceilings
Pool access
Forest deck
Shared bathroom
All meals & retreat inclusions
MOST RESTFUL · WOOD-FIRED SPA
Gum Leaf Cabin
2 Queen bedrooms · Private cabin · Shared bathroom
Simple, private, and quietly extraordinary. Nestled into the trees with its own forest deck, 2 Queen bedrooms that wake up to birdsong, and the most restful feature of any stay: a private wood-fired spa in the trees. The entry point — and nothing is missing.
$1,650 Single pr.
INCLUDES
2 Queen bedrooms
Private cabin in the trees
Wood-fired spa (private)
Forest deck
Shared bathroom
All meals & retreat inclusions
Securing your place
$500 non-refundable deposit to hold your room.
The remaining balance splits into 3 equal monthly payments — making this accessible without compromising the quality of the experience.
12 guests only. Once it's full, it's full. No waitlists — only the next retreat.
WHO THIS IS FORYou don't need to have
done this before.
You just need to recognise something true in what you've read so far.
You feel full, but not clear. Busy, but not purposeful. Moving fast but uncertain where.
You're constantly "on" — and when you try to switch off, you can't. The mind doesn't stop just because the diary does.
You've tried the things. The apps, the journalling, the Sunday reset. Nothing has quite landed the way you hoped.
You're ready to stop performing wellness and actually experience it. Even if that's uncomfortable. Especially if it is.
You don't want to be told to "trust the process" by someone who hasn't done the work themselves.
Silence is not
empty.
It's where things stop pretending to be okay — and actually become okay.
It's where you stop performing rest and start experiencing it.
It's where the version of you that's been waiting underneath all the noise finally gets a chance to speak.
You already know if this is for you.
You've known since the second paragraph.
SEPTEMBER 3–7, 2026 · HUNTER REGION, NSW
Reserve your place
in The Quiet.
12 GUESTS ONLY · $500 DEPOSIT SECURES YOUR ROOM
Rooms fill in order of deposit received. No waitlist.