This Community, garden and landcare sojourn is our second sojourner session of this year. This time will be a chance to do some or all of the following:

• be at Silver Wattle for a personal Sojourn,

• spend time working in the garden and on the land,

• rest, reflect and worship,

• connect with other sojourners,

• enjoy delicious meals prepared by Sam Hawker.

This is also a time when Silver Wattle committee members might like to come and work on their Silver Wattle projects here.

Cost:

• $120 per night, for a single room and 3 meals.

• $100 per night for a shared room and 3 meals.

• If you are interested in volunteering instead of paying, please contact admin.office@silverwattle.org.au.

You are welcome to come for some or all of this sojourner session. Please email admin.office@silverwattle.org.au, to register your interest in attending.

Led by Jen Newton, Barbara Huntington and Brenda Roy

Register here.

“I think Art is a total thing…a total person giving a contribution. It is an essence, a soul…
In my inner soul, art and life are inseparable.” - Eva Hesse

This annual retreat is for anyone who would like to be creative. The intention is to create a space that is supportive and nurturing to all, with time to focus on Spirit and Nature, to reflect on your creative practice and to rest in the Spirit knowing you are enough. We will immerse ourselves in the Country and the Spirit to be inspired to create. Some collaboration and sharing may occur as guided by the Divine.

Limit 12 participants.

Course fees: $720 for a single room, $550 for a shared room, $400 for camping.

Register here.

Jen Newton lives in Mount Stuart on Nipuluna country, the land of the Muwinina people. She is a convinced Quaker and believes that her creativeness is part of her spiritual practice. Inspired by the natural environment, she explores textiles, mixed media, wearable art, photography, basketry, natural dyeing and recycled materials for sculptural pieces.

Barbara Huntington is a textile artist living at Fishermans Reach NSW on the banks of Macleay River on Dunghutti land. She is inspired by her environment, using natural dyes, slow embroidery and weaving to reflect her surroundings. She is a Quaker, inspired by poetry, her relationship to the environment and the Buddhist understanding that we are all connected.

Brenda Roy is a Quaker, gratefully living in Perth, on Whadjuk, Noongar, land. She is a spinner, weaver and natural dyer who finds delight in the colours and textures of the world around her. She follows an Earth Path spirituality, seeing the Spirit in all beings and believes in the power of making clothing and everyday objects which carry sacred intent.

Led by Helen Gould and Rowe Morrow

We each have an internal Guide to lead us, and each of us have been given spiritual and practical ways to follow our Guide.

In this course will encourage you in well-known and loved spiritual practices, and we hope to introduce some new to you as well, as we practice deep listening to the Self, the Other and the Landscape. The course explores the gifts and blessings of the Earth and a practical understanding of how listening to and working with the Earth can empower us to live effectively and joyfully.

There will be a balance between guided class work, rest, and time spent in the landscape around Silver Wattle Quaker Centre, Weerewaa (Lake George).

Coure fees: $720 for a single room, $550 for a shared room, $400 for camping.

Register here.

Helen Gould has led courses at Silver Wattle, and Experiment with Light workshops, developed by Rex Ambler based on George Fox’s practices. The workshops draw on the body’s wisdom of the Light from whatever source it comes. The listening practices have helped her become more resilient and more open to guidance. Helen has a “leading” about the life of forests and has become politically active on these issues.

Rowe Morrow is an adult educator in permaculture. In her interactive workshops, she listens for people’s fears and joys and works with these for solutions, with plenty of teaching and learning outdoors.

This Community, garden and landcare sojourn is our second sojourner session of this year. This time will be a chance to do some or all of the following:

• be at Silver Wattle for a personal Sojourn,

• spend time working in the garden and on the land,

• rest, reflect and worship,

• connect with other sojourners,

• enjoy delicious meals prepared by Sam Hawker.

This is also a time when Silver Wattle committee members might like to come and work on their Silver Wattle projects here.

Cost:

• $120 per night, for a single room and 3 meals.

• $100 per night for a shared room and 3 meals.

• If you are interested in volunteering instead of paying, please contact admin.office@silverwattle.org.au.

You are welcome to come for some or all of this sojourner session. Please email admin.office@silverwattle.org.au, to register your interest in attending.

led by Therese Douglas and Sheila Keane

The course comprises 8 weekly Zoom sessions, Thursday evenings 6:30-8:00pm (AEST) from 11th September to 30th October 2025.

Weekly Zoom sessions are supplemented with readings and guest presentations. Topics include: Exploring the Light, Experience of Early Friends, Heart and Mind Prepared, Meeting for Worship, Your Voice in the Meeting, Leadings & Discernment, Testimony, and How Quakers are Organised.

You will be buddied up with 3 to 4 others to form a group that will stay together through the entire course. You can be randomly allocated to a group or choose specific people for your group if you prefer. Please try to attend most if not all zoom sessions so your small group doesn't wind up being even smaller because you were not there!

This course is suitable for newer attenders and inquirers as well as experienced Friends who are seeking a re-grounding in Quakerism.

Cost $90 - REGISTER HERE

Contact Sheila if you want more details about the course

Therese Douglas is a member of the Friends Online Recognised Meeting. She has an extensive education background ranging from preschool to adult education in remote, rural and urban settings as well as yoga teaching! Currently she is a member of the Jan de Voogd Peace Fund Committee and recently retired as the Chair of Quaker Service Australia.

Sheila Keane created the original Australian Quaker Basics resource manual 24 years ago, and is an experienced online educator. She is a 1998 graduate of the School of the Spirit (Philadelphia YM) and has facilitated many other courses at Silver Wattle. She currently serves as convenor of the Silver Wattle Programs & Learning committee.

Led by: Doug Amarfio and Michael Griffith. 

Judith Wright lived her last decades in the Queanbeyan–Palerang landscape  (which includes Bungendore, Braidwood and Lake George). She was passionately committed to working on a Treaty for Aboriginals (with her partner Nugget Coombs) and she was deeply immersed in the native flora and fauna. Her deep friendship with Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal gave focus to her twin passions. 

This course will focus on the prose texts (Cry for the Dead and We Call for a Treaty) and poetry that define her relationship to country. The course will begin with an introduction to the landscape around Silver Wattle and its indigenous contexts and will then move into an exploration of the texts. The course will include a visit to Braidwood, the surrounding countryside and the house which Judith Wright built and where she wrote her major last works in the last decades of her life. We will also have an excursion to the National Gallery to explore developments in Aboriginal art that have a direct bearing on Judith Wright’s vision.

Register here

This Community, garden and landcare sojourn is our second sojourner session of this year. This time will be a chance to do some or all of the following:

• be at Silver Wattle for a personal Sojourn,

• spend time working in the garden and on the land,

• rest, reflect and worship,

• connect with other sojourners,

• enjoy delicious meals prepared by Sam Hawker.

This is also a time when Silver Wattle committee members might like to come and work on their Silver Wattle projects here.

Cost:

• $120 per night, for a single room and 3 meals.

• $100 per night for a shared room and 3 meals.

• If you are interested in volunteering instead of paying, please contact admin.office@silverwattle.org.au.

You are welcome to come for some or all of this sojourner session. Please email admin.office@silverwattle.org.au, to register your interest in attending.