Holistic Retreats Victoria - The Eco Retreat

Welcome to
The Eco Retreat

A Nature Retreat on the Surf Coast Victoria

A nature retreat for slow living, mindfulness, creative arts &
spiritual ecology in the heart of Boonah on the Surf Coast.

Tucked into 70 acres of the ancient Otway Ranges in Boonah, Victoria, The Eco Retreat is a living, breathing sanctuary for nature-based living, creativity, organic farming and restorative care for community well-being. Just two hours from Melbourne, located near the coastline of Aireys Inlet, this peaceful wilderness offers a place to be in the living web of life.

As phase one begins, we are actively working on the infrastructure needed for this project. We are starting to set up the organic garden, orchard, land care projects, and walking trails. We'd love your help, so if you'd like to connect to a beautiful landscape and get involved join our community. In 2027 we will be working on the studio, shed and planting, we will also offer some daylong and weekend holistic mindfulness retreats in Victoria along with more volunteer opportunities.

In the meantime, you are invited to follow the journey, join an online offering, read about our project via the Slow Acres farm blog, explore the wildlife we're researching in the field notes, connect with our Whatsapp community, or sign up for their newsletter to stay inspired and connected. Thank you for your interest in Boonah farm and The Eco Retreat.

Slow Acres

Welcome to Slow Acres, a blog about life on Boonah farm and the evolution of our land-based projects in the Otways by Marion Miller.

The Ancient Mother in the Otways: An Imaginative Ecotherapy Way of Seeing Place

Life at the Boonah farm slows down, and after spending a large portion of my life in inner-city Melbourne, the change is dramatic. Perhaps it is the down-regulation of the nervous system you notice first, but it is also the environment, which is mostly wild, that has its own pace and presence, and somehow we become attuned. In the city, my ecotherapy practice was about actively rewilding a small space, clearing away the manicured grass to invite the wild back in. But here at

Marion Miller

Jun 13

Meet Wally our resident Wallaby at @theecoretreat They are unfazed by our presence as they are too busy enjoying the sweet grass in our garden.

A bit of a different temperament to the mob of kangaroos who hang in the back paddock and only venture up here at night and always in a group. They are curious but quite skittish. There’s a few baby kangaroos and the adult ones are taller than me!

I have a deep respect for these wild animals and their habitat and beginning to develop a sense of kinship and community on the land. We also discovered native wood ducks in the dam which is nice and full. Good to be back home in nature 💚

#nature #natureretreat #wilderness #otways

Scarlet Robin, 2026. Acrylic paint on A5. By @marionmiller_

A scarlet robin at Boonah farm and can often be spotted sitting on the sundial just outside the kitchen window.

#art #artist #nature #otways

At Boonah farm were share the land with many species of wildlife. We’re interested in understanding what species are already here, which ones are endangered and finding out what we can do to regenerate and protect their habitat.

We’ve been working on a digital field guide to track and catalogue our wildlife encounters and new flora and fauna we discover. We are also creating a guest book for visitors to share reflections on sit spots, walking the land and wildlife encounters with photos, drawing, scientific knowledge or poetry.

Here’s a small collection of photos of some of the species that have been spotted here and are now shared on the wilderness field guide page on our website.

It’s been awe inspiring to encounter our wild kin in their natural habitat, we should always keep a healthy distance and aim for a harmonious relationship with the whole web of life.

#landcare #wildnerness #otways #ecotherapy

Hearts full and an almost full house this weekend! Incredibly grateful for the past few days with the young ones visiting at Boonah farm while Richy is away. Sharing meals, stories and slow moments together. So nice to see them resting and connecting with nature.

Now for a bit of a self retreat with some local Pondalowie red, a great book, roaring fire, art, study and some longer meditations as the clouds set in low over the ranges. Some work to do on the gardens this week too! ☁️

#naturelover #otways #retreat

Happy Friday friends 🌻 at Boonah farm Lewis and I have been gardening! We’ve bought lots of beautiful native and indigenous flowering plants from Bambra Native Plants. Next week we have a week of rain so perfect timing and all the plants have lovely flowers the birds, bees and humans can enjoy! This is the first garden bed and the entrance to the house and soon to be studio/gallery. Lots of inspiration, colour, perfume and beauty growing just out front.🌷🪻🌸💐🌺

#gardening #countrylife #slowliving

Stage one of @theecoretreat project we’re calling Beautify and today I got back to what we started at Easter and removed more of the blackberry brambles.

I dug up a bucket of roots from one garden bed and started cutting back the brambles on the other side of the house to discover an old cattle yard. All the clippings are being gathered for our first bon fire ritual this winter!

Cutting back the brambles thoughts of old folktales went through my mind but alas no damsel in a castle was found, just a rusty old gate that had collapsed in on itself.

Later, I experimented with crushing some berries to make natural paint and I’m fond of eating them too!

The other task I got onto was planning out the orchard and staking the places for nine fruit trees to be planted early spring. I’m creating a digital calendar to manage the fertiliser, watering and harvest. But first some soil improvement.

I’m bemused that there is a cauldron outside the laundry door at the entrance to the orchard. Double, double toil and trouble. Perhaps I can brew some fruit and herbs to create a potion to stop the blackberries from spreading?!

A magical end to the week when we walked the land and saw two deers and a mob of kangaroos grazing in the back paddock. Happy Friday!

#farmlife #organicgardening #slowliving

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}

Follow us on Instagram

@theecoretreat

Welcome to The Eco Retreat

A nature retreat for slow living, mindfulness, creative arts & spiritual ecology in the heart of Boonah on the Surf Coast.

Slow Acres

The Ancient Mother in the Otways: An Imaginative Ecotherapy Way of Seeing Place

​

Follow us on Instagram

Welcome to
The Eco Retreat

A nature retreat for slow living, mindfulness, creative arts &
spiritual ecology in the heart of Boonah on the Surf Coast.