HERtreat 2026: The Connection We Didn’t Know We Needed

Words honestly cannot describe what HERtreat has meant.

Over the weekend, women arrived from across our Murray region. Some came with friends. Some came completely on their own. Some arrived unsure of what to expect.

By the end, we left as something much more than a group of women who had attended a retreat. We left connected, seen, held and bonded in a way that is hard to explain unless you were there.

HERtreat reminded me just how deeply women in our communities are craving spaces where they can simply be.

No pressure to perform.

No need to have it all together.

No expectation to be dressed up, made up or switched on.

Just women in the bush, wearing UGG boots, sharing stories, laughing, crying, creating, moving, learning and exhaling.

Across the weekend we shared yoga, Pilates, self-defence, women’s finance, lymphatic drainage, styling, hormone health and perimenopause education, painting, craft and beautiful moments of stillness. But more than anything, we created space for women to be vulnerable, honest and human.

I believe connection begins with courage. So, I led the way the only way I know how, by being open first. I shared my own story, the vulnerable parts, the messy parts and the moments that led me to creating Women of the Murray.

And what followed was something I will never forget.

Women shared. Women softened. Women supported one another. Women realised they were not alone. That is why we do this.

Women of the Murray is led by volunteers. We are women with families, jobs, businesses, responsibilities and full lives. We are not doing this because it is easy. We are doing it because we are seeking the same connection too. We know how much it is needed because we need it as well.

To our incredible retreat team, Charlene Donavan, Kimberley Tempest, Beccy Freeman and Vicki Scott, I am absolutely blown away by you. Across the weekend, the four of us held this space together, and I could not have done it without you. Women of the Murray could not have done it without you.

It still does not feel completely real. There were moments across the weekend where I had to stop and take it in. The gratitude, the stories, the thank yous, the laughter, the tears, the love in the room. It felt like a dream.

HERtreat has only confirmed what we already knew: rural and regional women need spaces like this. Spaces close to home. Spaces where they can rest, reconnect, learn, grow and remember who they are.

We did it. We pulled it off. And it was absolutely incredible.

If you would like to be involved in HERtreat 2027 as a facilitator, sponsor, partner or supporter, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out to via hello@womenofthemurray.com.au

The future of Women of the Murray feels very, very exciting.