Twelve Apostles Wellbeing Walk for Doctors
ACRRM Accredited
September 9 - 12, 2025 | $3,495
For all enquiries and bookings please contact Tasmanian Walking Company on (03) 6392 2211 or email
ACRRM Accreditation Hours
This walk has been accredited by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine for four hours of Additional Continuing Professional Development Requirements and eight hours of Educational Activity.
- Learning Areas
- Leader (LDR)
- Musculoskeletal (MSK)
- Communicator (COM)
- Professional (PRO)
- Curriculum domains covered
- Domain 1 - Specifically: Patient-centred care and teamwork
- Domain 7 - Specifically: Continuous learning, teaching, ethical care
- Domain 8 - Specifically: Resourcefulness, independence, flexibility and professional networking
- Assessment information
- Impact evaluation
- Survey about changes in practice and attitude
- Reflection essay - 500 words
- To Be returned within 4 weeks of trip to gain a certificate
- Context
This activity is primarily targeted towards doctors experiencing or at risk of burnout.
Rural doctors are particularly at risk due to social and professional isolation, their personal connection with many of their patients, their inability to easily take leave and holidays, and their increased scope of care and responsibilities
The activity involves evidence-based tools and techniques, and education regarding self-care, patient care, professionalism and ethics, however just as important for rural doctors is the ability to completely remove ourselves from our demanding lives with no phone or internet, family or social demands.
Lastly, the ability to network, share stories and support like-minded doctors is likely the biggest benefit of this activity.
- Workshops
Our days begin before breakfast with an optional meditation. Our walks provide time for reflection and contemplation. The journey importantly offers precious opportunities for one-on-one conversations with Sheena and Natalie. Each afternoon and evening at the lodge we engage in workshops and journalling at the lodge. Each night finishes with a post-walk body-check. The workshop content will be tailored to the groups and include the following:
Letting Go. Re-discover your inner strengths!
The power and healing of Mindfulness in everyday life!
Rediscover your own North Star!
New Beginnings.
Fit Mind Coaching - Sheena Polese
We help people identify their inner and natural character strengths so they can unlock the key to thriving. We take time to explore values, reassess and reprioritise what is important to you. Using research, we explore the importance of emotional intelligences and use a wellbeing model that enables valuable reflection, appreciation and intention setting for sustainable change.
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We explore what is flourishing, the importance of hope, the value of slowing down, and we show how time in nature restores the body and soul. We incorporate pre-work, on the ground fun activities and worksheets, the science of reflection and journaling, meditation and mindfulness practices, all with an evidence base.
Sheena Polese is a Development and Leadership Coach,MSci (Psych Coaching) Syd Uni, Mindfulness, Wellbeing and Change Practitioner. The current President of the Australasia NSW Branch of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) an Associate at the Positivity Institute and is highly trained in Stages of Adult Psychological Development, Mental Toughness, Global Leadership Wellbeing Diagnostics and Mental Health, is a Mindfulness practitioner and a Facilitator of Immunity to Change. Sheena runs her own Coaching practice, designs and delivers development and wellbeing programs and has co-facilitated Leadership and Development trips with Outward Bound Australian and Australia for UNHCR in Uganda. Webpage | LinkedIn
Dr. Natalie Burch
Natalie Burch trained in Queensland as a GP Obstetrician before moving to Tasmania in 2001 where she has been a rural generalist in northeast Tasmania where she has lived, worked and raised her family. Owning a practice, consulting in private practice and working on call at the district hospital as well as raising her family of three children she well knows the face of burnout.
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She has long been a passionate medical educator teaching all levels of students and training doctors, in private practice, with RACGP, ACRRM and Remote Vocational Training Scheme. Currently she is piloting an innovative supervision model in her practice and local hospital, runs the Observer program at the Launceston General Hospital for International Medical Graduates, and is studying a Masters in Health Professionals Education.
In 2020 having sold her practice and trying to survive the Covid crisis she was introduced to bushwalking by her best friend. There she found the peace and strength to continue to care for her community, colleagues, family and most importantly, herself. Her focus is now doctor well being - creating environments and cultures that celebrate doctors as whole people in well communities and cultures.
Rather than trying to balance our work and life, constantly trading one for the other, we can integrate our lives, bringing our whole selves to work, to home and to the community we live in. When we are walking our whole selves are walking in time with the country and creatures around us. On this journey we can walk together, come back into focus, reintegrate those fragmented parts and pause for a while.
Natalie has awards for Tasmanian Rural Doctor of the Year, Distinguished Service Award for ACRRM and Supervisor of the Year Tasmania for Ochre.
Twelve Apostles Signature Walk (4-days)
Day 1: Blanket Bay to Cape Otway
Approximately 3 hours of walking
After a scenic drive from Melbourne, our journey begins at Blanket Bay, one of the highlights of the Great Ocean Walk.
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We traverse the stunning coast of Great Otway National Park, scaling cliff tops and strolling barefoot on golden sandy beaches. Along the way, our expert guides will introduce you to the unique flora and fauna, including koalas, kangaroos, and echidnas, offering a chance to spot local wildlife. The Cape Otway Lighthouse provides a fitting conclusion to the walk, where our guides will share the rich naval history of the area.
From the lighthouse, we'll transfer you to our private lodge in Johanna, where you'll be greeted with a glass of local sparkling wine and a spectacular long table dinner to celebrate your first day of walking.
Day 2: Milanesia Track to Moonlight Head
Approximately 6.5 hours walking
Challenge brings great reward. The wild, weathered headlands evoke a feeling of being at the world's edge. Day two is the most challenging, offering spectacular seascapes and personal triumph. Starting at Milanesia Track, this route covers some of the most remote sections of the Great Ocean Walk. It's your day of wild and rugged adventure.
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The ocean will be your constant companion across 14.5 kilometers of rolling terrain, beginning with a descent onto Milanesia Beach, where your guide will point out a 'natural rock wall.' After a brief beach visit, you'll face a short, invigorating climb hinting at the inclines to come.
The trail winds through deep gullies with tree ferns and towering eucalypts. You'll ascend 132 steps before emerging at Ryans Den, your lunch spot with views of Cape Volney and Cape Otway.
Further along, the trail mirrors the coastline's ups and downs. Look out for Cape Volney, where a bench offers captivating views of heaving seas, watery caves, and the horizon framed by the forest.
Day 3: Moonlight Head to Wreck Beach
Approximately 3.5 hours of walking (optional)
The first four and a half kilometers gently meander through native stringybark forest, providing a contrast to the coast, and conclude with a rise to the Gables, one of mainland Australia’s highest cliff-top lookouts.
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Depending on the tide, you'll descend onto Wreck Beach to explore historic shipwreck ruins before continuing to Devil’s Kitchen for lunch and visiting the historic Fiji shipwreck memorial. Wilder days offer a glimpse of the cauldron-like ocean in this part of the coast.
After lunch, we follow the Devil’s Kitchen Track through fern gullies and over a ridge populated with grass trees to Wreck Beach carpark. On our way back to the lodge, we take a short detour for a walk around Melba Gully, an enchanting rainforest gully with towering Mountain Ash and Beech Myrtle, and an understory of tree ferns and waterfalls. Back at the lodge, we celebrate our last night with a rejuvenating foot spa, a long table dinner, and a glass of local wine.
Day 4: Princetown to the Twelve Apostles
Approximately 3 hours walking
Enjoy your final morning at Twelve Apostles Lodge. After another wholesome breakfast, there’s a final pack up, check out and lodge farewell before heading to Princetown for the last part of our walking journey.
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These fabulous natural wonders emerge on slow reveal as the trail rises and falls along the coastline. There is a viewing lookout exclusively for walkers before our final stretch of trail into the Twelve Apostles Visitors Centre. You’ve made it!
We’ll then move on to the nearby town of Timboon where we visit our dairy supplier, Schulz Organic Dairy for lunch before returning to Melbourne. We offer a drop-off to the airport and Melbourne CBD after your walk.
Our Accommodation
At the end of a day on the track, the Twelve Apostles Lodge is a forest-hugged haven, just three hours from Melbourne. Here, you'll find a foot spa, rainforest showers, a kitchen garden, a dining room stocked with local wines, and your king bedroom with a spacious en-suite.
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The architecturally-designed lodge emphasizes environmental sensitivity, featuring passive solar design, hydronic heating, low-consumption electric and water fittings, on-site wastewater treatment and composting, and a self-sufficient water supply. This award-winning eco-development seamlessly blends modern comforts with sustainability.
The lodge is exclusively yours, available only to guests joining our walks. From the moment you arrive, consider it home. Unpack and settle into one of the five generous bedrooms, which can be arranged as king or twin share, each with a private en-suite bathroom.
The dining room includes a lounge area perfect for canapes when the fire pit isn’t crackling with friend-huddling flames. After a glass of regional red, move to the long table for your nightly three-course regional menu.
Itinerary Details
Twelve Apostles Wellbeing Walk for Doctors
September 9 - 12, 2025 | $3,495
- Price: Walk fee + Facilitator Fee
- 4-Day Guided Walk (Twin Share)
- Each trip requires a minimum of 6 guests to be confirmed four months prior to departure and a maximum of 8 guests (Twin Share).
Bookings
- Phone: (03) 6392 2211
- Email: enquiries@taswalkingco.com.au
- or complete the below enquiry form
Terms and Conditions
Our standard booking terms and conditions apply to all bookings. In addition:
- Cancellations
- more than 90 days from the scheduled departure date, a fee of $350 per person will be charged with the balance payment refunded;
- within 90 days of departure, no refund is available. Bookings are transferable to another name.
- Minimum numbers are required three months before departure.
Inclusions
- Return transfers between Melbourne and the lodge
- Optional airport drop off on day 4
- 3-night lodge stay, all linen and towels
- 3 breakfast, 4 lunch, 3 dinners
- Daily morning and afternoon tea
- Non-alcoholic drinks and a selection of local wines and beer
- Use of daypack, waterproof jacket, poles and gaiters
- Daily guided walks, with professional guides
- Vehicle support daily
- All entrance & national park fees
Need help deciding? Talk to an expert
We're here to help 9am – 5pm Monday to Saturday, otherwise, email us anytime and we'll be in touch.