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These days, with smartphones, email,
Facebook and Twitter,
it's almost impossible to switch off.
(PHONE RINGS)
That's why sometimes
you just have to tune out completely.
And I know the perfect spot to do it.
Off.
This is the Sea Acres National Park,
one of the largest remaining coastal rainforests in New South Wales.
And this is Simon, from Port Yoga,
our guide and instructor for our Nature of Stillness Walk
through this beautiful part of the world.
We're about to set out on a walking meditation.
A walking meditation is really about being in the moment.
Normally, we spend our time, even in a beautiful place like this,
worrying about what happened yesterday,
thinking about what we're going to do when we get there.
When Simon says, we're off on our walk, in silence,
along an elevated rainforest walkway.
And if you listen closely, you can hear the Pacific Ocean.
Mel, shh. (CHUCKLES)
(WHISPERS) Oops.
It's not long before the silence is broken, thankfully by Simon.
Closing your eyes.
Aware of your body, your posture, how you're sitting.
Spine straight and upright.
Just look at these awesome wooden sculptures.
Oops! Shut your eyes!
Focus, Mel, focus.
Just when I finally find my zen zone, we're ready for a bit of yoga.
Remember, falling over is permitted.
But like the walk, no pose is too strenuous.
OK, so if you're like me
and you find stillness and silence a bit of a challenge,
there are other great walks you can do.
Like the rainforest boardwalk stroll, with our guide Janet.
And on this walk, you can ask all the questions you like.
So this one's a strangler fig. Oh, wow.
How old would that be?
That'd be, like, 20, 30 years it's been growing on there.
And it kills the tree? Yeah, yeah.
All those roots squeeze the tree to death, stop the sap flow
and, yeah, the host tree will die.
And the tree dies.
It's OK because it's going to create habitat still for animals.
Wow!
A triple strangler fig.
Yes, so we've got three stranglers growing on top of each other here.
And what happened?
A big storm, and really windy up here on the north coast,
and it's blown the top out.
Must have been some storm.
When you return from your walk,
make sure you pop into the Sea Acres Rainforest Centre.
The latest addition is the Spirit of the Land,
a permanent exhibition inspired by the local Indigenous people,
the Birripa,
and featuring historical photographs by Thomas ***.
Check this out.
It's a sandbox where, in the tradition of the Birripa people,
you can draw your own stories
and they come up on the screen above.
But there's just one more thing to do before you leave -
swing in for a meal at the Rainforest Cafe.
The only problem is,
do I have the healthy Tomates Farcies, filled with quinoa,
or fried fish and chips?
What would my inner self say?
Hmm.
INNER VOICE: Have them both.
Ooh!
(LAUGHS) I like it.
VOICEOVER: Sea Acres Rainforest Centre is in Port Macquarie.
For all the info on what's going on at the centre -
and there's a lot - jump onto:
And mention 'Weekender'
and you'll get 10% discount off entry to the centre
and all the items in the gift shop.