RECLAIM - A Nature-Based Wellness Day at Te Aratipi

RECLAIM

A nature-based wellness day at Te Aratipi, Hawke’s Bay

Part of The ME Project, RECLAIM invites women to step outdoors, reconnect with their bodies and build strength, knowledge and confidence for the years ahead.

Walk. Strengthen. Learn. Nourish.

Designed with women and midlife in mind, RECLAIM brings together walking, strength training in nature, practical education around nutrition and changing bodies, nourishing food and thoughtful collaboration with experienced local practitioners.

This isn’t about turning back the clock, pushing harder or chasing a younger version of yourself. It’s about understanding the body you have now, learning how to support it well and discovering just how strong and capable you can be.

No previous experience is needed — just a willingness to spend time outdoors, move your body, learn and try something new.

Hosted at Te Aratipi Station, the day begins with a guided walk through the farm, weaving through regenerating native bush, rolling farmland and limestone country.

From there, we’ll head beneath the tawa trees for The Forest Gym with Janine Couchman from The Resistance. Leaving the four walls of the gym behind, Janine will use bodyweight, resistance bands and the natural environment to explore strength in a completely different setting. This practical and empowering session will focus on functional movement, mobility and building strength and confidence for midlife and beyond.

After the Forest Gym, we’ll make our way through the native bush to The Bush Table — Te Aratipi’s new forest and fire dining experience. Here, we’ll gather around the table for a beautiful seasonal lunch prepared by Chef Katie Bachman, with elements cooked over fire. A chance to refuel, connect and enjoy good food in a pretty special setting.

Following Lunch, Tess Williams from WIllaeo will lead a practical and engaging session exploring how we can better nourish and support our bodies in midlife.

We’ll talk Nutrition, Mindset and behavior change - cutting through some of the noise and leaving you with realistic knowledge and tools you can take into everyday life. 

Walk. Strengthen. Learn. Nourish.

An invitation to reclaim your strength, your energy and your confidence.

Event Details

Sunday 11 October 2026

10:00am — 3:00pm

Te Aratipi Station, Maraetōtara, Hawke’s Bay

Limited to 28 women

Early Bird: $145 per person — first 10 tickets only

General Admission: $165 per person

Booking fees apply.

What’s Included

• A guided walk through the native bush, farmland and limestone landscapes of Te Aratipi Station
• The Forest Gym — a nature-based strength session with Janine Couchman from The Resistance
• A practical session exploring nutrition, mindset and supporting your body through midlife
• Beautiful chef-prepared food and refreshments throughout the day including a seasonal lunch with Chef Katie Bachman at The Bush Table, with elements cooked over fire
• Time to connect, learn and enjoy the landscape

With places intentionally limited, RECLAIM will be a relaxed and thoughtfully hosted day with plenty of opportunity to connect, ask questions and learn.

Optional Experience

Forest Restoration Massage

For those wanting to add a little extra restoration to the day, a limited number of 30-minute Forest Restoration Massages will also be available.

Nestled amongst the native bush, this is a chance to relax tired muscles, unwind and enjoy some quiet time in nature.

Additional cost applies and places will be very limited. Please contact Ro directly to register your interest or find out more.

What to Bring

• Comfortable walking shoes
• Comfortable clothing you can move freely in
• Warm layers for changing weather and movement
• Waterproof jacket
• Water bottle
• An openness to move, learn and try something new

No previous strength-training experience is required. The Forest Gym session will be designed to accommodate different fitness levels and abilities.

Your Host & Collaborators

Janine Couchman — The Resistance
Founder | Coach | Champion of Women’s Strength

Janine is the heart and backbone of The Resistance and has coached women through all stages of life — beginners, returners, movers, shakers, doubters and those simply wanting to feel stronger and more confident in their bodies.

She understands midlife deeply — hormones, injuries, energy dips and that sense of not quite recognising yourself anymore. She also understands confidence rebuilds, and just how powerful they can be.

Janine holds a Masters in Educational Psychology, which sits at the core of how she coaches. This psychological foundation, combined with postgraduate study in exercise, menopause, plant-based nutrition and epigenetics, shapes a coaching approach that supports both body and mind.

Her work is thoughtful, evidence-based and deeply human, with a strong focus on helping women create meaningful, lasting change rather than chasing short-term results.

At RECLAIM, Janine will take strength beyond the gym walls and into the native forest for a practical and empowering session designed to help women feel strong, capable and confident.

Tess Williams — Founder Willaeo
Nutrition | Behaviour Change | Mindset | Movement

Tess is the founder of Willaeo, a coaching business helping women in perimenopause feel like themselves again — without diets, punishing workouts or another meal plan that ignores real life.

A certified metabolic nutrition coach, Tess combines nutrition, movement, mindset and behaviour change to help women better understand what their bodies need, cut through the overwhelm and build realistic habits that support lasting change.

Tess knows this territory firsthand. After navigating her own challenges with health and postnatal depression, she rebuilt her relationship with her body and wellbeing — an experience that became the foundation for how she now works with women: not through willpower and restriction, but through awareness, honest behaviour change and habits that actually fit a real, busy life.

Through her Inside-Out Method, Tess helps women rebuild energy, strength and self-trust, showing up as the version of themselves they thought they'd lost.

At RECLAIM, Tess will explore the changing female body through midlife, with a focus on nutrition, mindset and behaviour change — helping women better understand what their bodies need now and the realistic changes that can make a meaningful difference.

Ro Palmer — Te Aratipi & The ME Project

Ro is the founder of The ME Project and your host for RECLAIM. Together with her husband Ed, she runs Te Aratipi Station, a sheep and beef farm alongside a collection of nature-based farm experiences in the hills of Hawke’s Bay.

She created The ME Project to bring women together on the land — creating space to step away from the everyday, connect with others and invest some time back into themselves.

Ro will host and guide you throughout RECLAIM, bringing together the people, place and experiences that make up the day.

Staying at Te Aratipi

For those travelling from out of town or wanting to make a weekend of it, there is also the option to stay on farm in our historic Rabbiter’s Cottage.

The cottage sleeps up to four guests and can be booked surrounding the event, allowing you to settle in, slow down and enjoy more time at Te Aratipi.

Availability is limited. Please get in touch with Ro directly if you would like further details or pricing.

We will also have our new cabin Limestone Ridge launching around that time if you want to be really indulgent and make a weekend of it! Ask Ro for me info.

A Note on the Weather

RECLAIM is designed as an outdoor spring experience and will go ahead in most weather conditions. Please come prepared with comfortable walking shoes, suitable layers and weather-appropriate clothing.

Te Aratipi sits in the hills above the coast, so conditions can change quickly. Closer to the event we’ll send through a short note with any final details and recommendations.