Five Minutes

A brief period of silence can change the way a group experiences a place.

Large groups in the bush are loud by nature. People are excited — catching up, pointing things out, laughing across the track, sharing stories, routes, gossip, weather predictions. And some people are louder than others. You know who you are. Honestly, that noise is part of the fun.

Quiet minutes beneath the cliffs. Wollemi National Park

On my walks, I like to ask the group to walk in silence for five minutes.

At the start of the day, during the briefing, I usually mention that at some point I’ll call for five minutes of silence. That way everyone knows it’s coming.

Not a formal thing — no speeches, no mindfulness exercises. Just a simple request: for the next five minutes, no talking. Tapping a shoulder, pointing something out, or quietly helping someone over a rock is fine. An emergency, of course, would override everything. Otherwise, conversation pauses.

Spacing in the silence. Colo River

I usually pick a place that already feels special — a cliff view, a fern-decorated gully, a mossy creek. At first there’s an adjustment: a few last whispers, a suppressed laugh, boots scraping louder than expected, packs shifting, someone instinctively turning to speak before remembering. Then the group settles.

Layers of the bush are louder in the silence. Mugii Murum-ban

The bush becomes louder. The mood changes. People spread out slightly, slow their pace, and look around more carefully. Small details begin to appear: light on cliff walls, movement in leaves, mist lifting through trees, tiny plants pushing up from sandstone cracks. Even large groups start to feel strangely gentle.

The group falls quiet beneath the sandstone walls. Koan’s Cave

Silence changes the scale of things. The landscape stops being merely a backdrop to conversation; for a few minutes, everyone becomes part of it.

When talking returns, it usually comes back softer — though sometimes the noise and laughter do return fully, as they should. But for a moment, the walk takes on a different shape.

Five minutes is not long. In the bush, it can feel surprisingly large.

A quiet place to pause. Mugii Murum-ban