Bedrock 2022

Bedrock 2022 is an invitation to investigate your curiosity, to journey into a deeper state of connection and awareness – to Live the Wild.

We sit in the presence and magic of The Rock, under the towering escarpment and the mysterious gums.

Bedrock invites men of all ages who are open to new learnings and seeking to deepen their maturity, their relationships, and have fun, and dine on exquisite food! Men attending will need to have experience “sitting in circle” and exploring deeply into their experiences. For this reason, we do not see Bedrock as suitable for a man’s first dip into men’s work.

What is Bedrock 2022?

Bedrock is hosted by our Elders Circle and is largely unstructured.

The Bedrock 2022 Organising Committee has been having a great time discussing what to do and who to do it with (and whether there is much to do anyway?)

Our much-loved Aotearoa New Zealand brother, Alan Blackburn, is coming and has offered to do the opening session on Friday morning for an hour or so. Alan has presented some suggestions based on where his life is leading him at present and wonders if this might be valued by the men coming.

Alan made three suggestions, two of which are very familiar to folks coming, as well as one that is more novel. We found value in all three.

• One is allowing circle group warm-ups to be based on the needs of the group through discussion and rich questions.
• Another is to be expansive and generous with ourselves, and in so doing, to determine what concepts, ideas or limitations about ourselves and the world we might let go of. In the process, we may learn to be more in communion with the world as it is and with ourselves.
• And finally, look at time in a non-linear fashion, as an interconnected series of events or flows each affecting the other rather than a single line of time that we are ‘on’, so that ‘that which happens’ is a signpost or even a crossroads. With such a perspective in mind, a person might do a deeper dive into where they are, the meaning of the world and their life in it, rather than only seeing where they have come from or where they are going to or some old idea of where they are meant to be going to. This may offer an alternative to getting off the treadmill or hamster wheel to ‘develop’ ‘change’ or ‘fix something’ in themselves.

During Bedrock 2022, conversations go where they need to go. What needs to be discovered and revealed – happens. We sit in the presence and magic of The Rock, under the towering escarpment and the mysterious gums.

This invitation is to men of all ages who are open to new learnings and seeking to deepen their maturity, their relationships, have fun, and dine on exquisite food!

Bedrock 2022 is limited to 50 participants and promises to be full of meaningful experiences, frivolity (sometimes known as playfulness), musical sensation, poetry, and shared wisdom. Beneath the majesty of The Rock join us in the Round House in the presence of a thousand stories.

This year we are again extending our invitation for fathers and grandfathers to bring their young men who have completed their rite of passage. This is an incredible opportunity for young men, their dads and all of us to share a unique space and learn from each other!

Getting there

Because Bedrock 2022 is on private land that cannot be reached from a public road, we run a “Muster”. The venue and start time given here is in fact the location and meet time for the muster at Fernvale.

The Muster is for:

• Drivers who do not know their way to The Rock (878 Mount Byron Road is merely the closest street address, but still nowhere near the campsite!)
• Drivers of 2WD cars will need to transfer to a 4WD at some point
• Drivers of 4WD who want to help out.

If you are making your own way to The Rock, just ensure you arrive in time to set up camp before the first meal at 6 PM.

There are two muster points:

• The first muster point is Fernvale in the car park behind the Old Fernvale Bakery. The bakery comes up on all GPS units, but the address is the corner of Brisbane Valley Highway and Simpson Street. Turn into Simpson Street and the car park is on your right. Arrive by 3:00 PM on Thursday because we leave at 3:10 PM sharp.
• The second muster point is the turn-off from Wivenhoe-Somerset Road onto Mount Byron Road at 4 PM. We meet men coming from Kilcoy and Esk at this point. Arrive by 4:15 PM.

2WD cars are okay on Mount Byron Road but from the end of the road, 4WDs will be used to ferry men to the campground. The track is in very poor condition after this summer’s floods.

What you will need

The Rock offers three forms of accommodation, and you will need to choose when you book.

• The Cliff House – a small, split-level cabin with a wood heater, with single bunk beds. You will need to bring your own bedding.
• The Bunk House – single bunk beds protected from the weather by a steel roof and canvas walls. You will need to bring your own bedding.
• The Campsite – you will need to bring everything!

A head torch is recommended for getting around after dark. An easy-to-carry camp chair is also recommended if sitting on the ground can be a challenge for you.

There is no mains electricity. There is a phone for emergencies in the Cliff House.

There is little to zero mobile phone coverage with Telstra and no coverage from other carriers.