What is Adventure Mentoring?
Adventure mentoring at Ironbark focuses on getting outdoors, developing practical skills, and building confidence through meaningful experiences. Each adventure blends hands-on learning, including beginner to advanced mountain biking, hiking through forests, fishing by quiet waterways or camping under the stars, with opportunities for reflection, conversation, and personal growth. Participants develop adaptability, problem-solving skills, and resilience while exploring the natural environment, gaining confidence, independence, and real-world abilities. Every adventure is tailored to the individual, aligned with their abilities, interests, and goals, and our planning and safety practices are informed by the Australian Adventure Activity Standards (AAAS) and Good Practice Guides (GPG), ensuring each experience is engaging, rewarding, and safe. Adventure mentoring with Ironbark is about learning, growing, and connecting at your own pace in the real world.
Adventure
Active, outdoor experiences that challenge individuals to explore nature, develop new skills, and embrace the unexpected. Whether it’s hiking, mountain biking, fishing, or navigating wild landscapes, adventure offers hands-on challenges that build confidence, resilience, and a deep connection to the outdoors.
Mentoring
A trusted partnership where a mentor supports the mentee’s personal and professional growth through guidance, encouragement, and real-world experience. Mentoring creates a safe space to explore challenges, develop skills, and build confidence, fostering growth that extends beyond the adventure into everyday life.
Why
Adventure Mentoring?
Mental Wellbeing
Being in nature has proven benefits for reducing stress, anxiety, and overwhelm. Combined with supportive mentoring, it creates a calming space to reflect, reset, and feel emotionally supported.
Independence
Adventure mentoring encourages decision-making and self-reliance. In nature, individuals learn to trust their instincts and take initiative without constant direction.
Resilience & Grit
Outdoor challenges like navigating trails or overcoming obstacles help individuals bounce back from setbacks, developing mental strength and perseverance in real-life situations.
Social Skills
Whether it’s communicating on a hike or sharing a story by the fire, adventure mentoring naturally builds trust, empathy, and the ability to connect with others in meaningful ways. Group adventures at Ironbark can also provide an excellent opportunity for social growth.
Physical Fitness
Activities like hiking, biking, and bushwalking improve strength, endurance, and overall physical health, all while being fun and purpose-driven, not forced or formal.
Skills Building
Mountain biking, hiking, fishing, and camping all offer hands-on opportunities to learn practical, lifelong skills. From bike handling and trail navigation to casting a line or building a fire, these activities develop problem-solving, coordination, and real-world competence, all in an engaging, natural setting.
Confidence Building
Every small win outdoors, from reaching the top of a mountain to trying something new, helps build self-belief, showing individuals they’re capable of more than they think.
Connection to Nature
Spending time outdoors fosters appreciation, curiosity, and a sense of belonging in the natural world, a grounding, healing experience that supports overall wellbeing.
Digital Detox
Stepping away from screens and into nature helps individuals reconnect with the present moment, reduce overstimulation, and rediscover focus, calm, and clarity.
Our Approach to Adventure Mentoring
Our approach blends the development of practical outdoor skills with emotional support, life guidance, and personal growth, all tailored to each participant’s abilities, interests, and goals. Every activity, from navigating trails on a mountain bike, reading the environment on a hike, casting a line while fishing, or setting up a safe and comfortable campsite, is designed to build not only technical competence but also confidence, resilience, and independence.
​
These experiences are carefully structured adventures guided by practices aligned with the Australian Adventure Activity Standards (AAAS) and associated Good Practice Guides (Outdoor Council of Australia), which provide a recognized framework for safe, professional, and effective outdoor adventure operations. Our adventures also draw on backgrounds in behavioural science (psychology), outdoor adventure therapy, eco-therapy practices, disability support work, and certified mountain bike coaching, alongside extensive personal experience outdoors. We implement practices recommended by the framework, including pre-activity risk assessments, participant screening, supervision ratios appropriate to activity risk, equipment inspection and maintenance, emergency preparedness, pre-activity briefings, post-activity reflection and debriefing, ensuring participants engage safely while developing practical skills and personal insight.
​
​The natural environment is an essential part of our process. It provides real situations that encourage problem-solving, teamwork, and self-reliance, skills that naturally transfer into everyday life. Under professional guidance, participants are supported to engage safely with the challenges and unpredictability of the outdoors, developing confidence through experience rather than instruction alone.
Through our Values
Connection
Building deeper relationships with self, others, and the natural world through shared experiences and time outdoors.
Trust
Creating a safe and supportive space where people feel seen, heard, and encouraged to be themselves.
Presence
Encouraging mindfulness and awareness by disconnecting from screens and engaging fully in the moment.
Growth
Whether it's reaching the top of a mountain, trying something new, or learning to navigate uncertainty, each challenge becomes a stepping stone
Strength
Strength is built through challenge, the courage to keep going, the resilience to adapt, and the discipline to grow.
Services
Start Your Adventure
Submit Application
To ensure Ironbark is the right fit, we ask all participants to complete our application form and submit via email. This helps gather important details about your physical abilities, medical needs (such as allergies), background, and current circumstances. It’s not a test, just a way for us to understand your needs, ensure your safety, and tailor your experience to support you best. All information is kept confidential and used solely to create a safe, supportive, and meaningful experience.
1
Meet and Greet
After submitting your application, we’ll arrange a casual meet and greet either in person or via video call. This is a chance for us to get to know each other, ask questions, and make sure the fit feels right on both sides. It’s an important step to ensure the service is appropriate, supportive, and aligned with your needs and goals. There’s no pressure, just an open, friendly chat to help us both decide if Ironbark Adventure Mentoring is the right path forward. The meet and greet is provided at no cost.
2
Service Agreement
We will then provide a Service Agreement which sets out the expectations, responsibilities, and rights of both the participant and the provider. It includes information specific to NDIS participants (if applicable), such as support categories, billing, and reporting, as well as the adventure structure, cancellation policies, safety guidelines, and provider responsibilities. The agreement ensures transparency and clarity, helping us build a trusting, professional relationship from the outset.
3
Start Adventures
With everything in place, it’s time to begin your adventure. Adventures will run as outlined in your Service Agreement, with options to meet on-site at the agreed location or arrange transport to and from the session if required. Our tailored outdoor experiences are guided at your pace, with a focus on connection, growth, and wellbeing. Whether it's your first adventure or your tenth, each session is a step forward in your personal journey.
4
Testimonials
- Kelly S
"Reed has become an important role model in my son's life. Calmly and quickly Reed established a positive relationship with my son. This relationship has strengthened with each session shared through a focus on the interests and strengths of my son. My son clearly values time shared with Reed, evidenced by great excitement consistently displayed in the lead up to Reed's arrival."
- Sarah W
"Since my son started with Reed, his love for mountain biking and getting outside has exploded. What started as gentle encouragement has turned into a passion. He's now regularly on his bike after school, exploring our local trails with his friends and is spending less time on screens. It’s been amazing to see such a positive change in his attitude, fitness, and overall happiness."
- Charlotte F
"Reed has become an important role model in my son's life. Calmly and quickly Reed established a positive relationship with my son. This relationship has strengthened with each session shared through a focus on the interests and strengths of my son. My son clearly values time shared with Reed, evidenced by great excitement consistently displayed in the lead up to Reed's arrival."
- Case Reflection (4 month participant)
"I supported a participant who was struggling with depression and rarely left the house. We started with short, easy walks from home in nature, focusing on simply being outside and moving. Over time, leaving the house became more comfortable, which led to increased confidence and motivation, and eventually led to them joining a gym and maintaining a regular exercise routine."
- Case Reflection (10 month participant)
"I worked with a young participant who spent most of his time on screens and didn't have any outdoor hobbies. He signed up with an interest in tennis and fishing, so we organised some adventures together. After a few failed attempts fishing he landed his first fish and was completely hooked. Our weekly sessions soon shifted from tennis to fishing, which quickly became his favourite activity."
Questions?
Get in touch
