Know Your Neighbours with Liz Fama’aea

Transcript from the podcast “Speak Out Loud: Stories of Strength from the Southern Downs”

SEASON 2: EPISODE 11

GUEST: Liz Fama’aea

PUBLISHED: 3rd April 2022

[00:00:00] Liz: We have honey eaters and little finches and wrens. And they all sort of hang out in this little gang. It’s really interesting because I didn’t realise, you know, how much birds all mix, even though they’re different species and completely different birds. And so you’ll get this little gang of about two families of finches and then a couple of families of Superb Wrens. They all come roaring through the garden eating the insects, eating whatever’s hanging around on the flowers. It’s really good to see that recovery of the bush after such devastation. I guess it made us all slowly feel a bit better.

[00:00:37] Kathryn: Today’s story on the podcast comes from Liz Fama’aea who joined me to share how valuable it is to be connected with your community. Liz had grown up in Stanthorpe and she was motivated to move back with her family into the area a few years ago so that they could reconnect and benefit from the support of the community. She has a really interesting story to share about the damage that her home and property sustained during the September 2019 bushfire as well as the incredible recovery journey of the landscape and the community which was reflected in the recent Hope and Growth Photo Exhibition.
Welcome to the podcast Liz.

[00:01:28] Liz: Thank you for having me.

[00:01:30] Kathryn: Can you share with our listeners what your connection is with the Southern Downs?

[00:01:34] Liz: I’ve lived here on and off since I was about seven. I think that’s when my family moved here. And I guess have mostly grown up here with my sisters and, you know, moved away as a lot of us do to study and work. Moved back briefly to have my children have my first two. And then moved back when they were starting high school. I think a lot of us do that. A lot of us move back. At some point you start to see the differences when you’re not as much part of a community and when you bring them back, it’s almost like this big sigh of relief, Oh, that’s what we were missing. And within six months they were back building cubbies outside and they were back doing mostly sport based activities or outdoors stuff and going fishing and they were enjoying life a lot more. They were a lot more relaxed and we were a lot more relaxed too. I think the presence of my parents as well really helped and just in general, the community of people that we’d all known as kids that embraced our kids as well. So I guess we moved back for the community and the community’s become fairly quickly a big part of our lives. And that’s really nice. Yeah. My husband also grew up here. He I think spent a little less time as a child in the community cause his parents moved away, but he’s from the Solomon Islands. And so, for him growing up in the Solomon Islands, he had this really close knit community of relatives and extended family that he lived with, and then coming to Australia, Stanthorpe was probably, he says, it’s the closest thing he’s had to the community that he had over there. So for him moving back here was really important as well, because this is the first place they came to in Australia and having a community of people who knew him since he was a child, and then also knew the boys. So for both of us, I guess, moving back here, um, and reconnecting with the people that had always supported us and seeing how they also supported the kids as they were growing up. That was really lovely. Yeah.

[00:03:40] Kathryn: You’ve been the official photographer for the community photo exhibition called Hope and Growth. Could you comment on how that exhibition celebrated the recovery journey and the growth following the bush fires that came through this region in 2019 and 2020?

[00:03:59] Liz: Oh, wow. That was, um, that was just such a wonderful thing to be a part of, I guess, one of the things that I really enjoy about being a photographer, and one of the reasons that I became a photographer to begin with, is the opportunity to sort of bear witness and record events that are deeply personal to both to people and to our community. And to see everyone being able to express their memories and their feelings and I guess the many things that Stanthorpe has been through as a community, through the photography that they’d done, that was really important. I think hearing people talk about their memories and one photograph, you know, would bring up different memories for each person. So you’d have the photographer talking to the firies or the neighbours or their Mum about the things that had happened that day. I think that was just really special. And that’s, I guess what I tried to capture in the photos that I took.

[00:05:04] Kathryn: And you have your own story of the bush fire that came through in September 2019. Is there part of that story that you’d like to share with the listeners as well?

[00:05:14] Liz: So I didn’t actually enter any of my own photos in the exhibition and I didn’t actually take many photos of the bushfire. I definitely didn’t get my camera out and do the professional photography bit. Sometimes I like to not take photos of things. Sometimes I like to try and remember them without having to record it officially. Being a photographer at times, everything becomes about capturing the moment, capturing, you know, evidence of what happened. And it’s not the same as experiencing it. It’s not the same as being in that moment and being fully present. When you’re photographing, you’re thinking about light and you’re thinking about exposures and you become a little clinical in your approach to things. So during that time, I actually didn’t take many photos because it was such a shock too. We had the bushfire come right up to our house. We’d had a plastic tank at the back of the house that melted and actually stopped some of the house from burning. We had a little shed at the back of the house and that had pretty much exploded. We’re still finding bits of melted metal all through our driveway. The tank was right next to it. Because of the drought, we’d been very careful with our water and that tank was full of water cos that was like our reserve. And yeah, the water in that tank stopped the house burning down. So that was pretty amazing to have that happen. We bought the house not long before the bush fire and we were still unpacking. I haven’t seen those sort of conditions at any of the properties that I’ve lived on, where everything is so dry from the drought and the wind was so high. We have had other catastrophic bushfires that have similar in the past. I guess it’s always a threat. It’s always a risk that we think of when we do anything. When we build a house, when we expand our garden, we’re always, you know, looking at it going well, you know, that tree is probably a bit too close to the house. And the trees near my house are trimmed and, a fair way back from the house. The ones that are close to the house have obviously been kept low and that was another thing that saved our house.

[00:07:24] Kathryn: You said that you’d only recently moved into the house just before the bushfire came. Had you had the opportunity to do any preparation to bush fireproof the property before the bush fire actually came through?

[00:07:39] Liz: I guess not really apart from the mowing. I think the previous owner had lopped some of the trees near the house and that really helped. But I didn’t see many of the trees right near the house actually burn. You can see on the tree behind you that there’s burn marks all the way up the trunk still, you know, it’s still shedding bark. It’s an apple gum, so it doesn’t shed bark as easily as some of the others. And that actually still had all its leaves on it. So the leaves didn’t catch fire. The bushfire sort of went around the house. But came up through the yard with the embers. And I think, you know, like a lot of houses, the mulch around things caught fire. But we hadn’t really had a chance to do much in the way of bushfire prep. We’d been, you know, just surviving the drought and I guess more focused on that. And we hadn’t been in the property long enough to really look at the bush and take out the dead wood.

[00:08:32] Kathryn: So here we are about two and a half years later. I think. What sorts of things have you done since the bush fire? obviously there was a bit of cleanup to do from what you were describing there. What other things have you done keeping in mind that you’re in a bushfire prone zone?

[00:08:51] Liz: For us it’s a case of just continuing to do what we’d already planned to do. We probably want to get more tanks put in like a lot of people would. Probably the first thing we did was try and drop the dead trees near the house. There were quite a few dead trees after the bushfire. We still have heaps sort of acres and acres of dead trees. So we’ll never get into all of that, but just trying to drop the dead trees near the house. We’re continuing to monitor the bush and keep dry grass away from the property. There’s not much you can do once you’ve got lovegrass and lovegrass is one of the biggest things that speeds up that onslaught of the fire. So in the backyard here, you can see, you know, I’ve got a bit of lovegrass around us right now, but, we’ve been working on actually removing as much as we can from around the house and replacing that with other grasses and especially the native grasses. I’ve seen a lot of native grasses come back since the bushfire. And just trying to fight the lovegrass a little bit so that the native grasses can have a chance.

[00:09:57] Kathryn: What other changes have you seen in the land around you following the bushfire as it’s gone into recovery as well?

[00:10:04] Liz: Oh, look, that was the most amazing thing. Before the bushfire, I’d been looking at the property and going Well, you know, compared to properties that I’d grown up on, there was not a lot of diversity in the vegetation. There was umm eucalypts and a few wattles of mostly the one variety. And I was looking at it going, you know, there’s no Hardenbergias, there’s no little ferns and there’s not a lot of insect life either. So I was thinking about how to do something about that and how to, um, bring some of those plants back in. And then the bushfire happened and I have seen this explosion of growth all around the house, all through the bush. I’ve seen stuff growing that I’ve never seen before. It’s just been incredible. So we’ve had everything change so quickly after the bush fire. bush right now has about four or five different types of wattle growing back. And that’s of course, you know, one of the things that happens first after bush fires, your wattle just explodes. So I’ve got these different wattles growing and then the smaller plants that have grown back have been amazing. So all of these little seeds that were just sitting there waiting, all came out and then after that the drought broke, you know, we had this incredible rain and it’s all just gone completely nuts. And all of our bird life changed as well, as well as a lot of our wildlife. I think from looking at things, the possums have been the slowest to recover. I have not seen many of those possums returning. I’m sure they’re still around there. There’s probably a lot more food for them, so they’re not coming close to their, our houses anymore, but the bird life has been, as you can probably hear the bird life has been incredible. It’s all changed. We’ve got different birds to what we had beforehand. We used to have a lot of parrots, a lot of different types of parrots come through. And that changed. They stopped visiting the house. A lot of birds did not visit at all. There were no birds anywhere for about six months, a good six months after the bush fire. I think there was just, a lot of them unfortunately wouldn’t have made it. And a lot of them would’ve just had to go elsewhere because there was nothing. It was just like a desert all around us. That was quite difficult because everything was just dead, you know, it was just, um, sand and dead trees and rocks. And that’s what it felt like so, after everything started to grow back, we, we planted a lot. We put a lot of work into the garden around the house, and we’ve planted a lot of, I guess, fast-food type plants, around us right now. We’ve got pineapple sage and that’s really brought the birds, some different salvias and I’ve let a lot of weeds grow, which sounds, it sounds really weird, but a lot of the weeds even the introduced ones that come in are really important for soil regeneration, and also food for the birds. So there’s one that I think is called ink weed. It’s got lots of spikes of black and purple berries, and I saw a lot of birds getting through winter on that. The little black cypresses that grow all through the bush, they’re actually a really important food source for a lot of parrots so we were lucky to have some of those survive and we saw our Rosellas start to come back to feed on the seeds from those guys. And now we’ve got this incredible bird life where we have honey eaters and little finches and wrens. And they all sort of hang out in this little gang. It’s really interesting because I didn’t realise you know, how much birds all mix, even though they’re different species and completely different birds. And so you’ll get this little gang of about two families of finches and then a couple of families of Superb Wrens. They all come roaring through the garden eating the insects, eating whatever’s hanging around on the flowers. It’s really good to see that recovery of the bush after such devastation. I guess it made us all slowly feel a bit better.

[00:14:06] Kathryn: Before we started recording our conversation Liz, you were pointing out to me the native bees as well.

[00:14:12] Liz: Ah, yes. When everything was so dead, there would be bull ants. And I actually found a lot of trapdoor holes that I hadn’t realized was there because they were all covered in vegetation, you know, so all around us, although, you know, don’t want to alarm you, but there are little trapdoor spiders living all through the undergrowth and they survived, which is really good. But we’ve got a lot more insect life now, which is wonderful to see. We’ve got the native bees, the little blue banded bees, they’re all through the pineapple sage, and all the natives that are growing back. I think we’re told that natives are quite short, lived plants and people think of something like a wattle. It’s just going to grow overnight and be quite quick to flower. And that’s not actually the case. What I’m seeing with a lot of the wattles growing back that most of them haven’t flowered yet. The variety we’ve got here hasn’t flowered at all yet. Some of the smaller wattles that I’ve seen growing in other areas, they’ve already flowered a couple of times, but the majority of our wattles haven’t, so there hasn’t actually been a lot of the mass food that those insects would rely on and they’ve come into our garden and are taking advantage of our little introduced plants. And I’ve been really happy about that. So that hopefully as the wattles and start to flower, they can move on to those and the populations can recover.

[00:15:38] Kathryn: Some really exciting changes happening there.

[00:15:41] Liz: So it makes me think, Oh, I wish I knew more about how all of the little ecosystems work together, because you can see it happening and you, you know, you can see that there’s something going on there and you wish you knew a bit more about how to support it really.

[00:15:55] Kathryn: What are some of the things that you’ve learned, Liz, as a result of being impacted pretty directly by this bush fire, something that you think the rest of the community also needs to know about, or maybe you’ve got some advice for other people who are living in bushfire-prone areas?

[00:16:12] Liz: I think, the thing that I, that I really learnt that really touched me the most, I guess, was how important your community links are. How important engaging with your community and being a part of your community is, because we’d only just moved into the house in our little area, I only knew a couple of the neighbors and we didn’t get any formal alerts about the fire until it was right on our doorstep when the police came down our little driveway and said, You guys need to leave now. If we waited for that, we would have left the house with pretty much clothes that we were in and we wouldn’t have been able to take any of the animals. So we may have come back to additional tragedies. So, luckily the one neighbour that we knew called us and let us know what was happening because the fire moved so quickly in our direction. And there’s only one way in and out from our little street. So I think the engagement with the community is super important. So I’d just really encourage people to get out there and introduce yourself to your neighbours, because it is sometimes really life-saving that you do that, not just for you, but for them, because we really rely on each other in the country in times of drought, in times of bushfire. If you have an accident at home, having neighbours that know that you’re there and know who you are and have your contact details you know, I can’t emphasise enough how important that is. And then during the recovery process, we just saw the entire community get together to support everyone. There was so much being given and donated and we’re not, you know, we’re not a rich community. We’re a community of farmers and workers and during the drought a lot of people really struggled and then just to see the amount of immediate help and support that was on offer for all of us, for everyone in the community was just really, you know, I think community moves faster than governments are able to, and all the big infrastructure support, you know, the army and all of that, they do take time to get here. Whereas your neighbours are right there and your friends down the road are right there. So, don’t be too proud to go and ask for help because it lets people know that they can rely on you for help. In the country, we don’t want to ask for help because we always are telling ourselves that, Oh, I don’t have it as bad as so-and-so or, I don’t want to be a whinger, but one of the things that I did learn was that if you ask other people for help, then they feel comfortable coming to you when they need help. That’s what I’ve been trying to teach the kids through this is that when we ask other people for help or when were honest about what we need and what our struggles are, other people will then feel free to come to us and share their struggles as well. And that’s really happened a lot since the bush fire for a lot of us. You do tend to feel that like, you know, that survivor guilt You don’t want to complain too much because you know, someone who, who literally has only their clothes I think it is a bit part of mentality of living here and the mentality growing up in the bush is that being self-reliant is very valued and people do take pride in not being a bludger and not being not being someone who takes more than they give, I think is the important thing. But at the same time, your mental health really suffers when you do that. And then you lack the ability to help other people. Rather than viewing ourselves as being really independent and not needing others or not asking the community for too much, if we keep in mind that we are part of the whole community, and it’s really important that if we stay healthy and we stay well, then we have the ability to help others. But if we’re sort of running on empty, then we can’t really, we don’t have a lot to give, you do see people that isolate themselves too much not able to participate in that I guess, mutual care and mutual support because no one knows they’re there. No one knows whether they want help and people will often be reticent to offer help because Oh they don’t like be disturbed.

[00:20:20] Kathryn: There might be times we need to have each other around.

[00:20:23] Liz: That’s right. We like our privacy and we often like having our own space in the country, but at the same time, I don’t know I think when I was a kid going to town was a really big deal and wasn’t something you did every day. It was a real community event. You’d go to town and get dressed up and put your good clothes on, put your good shoes on. And mum would wash everyone and off you’d all go, you know, do the shopping and, have a coffee or have a, have a catch up with people and then go home again. And I think even if you’re someone who normally spends time on their own it’s really important to keep going to town, you know, go and engage with the community and meet your friends and see how everyone is. And, you can offer help as well as receiving help.

[00:21:06] Kathryn: Circling back to the Hope and Growth Photo Exhibition, Liz, given your own bushfire story, how was it for you being involved with that photo exhibition?

[00:21:19] Liz: Oh wow. Um, I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed talking to the other people in my street. A few of the other people on my street were involved in, um, they’d put their photos in and it was really lovely to talk to them about what had happened. it was also, I think, a really important chance for a lot of us to thank the emergency services, the bush fire volunteers and the people who were there because we often don’t get to see them except for when something happens, you know, and they see know them personally you don’t get much of a chance to say thank you. There were some wonderful poetry that was about thanking the emergency services personnel that had been there. And it was really lovely to see them getting out and feeling appreciated and feeling valued.
[00:22:04] Kathryn: Community events such as that photo exhibition is another way for people to get involved and to get connected with their community. Are there any other benefits that you’ve noticed or that you can think of for people when they do get involved in community projects like that?

[00:22:23] Liz: I definitely think that mental health support of similar events can’t be underestimated. A lot of the time when we think of mental health support or the mental health needs of the country and people who are living through a disaster or after a disaster, a lot of the time we think of counsellors or have social workers on hand or better access to mental health funding and things like that. But I think those events are of great value. Events that support the community as a whole to recover and support people to communicate their feelings about what’s happened in a creative way, help people who maybe struggle to verbalise or communicate how they felt about that event or communicate that they still are suffering from that event. I think having a community art practice like that was really a beautiful thing because you would see people who maybe at other times might struggle to talk about, Oh, hey, I’m still feeling like this. think having an event a few years after the fact might seem like that’s not really going to provide a lot of mental health support or that’s not really going to be the immediate help that’s needed. And you know, you do need immediate help and immediate support when something really big and traumatic happens, but it can take years for those emotions to come out. It can take years for you to actually access how you’re feeling. And I noticed that after about a year and a half after the bush fire, there was a smaller fire and they had the helicopters out again. And I had a really strong physical reaction that I did not expect just from seeing the helicopters and the change in the light that happens during a bush fire. And, you know, the smoke just covers the sun and the light is this really peculiar orange that you don’t really ever forget. It’s completely different to any other sort of light that made me realize that I was still actually affected by it. And then also again, you know, seeing the photos and hearing the stories brought a lot of things out that I had thought, you know, I’ve got this all sorted. I’ve had counselling, I’ve moved on and you realise that, Ooh, there are still some things there that I’m working through. And I think that was the case for a lot of us where getting together and talking about it was just a little step forward in the healing and a little step forward in reengaging with each other, and helping the community to, to heal and to move on and celebrate the good things that had happened. So, I think community events like that, where you’re not just focusing on having a chat or doing mental health work or trying to recover consciously, where you’re actually just connecting together and remembering, that’s a really important part of being a community, I think.

[00:25:23] Kathryn: Liz, we’ve covered a few different things in our conversation today from your connection to the community, your experience of being impacted by the bush fire and that burnt through your property and melted your water tank, the regrowth, we’ve talked about the Hope and Growth Photography Exhibition which you photographed the exhibition as well. And these opportunities for people to, I guess, explore their own recovery, either in structured or unstructured ways. And, once again, coming back to being connected with community and building strong communities. Is there anything else that you’d like to add into our conversation?

[00:26:10] Liz: I think, getting to know the countryside and the, bush around you is something that I don’t know if we talk enough about a lot of the time. The bush is sort of seen as something that we need to control or manage. And through the bush fire I actually learned a lot about the bush and about how we interact with it and how important that is for, not just our survival, but the survival of the environment that we live in. And it was interesting to see which trees burnt and which trees didn’t. A lot of the time we think of the bush as something that will all explode in flame, and we have to be cautious of it and we have to, I guess see it as something a bit dangerous, but I think that the more time we spend actually looking at what’s going on around us, the more chance we have of surviving when something like this happens and helping the bush to survive as well. Most of the eucalypts around my house didn’t burn. Their leaves didn’t burn. The little black cypress that I think a lot of people I’ve heard say, Oh yeah, they’ll go up like a candle. They didn’t. They all dropped their leaves after the fire from the heat. We lost almost all the stringy barks on the property because they did burn. And we lost a lot of our older gum trees. The parts of the bush where the trees are all dead the fire was so hot that nothing was going to stop it by that point. A really important part in, I think all of our houses surviving the bush fire was the fact that the state forest management teams had done a big burn off in the weeks before the bush fire, a huge burn off. They’d been in there for several days. And I think that really saved our little community because it would have checked the speed that the fire was going and the hotness of the fire. We do need more education on how to manage our bush. And we need more education on how to do a safe burn off, how to take out dead trees so that it doesn’t become just a ticking time bomb waiting for the next fire.

[00:28:18] Kathryn: It sounds like what you’re saying is if we get to know that land around us, get to know the bush, connecting with the community which helps with education, but also supporting that wider, that broader fire management strategy right across the community, that it’s not just you protecting your land, but you’re working together.

[00:28:41] Liz: Cos we’re really aware that it’s people around us, you know, whose houses are at risk as well as ours, you know, all of us. The fire got so close to the whole town that the whole town was at risk. And so the fire management strategies that the Park Rangers and the forest management teams and the council work on every year are just they’re vital. We can’t ever defund those because we will lose whole communities of people if we do. Their work throughout the town every year is just vital to to our whole community survival. But yeah, I think a lot of the older people have amazing knowledge that, you know, if we don’t engage with them, will be lost because they really know how to manage fire.

[00:29:27] Kathryn: There’s something there about that we have these people with some of that expertise and experience and being able to rely on them for some education, or being able to access information from them to help us as well.

[00:29:42] Liz: I remember reading about some programs that were happening here with Indigenous land management teams teaching on how to do a cool burn uphill and stuff like that. Like that was really interesting to see that all coming out after the fire. And I think that that would be amazing if we could get more education from people who actually have been doing it for so long. Land management practices of Indigenous people, I think, is an amazing untapped resource that communities could be benefiting from, and I know that the Park Rangers and things like that probably engage a lot more with local Indigenous people, but it would be wonderful to see the community itself being able to engage with that and a bit more of a, I guess, focus on recovering some of the knowledge that we’re losing there.

[00:30:30] Kathryn: Thank you Liz, for your time today. It’s been really lovely sharing this conversation.

Thanks for listening to the Speak Out Loud Stories of Strength podcast with me, Kathryn Walton. I hope this episode inspires you to get involved and to get connected with your community. You can find the transcript and any links mentioned in this episode, in the show notes and please share the podcast with your friends.
We acknowledge and pay respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual, and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Series Two of this podcast has been jointly funded under the Commonwealth and State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018.

Connection Through Digital Technology with Carmel and Adam Wooding

Transcript from the podcast “Speak Out Loud: Stories of Strength from the Southern Downs”

SEASON 2: EPISODE 10

GUEST: Carmel and Adam Wooding, Empower Digital

PUBLISHED: 28rd March 2022

Carmel and Adam Wooding

[00:00:00] Carmel: I think technology is just a tool to facilitate that connection that we as humans want, you know. We need each other. And I think technology is just a way to, to make that happen. Like we can see in online marketplaces like the Buy From The Bush, people want to support each other. And technology gives us a platform to make that happen so that people from the city can support bushfire recovery or flood recovery or drought, by purchasing handmade item from people that really need their purchases.

[00:00:25] Kathryn: Carmel and Adam Wooding join me on the podcast today to chat about how digital technology can help you to thrive by connecting you with your friends, family and community, as well as how digital technology is helping rural, regional and remote businesses across Australia thrive by connecting them with their customers and their teams. Carmel and Adam established their own business, Empower Digital, during the drought and the bush fires of 2019 in Warwick, Queensland. They also had plans to travel around Australia with their business when the pandemic changed what was possible. Their story reflects how important it is to have goals in your personal and your work or business life. But most importantly, it highlights the value of being flexible in how you work towards your goals. So the themes you’ll hear in this episode encourage you to connect and to be flexible in life and business.

Carmel and Adam, welcome to the podcast. Can you talk to our listeners about what your connection is with the Southern Downs?

[00:01:48] Carmel: Sure. Well, thank you so much for having us Kathryn. So my name’s Carmel Wooding and, um, I actually am a born and bred local Warwick girl, you know, I was raised here, went to school here, moved away after uni and moved to the Gold Coast and met Adam. And, uh, you know, the call of the Southern Downs was too strong. And after our second child was born, back we came.

[00:02:09] Adam: I’d love to first of all, acknowledge the Githabul People, um, the, the Traditional Owners of the land, that we are meeting on today. As Carmel said, I was born on the Gold Coast and before moving out here had absolutely no experience of living in the country at all. I’m a real beach boy. And so after I met Carmel and started coming and visiting Warwick, it was definitely a new experience for me coming out and visiting a country town and so as Carmel said, after our second child was born, we decided to come back and spend some time in Warwick while Carmel was on maternity leave and we had very, very strict plans that we were only gonna come and visit for 12 months. And we were definitely going to be going back to the Gold Coast. We were really sure about that, but I think, um, after I think about two weeks, I think it was, I remember Carmel and I sitting out here where we are now and just thinking, This is just so amazing, such an amazing lifestyle out here. Why would we want to go back to the crowded city? So we decided to stay in Warwick and I’ve just really learned so much and really love living out here now. And I think that for us there’s just so many opportunities and um, it’s just such a amazing way of life for us and our kids now as well. So, I don’t know if I can myself a local yet, but I, I definitely feel a lot more connected to the to this area now.

[00:03:34] Kathryn: And Carmel and Adam in 2019, you had a vision to empower small business owners to develop a stronger digital presence. And at that time, the Southern Downs Region was experiencing pretty severe drought and bushfires. And I recall Carmel, I was collaborating with you to offer some rural and regional small business owners, some education and support that they were needing at that time. What inspired you to start your business at that time? And this was pre COVID as well.

[00:04:05] Carmel: Sure. So, I’m actually an educator, I’m a teacher librarian by trade. And so, education has always really been a passion of mine. Adam has always done a lot in the digital space. So, the businesses that he’s worked for before and particularly in the, in the creation of his father’s business, Adam has always done really amazing things with small businesses in terms of getting them online, having an online store and great digital presence. So I think for us, it was kind of natural that both our passions came together. We decided we didn’t ever want to be gatekeepers and do things for people because we believe so much in empowering people and believe so much that people have the capacity to kind of be the master of their own future. They may just need help with the knowledge and skills to get there.

[00:04:51] Adam: Yeah I think that there wasn’t any conscious decision to start at that particular time, for any reason. Other than that we felt like the time was right for us to start our own thing and have our own business for our family. I had spent a lot of years um, working for my mum and dad’s business which was fantastic. They, they are so generous and, so giving and they always made us feel like we were part of that business, but we, we just felt like it was time for us to go out on our own and, and have our own thing for our family. So that’s the reason that we started at around that time.

[00:05:23] Carmel: And to be honest, Kathryn I think, um, you know, you did have a part to play in that because the opportunity came at that time for those local businesses to get support. And I think that was a real moment for Adam and I to go, Well, the need is out there for somebody to be doing this work. And I guess we were in a place where we were able to offer that to people as well.

[00:05:41] Kathryn: I also recall that at that time you had some plans to travel across Australia and that you were hoping to spend 2020 doing quite a bit of travelling. What impact did the COVID 19 pandemic have on your plans?

[00:05:56] Adam: You’re exactly right. We couldn’t have chosen a worse year to embark on a trip around Australia. No one could have foreseen what that year was going to bring but in terms of the impact for us, so we had planned to continue with our business while we were travelling. I remember that when the pandemic hit, we had about four or five projects lined up that we were planning on working on while we were travelling and everything, all those businesses, pulled out of those projects. So, at which we completely understand because it was such a turbulent time and no one knew what was going to happen. And um, we completely understand that those businesses just needed to put those projects on hold. But it was really stressful for us because all of our work just fell through and we had rented our house out so we didn’t have anywhere to come back to. So we were travelling but we had lost all of our projects. There was a couple of weeks there where it was, I found it really stressful, I think Carmel was handled it a bit better than I did, but, um, it was a really stressful time when that all started. But we fortunately made some changes to our business and started to offer some webinars and um, all kinds of different things like that. And really quickly, our business went in a little bit of a different direction and, and we were very fortunate to make new partnerships with other organisations and start focusing on helping businesses who needed to transition to online sales really quickly to make that transition. Then found a whole new market and are our business has gone into a totally different direction. That’s what we’re focusing on now.

[00:07:26] Carmel: Yeah, so, um, the plan for 2020 was to travel around Australia in a caravan with three children. Our business plan at that point was to run workshops in small regional towns and do a lot of in-person work to be honest because Adam and I are both very passionate about relationships, and very passionate about meeting people where they’re at. So when COVID hit, um, we did return to Warwick. It was about March. So we’d been on the road for about two months. And I think just the uncertainty, you really want to be close to home when, when you’re faced with that level of uncertainty. As Adam mentioned, we did, you know, have to rethink things, Well, can we make that personal connection through online meetings? And of course, we now know that we’re in the era of Zoom and Google Meet and all of those kinds of platforms that make that connection really easy. So, you know, we stayed in Warwick we got our business back on track. We kind of felt a bit more confident in the world and then we were really lucky. We were able to take off again about August, and managed to get five months of caravaning and working on the road in, um, where we got to go through the Northern Territory, did the entire coast of South Australia and the Victorian coast to Geelong before we had to come home and settle back into reality.

[00:08:31] Kathryn: So lots of adjustment and adaptation of the business but also of your own personal and family plans for travel.

[00:08:39] Carmel: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And our family dynamic and all of those kinds of expectations as well.

[00:08:46] Kathryn: Were there any surprising benefits for yourself, for your family or for your business through all of that?

[00:08:52] Carmel: Well, as Adam mentioned, COVID actually had quite a silver lining for our business because we found very quickly that what we were able to offer people was really beneficial and value adding to those businesses. People needed to get their businesses online because people just weren’t out to purchase things in bricks and mortar stores. So the services that we offered were really in demand. So COVID actually, even though our business did go in a completely different direction, it’s actually a really solid direction for us. And, really a way of working that we’re really passionate about and something that we, we actually really love. And in terms of our family, I think it taught us all to be a lot more flexible, taught us to be a bit more resilient I guess. You’ve got to see the silver lining in things, you know. COVID’s been a really hard time for lots and lots of people. And I don’t ever want to downplay that at all, but I think for us and for our family and for our business, we’ve actually come through COVID feeling confident that, that our business has grown and we’ve been able to help other businesses as well.

[00:09:48] Kathryn: Connection to community and to each other is one of the key characteristics of a healthy and a resilient community. And we’re seeing that from the research that’s coming out of the bushfire recovery studies and so forth. Throughout the pandemic businesses and individuals have really searched for solutions to this problem of isolation and feeling disconnected and the issue of distance. And yet people who have been living and working in rural areas and regional communities are really used to dealing with these issues of distance and connection. How is technology, because that’s the industry that you’re working in, how is technology helping communities, including Aboriginal owned businesses to connect with each other and to thrive?

[00:10:38] Adam: I think that technology is playing a huge part in all those things that you mentioned. So I think that there’s so many different aspects that technology is helping in. So I think first of all, the ability for business in those communities to sell their products to either domestic um Australia-wide market or international market. So there’s amazing platforms that make it so easy for those businesses in, in those rural and um remote communities to be able to reach a global market, to be able to create a following and create an awareness of their business and what they have to offer and to be able to then sell their, products and then bring income into their local communities. So I think that technology is playing a huge part in businesses, in um regional and, um, and remote areas. And I think also the ability for people in those communities to communicate and connect to other communities or, um, other relatives or people that are in different areas by being able to have virtual meetings which I think are so powerful. And with our business, we have formed relationships with people in communities all over Australia which is just incredible and and we would definitely not be able to do that without those digital tools.

[00:11:55] Carmel: Yeah, I agree. And I think, just a couple of things on that, Kathryn. So firstly, you know, I think technology is just a tool to facilitate that connection that we as humans want, you know. We need each other. And I think technology is just a way to, to make that happen. Like we can see in online marketplaces like the Buy From The Bush, people want to support each other. And technology gives us a platform to make that happen so that people from the city can support bushfire recovery or flood recovery or drought, by purchasing handmade item from people that really need their purchases, not just buying them online from Amazon or whatever. The other thing I think that is important to note is while technology is amazing, we need to be aware that we’re not all at the same level of access. When we were travelling around Australia in our caravan, it became really apparent to us. Even just, you know, we had our mobile phones and, and all of that kind of, technology. However, there were places that we went that technology just wasn’t available. There wasn’t an internet connection. We couldn’t stay there. We heard a really interesting point as we were travelling. There is an indigenous community, kind of on the Northern Territory South Australian border who had no, no internet, they had no phone towers and it wasn’t until the police needed to set up the COVID checkpoints between the states that they went Oh, well, there’s no internet here. We better get some phone towers put in. So that facilitated that community being able to access technology. So I think we do need to remember that we are really blessed. Even though we’re in regional Queensland, there’s lots of places in Australia that don’t have the access to use this technology to have that connection that we have.

[00:13:29] Kathryn: So it sounds like what you’re saying is these technologies can be wonderful tools for us to connect. Accessibility can be an issue for some people. Is there anything else that you would like to share with us around digital technology and how that can help or perhaps where it’s not helping individuals to connect with each other or for communities and businesses to connect with each other?

[00:13:53] Carmel: I think for me, one of the things that really has become apparent in our business is we do have quite a number of people and look a higher number of people in regional and rural areas who just think technology is not for me. I’m too old. I’m too old school. I didn’t have the opportunity to use it in the past. It’s too hard. And one of the most delightful things about our business is seeing somebody who says in our first meeting, Oh look I’m not tech savvy, go on to run a successful e-commerce store or to have a successful presence on social media. And I just really encourage everybody that there is no such thing as I’m not tech savvy. Everything in life is a learning and technology is no different. And I think there’s just so many potential benefits, particularly for business owners, to just give it a go, dip your toe itn the water. Like you can’t break it. It’ll be fine.

[00:14:45] Kathryn: Because that is a big fear, isn’t it? That if I touch something or press that button, it’s going to break.

[00:14:50] Carmel: That’s exactly right.

[00:14:52] Adam: We’re just so fortunate to have been part of so many incredible stories and so many incredible businesses. So we’re very fortunate to work with an amazing, amazing, organisation that’s based up in East Arnhem Land. And, it’s just this incredible community that has a, has a natural spring that’s on their land. And they are just doing really innovative things. So that they’re bottling their water and selling that online Australia-wide to generate some income for their community so that they can employ teachers and build more facilities. So that’s been an incredible project that we’ve been part of. And so many other businesses around Australia in, in really rural and remote places that have used technology to transform their lives and transform their communities. So, I think technology is a really positive thing and, and has huge potential for such a big impact on rural and remote communities in Australia.

[00:15:50] Carmel: And Kathryn you mentioned about, you know, were there any negative things that I see about technology. So of course I’m an educator. I’m in the education field. And of course, I think it’s just always important for no matter who you are, no matter what age to just maintain that information literacy and remember that everything you see on Facebook, isn’t the truth. So, you know, social media and particularly with our young people, you know, there’s a lot of comparing yourself to others. There’s a lot of, What am I doing wrong in my life because their life looks so good. And it’s in the business field as well, not just in individual life. But I think again, let’s just, let’s just remember that everyone has their bad days, they just don’t post about those days.

[00:16:26] Adam: Yeah I think that you just remind me of another negative aspect as well is, which is really, really bad at the moment is people who are trying to take over other people’s social media accounts and that sort of stuff by gaining access because people have, maybe really poor passwords or not very good security measures in place. So I think we’ve come across a couple of things very recently where, because people haven’t set up very good passwords or are maybe using the same password for multiple accounts, that sort of stuff, that either their bank accounts or their social media accounts or business systems have been broken into. And so that’s caused huge problems for those businesses. So I think, that’s just another area that we come across fairly often that I think business owners need to really be making sure that they have really good passwords and really good security measures in place.

[00:17:17] Kathryn: Thanks Adam. I was going to ask do you have some suggestions on how we can manage some of those challenges with technology? Because just like when COVID came and you had to adjust and adapt and flex your plans and find solutions to those problems that you were having, we can also look at some of these other challenges we have in life like the downside of technology. How can we see our way around that? How can we flex or adapt or adjust what we’re doing to reduce the challenge that we have in that area?

[00:17:50] Adam: Yeah, I think just some practical tools that people can use. So I think that first of all businesses need to just make sure that they are keeping all of their software up to date, making sure that they’re using the latest versions of all the different apps and programs that they use. I think that it’s extremely important that businesses use a password manager to manage all their passwords. I know that can be a little bit of a process to get that set up but it’s definitely worth the time and effort to do that. It can make a very big difference. And by using a password manager, make sure that you are using a different password on every different account that you have. And I think turning on two-step authentication wherever possible is also really worthwhile to do that too. And I think just being really careful about, um, about what links that you click on and who you share sensitive information with as well is really important.

[00:18:51] Kathryn: Adam, you mentioned an organisation that you’d worked with in East Arnhem Land, helping that organisation to develop their online presence and that there were so many benefits for that organisation in being able to do that. Reflecting on that process of being involved with some of those more remote communities, how does that feel to know that you’re part of facilitating their connection with the wider world?

[00:19:20] Carmel: Kathryn that was actually a community in East Arnhem Land. And they created this business called Knowledge Water. Their community is steeped in education, but they have a transient population. So their Homeland school is always under threat of being closed. So they kind of just went, Well, what can we do? How can we change this outcome for our children? But they didn’t want their children going to school in the nearest town four hours away because they were worried about the things that kids could get up to. They really wanted them on Country. And so yes, they just developed this plan to bottle in a sustainable way, their natural spring water and sell that and use the profits from that to then, um, long-term they hope to bottle it onsite. At present it’s not. But you know, they are educating teachers from their community to become educators in the community at their local Homeland school. And think to be part of that really did show us the power of technology because these guys are really working for their own self-determination, the ability to control their own future. Um, and so many communities unfortunately do feel powerless when their young ones have to move away to get work because there is nothing on Country for them to do. And I think really for us, the ability to be involved in that project was super affirming. It was never just a job for us, you know, we’re still connected to that organisation. We plan to work with them in an ongoing capacity. We rejoice at their successes. It’s just, um, you know, I think that’s how we work. We really do get involved with the businesses because we care about their outcomes.

[00:20:46] Kathryn: That’s really beautiful Carmel. And I’m thinking too, that the business that you’ve set up for yourselves here in a regional part of Queensland, because of technology, you’re actually able to reach out to some of these more remote communities who also are now becoming more connected and being able to be part of their world, part of their community, but from a distance.

[00:21:11] Adam: Definitely. It still blows us away every day that we’re able to run our business in a regional town and connect with all these incredible organisations and businesses and communities all around Australia and do that from our home office. And we wouldn’t be able to do that without technology. And think that it was a a really good time for us to start our business. COVID has made it more normal for remote meetings to be just a part of everyday life. And I think that that has actually been a real, a really positive thing for our business because now, we can just continue to make those connections with remote businesses using technology.

[00:21:49] Kathryn: And whilst you’re building your own thriving business, supporting other businesses and other organisations and communities to thrive as well. Adam and Carmel, what’s the best way for people to contact you?

[00:22:02] Carmel: I think probably by our website. Our online presence is www.empowerdigital.com.au but we’re also on Facebook and LinkedIn, Instagram, all of the socials.

[00:22:13] Kathryn: Thanks for listening to the Speak Out Loud Stories of Strength podcast with me, Kathryn Walton. I hope this episode inspires you to get involved and to get connected with your community. You can find the transcript and any links mentioned in this episode, in the show notes and please share the podcast with your friends.
We acknowledge and pay respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual, and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Series Two of this podcast has been jointly funded under the Commonwealth and State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018.

Connection to your Community with Marco Gliori

CONNECTION TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Transcript from the podcast “Speak Out Loud: Stories of Strength from the Southern Downs”

SEASON 2: EPISODE 1

GUEST: Marco Gliori, Councillor for Southern Downs Regional Council; Performance Poet

PUBLISHED: 7th February 2022

Marco Gliori

[00:00:00] Marco: There’s a voice to tell a story that could stir a restless soul
There’s a voice to call the final pass or toast a winning goal
There’s a voice that seems to lift the horse and rider past the post
Some voices whisper wisdom and some cannot help but boast
I have a voice for poetry though some dispute that claim
The rhythm rattles through me and I squarely place the blame
On the contours of the landscapes that caress me down the track
And the voices of the characters that echo when I’m back.

Kathryn: Today’s episode is a really fun one with Marco Gliori, chatting all about the things he loves most – the arts, culture and connection to family and community. It was an immense joy to record this episode with Marco which you’ll understand as you listen in to our conversation. Marco has a wonderful knack for inspiring others by sharing his optimism and enthusiasm. Regarded as one of Australia’s premier performers of bush verse, Marco is also a councillor for the Southern Downs Regional Council. In this episode, Marco shares not only his original verse, but also his thoughts on how individuals and communities can get through tough times.

[00:01:32] Kathryn: Hello Marco. It’s great to have you on the podcast

[00:01:35] Marco: Great to be here Kathryn

[00:01:38] Kathryn: Marco could we start this episode by introducing you. If you could explain to our listeners what your connection is with the Southern Downs Region.

[00:01:49] Marco: Thank you. At the moment I’m a councillor on the Southern Downs Regional Council. I was born here in 1963 at the Warwick Base Hospital. And my father is the reason we arrived in Warwick. He was an Italian migrant who came over after the Second World War and got a job as most Italians did at that time concreting. And they sent him to Lake Tinaroo in North Queensland to work on the irrigation up there. He met my mother Audrey a dairy farmer’s daughter whose farm now lies on the bottom of Lake Tinaroo. And they fell in love and took off down through Queensland working at Moogerah Dam, Coolmunda Dam, Leslie Dam. They had a child at every dam I might add and I was lucky enough to be born while Dad worked at Leslie Dam and we lived out there for the first two years of my life at Leslie Dam. One of the earliest memories I have is from that time living out there. I must’ve only been two or maybe three and running down the slopes and leaping into the Sandy Creek into the arms of my father who was squatted in Sandy Creek with all his work mates and the families with a stubbie of beer in one hand and a rollie cigarette in his other but he still managed to catch me. And they were rejoicing in the water being released from Leslie Dam for one of the first times I guess and flowing out down through Sandy Creek and out into the black soil plains. It was a really joyful time, a happy time, a hopeful time. And now when our dams are full as they are now that memory comes back to me. It’s an everlasting memory and a very joyful one. I grew up in Warwick. We moved into town after the dam was completed. And I went to Central State School, Warwick State High School. I had no real plans for life. And then Dad actually passed away two weeks before my 18th birthday. And the last thing I remember him saying was “You got to get a good bloody job. You got to get a good bloody job.” And of course he meant a career. So after Dad passed away I applied for everything that looked like an exciting career – the army, the air force, the Navy and I was actually accepted into the Queensland police force. So I had 10 years in the Queensland police force. So I attained the rank of Detective Senior Constable and had a great career. I really did enjoy it but there was something else that had me chomping at the bit to give a dream a go. And my dream was spoken word poetry. My father was a craftsman and I believe that while I wasn’t a craftsman like him, someone who could chisel a 22 rifle out of a piece of pine timber, I did have that ability to be tenacious, to be persistent, to take an idea and mould it. And I did that with my poetry, and my mother, by singing country music around the house, something as simple as that, sowed in me the rhythm of the ballad. So I left the police force and didn’t have a clue how I was going to do it but started becoming a performance poet as my job. And I was lucky enough to be contracted by the Queensland and Victorian Arts Councils. I performed over 3000 performances for them over a decade. I travelled on the road with my family. And this of course led into many more opportunities – spoken word festivals, the Maleny Folk Festival which is now the Woodfordia, the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the Outback Festival at Winton. I was flying around the country doing after-dinner guest speaking spots with my original poetry and it was just a wonderful way to earn a living. And I did that for 30 years and after 30 years on the road and my children had grown up I decided I needed to stay at home for a year. And it was during those first few weeks where I just started putting my feet up and thinking I don’t know what I’m going to do but I’m going to enjoy it, people started saying you should run for council. You should run for council if you’re here and you’re staying home. Oh how ridiculous I have no political aspirations. I have no political agendas. And after enough people tell you that you think “Well why not give it a go.” Something I was never afraid to do was step off the edge. So that’s why I arrive at the moment as a councillor for the Southern Downs Regional Council and loving my interaction with all the community and especially the arts and culture community.

[00:06:00] Kathryn: You would have seen the region go through various droughts and other natural disasters and other challenging times, and the region in particular more recently has been on a recovery journey following the bush fires that we had in 2019 and 2020. And there was drought before that. And of course since then we have had floods and we’ve had mouse plagues and we’ve had the COVID pandemic. Recently the Southern Downs Regional Council partnered with the Queensland and the Australian governments to celebrate the resilient spirits of this community. And we developed a photo exhibition called Hope and Growth and the images and the stories from that exhibition celebrating the resilient spirit have been on display at various locations across the region where you also performed one of your original verses that honours volunteers which I think was just so apt. There are so many volunteers involved in managing and recovering from disaster. I’m curious about when and why did you write that poem Volunteers?

[00:07:15] Marco: I had seen so many volunteers on the road travelling around doing festivals, events, places that had experienced bush fires, floods. They continue to be the inspiration within the community to create community, something to be proud of and to be proud of because they don’t require any recognition. I remember about 20 years ago we had a bushfire right here beside my place. It had started down in the gully with two electrical wires connecting up in the trees that were growing through the trees at that stage. It wasn’t on my property but it was at the bottom of a gully that led to my property. And I was in town one afternoon. No one was home. They were all at school and at work and I was at home, ducked into town, and driving back I saw my whole mountain in a big cloud of of gray smoke. I thought “What have I done? I’ve left something on.” I thought my house was gone. It was that ominous driving up towards where the gully started and it’s 1.2 kilometres from the road to my house. And that was a very long 1.2 kilometres but as I begin accelerating to the bottom of the gully I realised that the whole gully’s ablaze heading up towards my house. I didn’t know the wires had touched and that had caused it at that stage but about 30 meters up where it is, it’s a road but it’s literally my driveway into my house, I saw 20 people with wet bags. I saw a D2 dozer driving out of my driveway. This fire had only just started. I’m thinking “Where did these people come from?” And I was so lucky. They were actually having a firefighting course with the Hermitage staff right across from the fence from where I live at the state government research station which is closed at the moment. So I was just so lucky and I realised that these are the people that go out when the fires start, when the floods start and they they are so happy to just, they were so humble about helping me, but that fire burned for three days in my gully. The barrier that they formed, the safety barrier with the D2 dozer, the firebreak, saved my house from burning and my kids cried literally for days. I had three little girls at that time. They’d met all the wallabies and echidnas and the birds that lived in that gully and to just see that smouldering for three days, the tragedy, the psychological stress that that can place on children, families that are surrounded by fires and the aftermath is a devastating thing for a community. And to have this exhibition gave those people who were just on the frontline at the time the opportunity to stand back and relive that feeling of the ominous coming of the fire, the urgency there. And they could actually talk back then through their experiences in a calm, reflective way and say wow I didn’t realise it looked like that. So we had people on the frontline, the photographers, snapping history. And that is what’s important with an exhibition like this. Not just that other people get to share but those who were so entrenched in the experience get to sit back, breathe deep and say “How lucky were we? What have we to be grateful for?” And of course the great thing is we were grateful for the volunteers who step out there and save us. So this is that poem:

When your weary hands are trembling and the load appears immense,
When trouble like a Terrier comes scratching at your fence,
When waves of devastation flush your spirit from its core,
And common sense would have you kneeling down in very awe.
Watch them come with helping hands,
Rolling forth like marching bands,
Against the odds they’ll persevere
And stand their ground to Volunteer.
From somewhere west of nowhere, by the truckload they’ll appear.
Leaping down to fight beside you, at your shoulder, by your rear,
Armed with all the best intentions, firing gestures of goodwill,
Then retreating to the trenches when the spotlight starts to spill.
They couldn’t give two hoots for fame.
Their ever-ready boots are game.
Time is wasting! Crank the gears,
Saved again by Volunteers.
My Mother knitted jumpers in a cake stall down the street,
And volunteered a smile to every person she would meet.
To her, their grateful eyes were worth a thousand Souvenirs,
For twenty years she sat there with her mates the Volunteers.
No matter where their anchor lands,
They dedicate their helping hands,
For hands are valued more than cheer
When someone needs a Volunteer.
Now all around the world we see the troops are checking in,
To lend a hand as old Miss Fortune tries her best to win,
And should the future swallow us, the message will be passed
To start evacuating and, one guess who’s going last.
As the boats that harbour rich and poor
Go scrambling from each fatal shore,
The final hand to cast them clear
Will belong, no doubt to a Volunteer.

[00:12:26] Kathryn: Thanks Marco it’s a really powerful poem. I’m curious do you know how many times you’ve performed that one?

[00:12:33] Marco: I think the first time I performed it was at a cancer fundraisers breakfast – The Big Morning Tea in Toowoomba. And of course the organisers there said “Can we have a copy of that?” because my mother had that about her character. It wasn’t something that you went out and did. It was something that was ingrained in you from generations who had seen war time, who had experienced almost starvation in some areas, who had gone to school with dripping on bread you know as their lunches. That was their school experience. And here they were just instilling that in my generation. And I think sometimes, I wonder, if my generation has had it so good, so lucky in this fortunate, prosperous time in Australian history, that sniff of wealth for the working class of mines exploding in big wages for inexperienced, unqualified people that we’ve had this great moment in history where where we’ve been surrounded by abundance, a smorgasbord of opportunity. And now with COVID maybe it’s time for us to stand up as a generation, to refuel the CWAs, to rejoin the Lions and the Rotaries and the Apexes, to get out there and activate as is happening with our country halls, with the great Festival of Small Halls shows that have happened recently. That wasn’t just shows for entertainment. That gave an opportunity for the rural fire brigade to raise money, for the local schools to set up and raise money, for the local community to realise why those halls were created and how valuable they were in war time, of times of tragedy, communities would come together. And now when we stay home where we often don’t go out we have everything delivered to us whether it be on television, we have Facebook, we have delivery from restaurants. Maybe it’s time to get back out there in the community and let people know that we’re there to support them.

[00:14:33] Kathryn: It’s really interesting. The current research from more recent natural disasters is saying that one of the most protective factors that we have is to be involved with our community. And that’s backed up by what you’re saying there Marco, that historically people were really involved. That was part of their normal every day routine or just what they did getting involved with clubs and helping out. And certainly when we look at, for example the arts, which is another way of getting involved in the community, there are some benefits there for people’s wellbeing, being involved in various ways. I’m wondering if you can comment on that. As a whole community having the arts as a resource can be useful but also for the individual.

[00:15:27] Marco: The art galleries, our two regional art galleries, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Warwick Regional Art Gallery here, it became a sanctuary for me during COVID and during my early days as a councillor trying to grasp with all the political strategies, with all the information you’re asked to go through and work out some pretty important decisions. It was great to walk into those galleries and meet my creative workmates on a completely different level. I’m no visual artist but they became a sanctuary. And I think that opportunity exists for everyone in the community. If you’re having a tough time, if your kids are sitting around home worrying and asking you those questions, take them to a library, take them to an art gallery. Have a look around, see how you feel after 20 minutes in there. It does soothe the soul as it does the artists who create them. While you’re there, ask them about workshops, ask them what’s available for the kids. We have programs coming up in both art galleries for students, for young children, for students from headspace are allowed to come in and do some wonderful creative workshops that release emotions. And this is what it can do for you. When you go to your libraries ask them about the storytelling workshops. Ask them if there’s any poets and storytellers coming to do workshops. There’s an opportunity for you to tell your story. And this is what’s so important, I think, in times of adversity, is that you as a community member know that your story is being heard because they all matter. Every story matters. And once we all connect with each other’s story we have empathy. And once you have empathy you can come up with common sense solutions to soothe your society. To say “Well what do we need, really?” We need food. We need shelter. We need mateship. And that’s what you get from your volunteer groups. That’s what you get when you go into an art gallery community. I’ve always found it welcoming, wanting to talk with you about what’s happening from a visionary perspective in your community. What ideas do you have with recycling? What ideas do you have for your landscapes and waterways that sustain us? Do you want to just go out and clean by the Condamine River or Quart Pot Creek? Do you want to go to Artworks at the railway station in Stanthorpe and join in with their workshops or are you retired? There’s something there for everyone. Do you want to act and sing a song? Go to the Stanthorpe Little Theatre when they have their open nights. Warwick doesn’t have an amateur theatre group at the moment. That’s something I think that we could do up this end of town. And I think that once you begin to do that, once you get folk clubs back in the pubs, once you get school groups have their string ensembles or their bands playing in the art galleries, those sorts of things bring in the fathers and the mothers, bring in the students who are friends of those playing, bring your community in who just like seeing young people express themselves. And there can never be enough of that. And the one thing we don’t want to happen at the moment with COVID is that we become so fearful that we forget how to do that. And I think that is one of the things people worry about, “Well I’ll just stay home.” But in actual fact we’re going to have to go out eventually. So let’s be prepared to set that example that is about empathy, that is about sharing, that is about creative workshops, mental health workshops. Just discussing how you feel and if there’s an opportunity or your local hall to turn up because they might have a rural perspective with characters who are isolated on farms. Go along. Just sit there. You don’t have to say anything but it’s amazing how many people hang around afterwards and just keep talking and have that cup of tea because they’ve made the effort and you have got to make the effort.

[00:19:24] Kathryn: I think you brought up some really really important words there. There’s creativity, connection, understanding, empathy, being heard – because sometimes we think when we go to an art gallery or to a workshop that it’s about hearing or seeing somebody else’s work but there’s also that opportunity for our own expression to come through which I think is really important too. So it sounds like there are lots of opportunities across this Southern Downs Region for people no matter what age they are or what interests they have to to get involved in some way in the arts through some public groups and public opportunities. But perhaps even if they’re not feeling comfortable to get out and about there might be some creative ways for people to get involved with the arts in their own home or perhaps with a small group of friends.

[00:20:21] Marco: Yeah I mean there I was just telling you before we started this interview, I gave you a bottle of my homemade mango chutney. That for me is creative. I never sit down and make the same recipe anytime. I go to Sam’s fruitery down on the way to Stanthorpe and I get boxes of fruit or I might go to another local produce place and buy stuff that I, and I just come home. And for me it’s always a mixed match of different flavors and spices. I love doing that and what do I do? I take those bottles out and give them to people. I give them to people at art gallery launches. I give them to people like yourself Kathryn who share, are willing to share their stories and capture the stories of our Southern Downs. That in itself is an expression of interest in other people’s lives. We have people who go out and mow the verges of of our footpaths, who mow the sides of our roads. They do that simply because they’ve got a tractor and a slasher. They don’t have to do it. They’re often not compensated for it. They don’t do it because council can’t do it. They do it because they want to show a pride in where they live. I remember doing a story some years ago on stage in Brisbane that involved an Aboriginal mate of mine by the name of Dusty who was a radio announcer in Brisbane. And he was there in the audience so I thought “Oh there’s Dusty”, so I told this yarn about him and me going hunting in the Gold Coast Hinterland. And it had a one-liner at the end and everybody laughed including Dusty. As we’re having a beer after the show Dusty said “Oh that was a great yarn ya funny bugger.” And we were just laughing and he said “But you know that couldn’t have been me down there on the Gold Coast.” And I said “What do you mean?” He said “That couldn’t have been me down the Gold Coast, huntin’ down the Gold Coast.” And we’re laughing but I couldn’t figure out what he meant. I said “I don’t get you, what do you say?” And he says “I wouldn’t have been hunting down the Gold Coast Marco. I’m a river Murri. I’m from Charleville.” And he was so proud of where he came from and he had no doubt where his soul and spirit was attached to. I didn’t grow up with that. I floated down the Condamine River on a tractor tyre but my education was about the animals that lived at the river. But there was no obligation placed on me as a human being to connect myself to the landscapes and the waterways that sustained me. Those stories of Tiddalik the dreamtime frog, beautiful colourful stories that Indigenous Australians told around the campfires of this country under the canopy of the million star motel for thousands of years connected them in a spiritual way to where they lived. And I wonder how many of us can truly say we’ve found that. And Dusty, in that with his great sense of humour, in just a passing comment didn’t have to convince me. It was so obvious that he was always going to be connected to the rivers of Charleville cause that’s where his people came from. And as our young Anglo Saxon society grows and evolves I hope that we find that because if we don’t we’re going to be in real trouble. When I came back after that, hearing that from Dusty and just thinking “What do I know about this place where I live really? Why aren’t I bragging?” I brag it here.

Yeah I come from Warwick, you know Warwick.
Old people retire there.
Young people can’t wait to leave there.
And some actually do.
Up the street boots wearing cowboy hats climb into big cars and dirty utes.
That smell of oil, cattle and KFC.
Tough teenagers with skinny elbows stuck out the windows of 83 Geminis
Cruise past the shoppin’ centre shoutin’ “Hey boofhead” to a lucky mate.
Chattin’ up two Grade 10 babes
Fiddlin’ with that cool silver neck chain hot off the $2 stand at Silly Solly’s.

That was my teenage years. I remember that so clearly, just cracking laps up and down the street, playing footy. But there’s another part to our existence that I think when we sit in these quiet moments that we’re having through COVID, when we have time to reflect, we should think about who we are, where we come from and how do we connect to the planet. How do we connect to the Southern Downs? When I came back from working with Dusty I wrote a poem. I still remember the first verse:

I was born beside the Condamine
She is my dreaming place.
Within me deep her stories flow
She’s the river I embrace.
Cascading west from the Great Divide
Across the Darling Downs
Over waterfalls, through sandy creeks,
Meandering past towns.
Her vital veins injecting life
Where the morning’s misty air
Serenely cloaks the farming land
And houses cluttered there.
And Mother Nature’s weary voice,
I’ve heard her weep and pine
Whisper solemnly to thirsty humans
By the Condamine.

That was a poem that I wrote after talking with Dusty but I brought it home and then got the kids from Central State School to recite it on the banks of the Condamine River. And you can actually go online and watch them reciting that. So for me that’s another way of sharing your creativity with the community. You might write something, it could be a play, a song, a poem.

It’s where you’re from that counts old mate
The highway home, the boundary gate
That street your mind meanders down
The view by night of twinkle town
That sparkles in your very core, no matter where you wash ashore
What fuels your blood you can’t deny
The rivers flow, the rumbling sky
Granite rocks, the harsh terrains
Ranges rapping black soil plains
Cascading falls in a sandy creek
That murmurs every time you speak

That was a poem called Pride of Place and I was asked by Ron Bellingham, the former mayor of Warwick, when I was asked to write a poem pre-amalgamation that remembered where we all came from. And that was his phrase – Pride of Place. And I’ve actually adopted it. It’s a wonderful way to look at where you live. Do you have a pride in the place where you live?

[00:26:36] Kathryn: So that sounds like that’s about connection to place, the geography, the natural world. And there are also other aspects of the region that will help people to do that, will support them to do that such as the local festivals and the local resources and the community events and the people connecting to each other.

[00:27:00] Marco: Yeah, you can join the Landcare group tomorrow. Go and join and you will know exactly what I’m talking about. They will take you to all those places that are going to connect you to where you belong to right now. They’ll take you up into the mountains. They’ll take you to the rural places that are growing crops that want to make sure that the wrong weeds are taken out, that makes sure the environment is healthy. And they do it from not just a natural perspective, a nature loving perspective, but an economic perspective. You can do it with the different festivals and events we have that are often in beautiful places aren’t they? Like where do we have them? We have them in parks. We have them where people want to get together under a tree and by riverside. And we have that ability here to celebrate our seasons through events and events are essential to the way we live, the celebration of the harvest always comes with the events. The events industry, the arts and culture industry has had COVID come down on it like a guillotine. People don’t realise how important the events in culture industry, not just the people on stage but the backstage people, the people who own the tents where the performance has happened, the hospitality industry that suffered, the local accommodation houses that are suddenly empty and have to pay staff. There are so many things that go along with this art and entertainment industry that we’ve created and they often don’t get the recognition because they’re not a shopfront, they’re not a farm turning up with a truckload of produce. They just walk on stage and do what they do. But what you’ll find in times of adversity like COVID, the arts and entertainment industry will often produce its best work. And I think coming out of this COVID when we’re all back on deck we will value them more than ever. But don’t forget them now because I can assure you many of my friends who have mortgages, who are just struggling, are finding it more and more difficult to get up off the canvas. And the way we react now to what we’re going through, which is the great battle of our time, I mean my father lost millions in his generation, my mum, through two wars, and this is our great battle across the planet. How we react to this as a society will see how our children look upon us in history and who they become. And if they can be inspired by this rather than see us talk the world down, be negative, then we have hope that they will see the meaning of trust, resilience and all those catch phrases we use. Well we might have to really get busy using them, experiencing them, showing them off and letting kids know that it’s okay. This will be part of history one day and let’s hope the other side of what we’re experiencing with climate change, that that would be part of history as well. But we need our generation who has had so much prosperity, we need to knuckle down and get busy because that’s what happened after two world wars. They were just told to knuckle down, get busy. And they were keen to get on living because they’d seen so much of dying. And we haven’t seen that yet. We have been fortunate that we’ve had the facilities to manage this COVID pandemic better than past generations. How many million died with the Spanish flu? But we need to also remember that we’ve been in a very fortunate few decades especially in Australia, not across the world, but in Australia, and we, as a country, can set an example as we have done so far I believe with the way we react. And we need to give that example to our kids to take into their future so they can say “This is where I’m from, this is what I believe in, my parents did so much for me.” Like we talk about our generations, they went to war, they sacrificed, they built a nation back from a war torn world, And they built us up into something successful, inspirational around the planet. Let’s see if we can do the same thing.

[00:31:24] Kathryn: And I think when we look at the bushfire recovery and the whole cycles that we go through with natural disasters, just using the bushfire as an example, there’s devastation and we can feel hopeless. We can feel like this is never ending. Similar with the drought. Those two events were very closely connected of course. And through that photo exhibition that I mentioned or that we mentioned a little bit earlier, we can see that there is re-growth, that things do change. Things don’t stay the same always. But there are things that we can do to invest in that recovery and to make that more successful. And it sounds like what you’re saying with COVID at the moment is there are things that we can do to to invest in that recovery as well for ourselves, for our communities and for our world. And thinking about the arts in terms of that COVID recovery journey as well, that we can look towards times with some optimism, we can invest our time and our energy and our hopefulness into when the Jumpers and Jazz in July festival will be a really large vibrant event or perhaps it will be a little bit different, the Snowflakes in Stanthorpe Festival, the Apple and Grape Festival. And of course there are lots of other festivals that happen across the region as well so I’ve just mentioned a few of them.

[00:33:08] Marco: I think that what we can do is enjoy the quiet moments and we’ll often be inspired not by something grand but by a gesture, a moment where somebody’s kind to you, where families are opening their hearts to other families who might be suffering and those things like you said, words you used there like optimism, they’re pretty big, they’re pretty big character traits if you can have them in times of stress. And the community is always inspired and they’ll ask “Well how can that person be so optimistic?” And if they ask the question, they’re asking the question of themselves “What can I do to be optimistic?” Well maybe I can go out and volunteer. Maybe I can turn up and create something in an art workshop or pop down to Artworks Granite Belt, pop into the Warwick Art Gallery. Ask them what’s coming up, what can I come along and have a go at and create? And it’s amazing once you focus on the little things, the big things take on their own momentum and they just become as I said, part of history. The event mightn’t happen this year. It will happen next year. And that is optimism. That’s just saying “Well not today but tomorrow.” If farmers have lived with it all their lives. They go “Oh I was gonna plough that paddock today, well look at that beautiful rain. I’ll just have to sit back. I can’t do it. It doesn’t suit me but I’m going to have to put up with it. I might want to sell them cattle but the prices aren’t right.” So I mean this is rural Australia. we We deal with those things all the time and that’s why as you can see people are flocking to rural Australia. You can’t buy a house around here at the moment because they want that pace. They want that lifestyle. They want that little community that we’re talking about going out and catching up with people, riding your bike around the street, going to a local park that’s less than 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes drive anyone from anywhere in town. They’re pretty exceptional attributes for a region to have. We’re very lucky.

[00:35:15] Kathryn: Marco what keeps you optimistic?

[00:35:20] Marco: Well I think you can only go with what’s around you and that’s family. I try to do my best with my family, to keep them close, to keep them optimistic. I think if you inspire those closest to you it might trickle out. If you have mates that are down, go and check on them. That keeps me optimistic because you’ll always find someone who’s doing it worse off than you. It doesn’t take far to look. What keeps me optimistic is seeing the volunteer groups at small halls who are putting on events, who are doing the little things right and saying “We’re happy, we had 80 people here tonight and gee that was good.” They’re not after thousands. They’re not after big accolades or front page headlines. They’re just after what we’re talking about – community – and if they can get the 10 neighbours that live around that hall to come in and celebrate. My daughter got married in the Freestone country hall, the best wedding I’ve ever been to. And it was so because it had that attachment to what that hall was about and that’s creating community. Everybody said “That was just so relaxed in there wasn’t it.” And so they’re the things that keep me optimistic, is that you’ve got more people than not willing to have a go at creating something little that will build into something big.

[00:36:40] Kathryn: Now if any of the listeners are thinking, after hearing you talk so enthusiastically about local arts opportunities and volunteering opportunities, if anyone’s thinking “I might have a go at something” what advice do you have for them?

[00:36:58] Marco: Make a plan. Write things down, get someone else to run it by you. I had the wonderful Spoken Word Festival at Killarney where they approached me and we had a lovely chat around and off they went and the plan came, went stunningly. It was a great weekend. I think discuss these ideas with people who can help you. I can help you. The art gallery directors can help you. The librarians can point you in the right direction. Just ask. I mean, text me, email me and I’ll point you in the right direction. And there are a lot of council staff for example that can say “Well you know that project that you’re thinking about, if you can really articulate that well, there’s a bunch of funding coming up specifically for that style of event. Why don’t you put in for it?” But be prepared. So clarify your idea. Clarify what it’s going to cost, how are you going to fund it, what local events coordinators you might use or entertainers or hospitality people and get some quotes. Think about how you might manage that event both financially and artistically and logistically. And if you have trouble, the council staff are always happy to help you run through ways that you can put that submission together and then get some funding for it. I never applied for funding myself because I figured “Well, I know what show I’m going to do, I’ve got a bit of a profile so I’m going to put up some posters.” And I did. I loved that part of it you know, printing the posters, putting them in newspapers and backing myself as a performance artist. At some stage you’ve got to back yourself and that’s what I love doing. So if you’ve got a show and you’ve got five artists who want to perform on that show, you might collaborate with them and say “Let’s all put in some funds and have a crack at this. We might make some good money out of it.”

[00:38:53] Kathryn: So many opportunities for people who just want to have a taste of what some of the arts might be like. So there are often free workshops or low-cost workshops around but likewise there are also quite a number of fee for service type workshops that people can participate in either through these festivals or in-between times.

[00:39:15] Marco: That’s right we have two amazing art trials, Granite Belt Art Trail, Condamine Art Trail and they happen in different formats but generally there’s opportunities to do workshops. So you might create candles in one workshop and that’s couple of hours you’ve created a candle. Yep I love that or not for me but I enjoyed it I’ll go and try something else. Or you could do some painting workshops. You could do sketching. You can do textiles. And there are always artists there who are willing to mentor and help you through. Those sip and paint workshops – how popular are they! They’re always full very quickly. I think there’s more of the sipping than the painting that people are being attracted to but that’s great because that’s what CWA halls are based on – craft and cups of teas. And let’s have an event that’s based on this and that’s what artists are realising too, that if they can get out into those country halls, we’ll do anything from drumming workshops to textile workshops.

[00:40:16] Kathryn: Fabulous. Marco is there anything else that you’d like to share about how being involved with the arts or with projects or with volunteering can add great value to people’s lives?

[00:40:28] Marco: Yeah I just think being part of something rather than nothing. That means going out in the morning you can sit at your table and drink a cup of tea or you walk outside and try and spot that first bird of the morning. Walking down the road as I do with my 18 month old granddaughter, we stop and pick up colourful stones. We pull a bit of a bark off a tree and by the time she gets home she’ll have a collection of stones and barks and leaves and feathers that we find in the grass. And she’s fed a horse and you can’t do that everywhere but you can touch the earth. You can listen for a bird singing. You can smile at someone passing in the street and once you start to do that I think the next step is becoming part of something else other than just where you feel you’re trapped. Sometimes people can often feel isolated and trapped living in units in town. Grow a vegetable garden for goodness sake. We have this abundance of space in our housing blocks still in rural areas, not enough people grow vegetables. So just have a crack. Buy one little punnet of carrots and at least you’ve got something happening that’s regenerating life. And they’re the little things that you can do. I remember there are lots of places of worship or church groups, food vans, St Vincent De Paul’s, your Red Cross places where you can sit behind the counter, go out the back and sort through donations. There are so many places looking for volunteers. Men Sheds – I’m patron of the Warwick Men’s Shed – just going over there and seeing some characters turn up to create and get busy and other characters turn up to sweep the floor and have a cup of tea and work on the computers and do the accounts and everyone is there for one thing mainly, and that’s mateship. And that is the great thing about our culture is it has always promoted mateship. And we need to continue building on the strength that we have in that area which is bringing our community together through mateship.

[00:42:47] Kathryn: So being involved with something rather than nothing sounds like a really great place to start, doesn’t it? And from there building up connections to place and connections to people and connections to community. Marco thank you very much for your time. It’s been a real privilege to have a chat with you today and to record your stories around the arts and around volunteering, the stories around your life as well today for our podcast for the benefit of our communities as they recover from bushfire, from COVID from whatever those stresses might be in their lives. What’s the best way for listeners to contact you or if they’d like to find out a little bit more about you?

[00:43:36] Marco: I would just go through the council website. We’ve got a phone number and an email there.

[00:43:41] Kathryn: And we will include those details in the show notes for the episode.

Thanks for listening to the Speak Out Loud: Stories of Strength podcast with me, Kathryn Walton. I hope this episode inspires you to get involved and get connected with your community. You can find the transcript and any links mentioned in this episode in the show notes, and please share the podcast with your friends.

We acknowledge and pay respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Series 2 of this podcast has been jointly funded under the Commonwealth and State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018.

How to find parks where I live

how to find parksAt the time of writing this post, it’s late May 2020 and Australia is going through a staged process of coming out of isolation. The world is striving to manage human health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m seeing and hearing a lot of enthusiasm from people to get out and socialise more, but also to reconnect with outdoor spaces and places. That includes people who haven’t been especially interested in the outdoors before. I think people have become more aware of the role that getting out and about and connecting with the outdoors has on mental health and well-being.

Lots of people have been asking questions about how to find parks where they live, where they can go, what walks are around, how to get to places, what facilities are available in different locations, whether particular trails are suitable for young families or people with mobility issues, how to get started bush walking and so on.

In this article I’m going to begin answering some of those questions. I’ll give you a run down on what types of parks we have in Australia that you can access for outings, picnics, walks, bush walks and other activities. We’ll look at what the differences are between National Parks, State Forests, Regional Parks and privately managed parklands and what sorts of activities can you do there.

I wrote last year about the Goomburra Section of Main Range and in future posts I’ll share information about some of my other favourite parks as well.

What are National Parks?

National Parks and reserves are publicly owned landholdings that are protected and managed by Federal or State authorities. Many National Parks are open for public recreation activities and have infrastructure such as toilets, picnic shelters, campgrounds and marked walking trails. Some National Parks have designated mountain bike (MTB) trails and locations for abseiling, rock climbing, bouldering, and other adventurous activities. There are some National Parks with no facilities and some that are not open to the public.

If you want to know what National Parks are in your area, what facilities are there, what activities you’re permitted to do and so on, you can start by looking up the National Parks website in your state and check the Parks Australia website for information about the National Parks that are managed at the federal level. Here are some clickable links to help you find a National Park:

Queensland
New South Wales
Victoria
Tasmania
South Australia
Western Australia
Northern Territory
Australian Capital Territory
Parks Australia

Visitor Information Centres are dotted around the nation and are a great source of information about the National Parks in their areas.

Regional tourist associations will also have information including accommodation and hospitality options nearby.

Social media groups is another way to find out more about National Parks and other parks as well. Many people love to share their knowledge of different parks so this can be a fantastic way to get first hand information about people’s experiences and to ask questions that you might have. But don’t forget to check with National Parks for up-to-date information as well, especially about current closures. National Parks can be closed for maintenance, bushfires, extreme weather and other reasons so I recommend checking every time before you set out for a visit.

There are entry fees for visiting some National Parks and for camping which you may need to book ahead. Some National Parks have an online booking system for camping, and others are first-in-first-served. In certain circumstances you may need to apply for a special permit well ahead of time if you want to undertake activities such as running organised events or commercial tours.

What are State Forests?

State Forests are publicly owned lands that are designated for multiple uses and which may be managed by your state National Parks, plantation companies or other enterprises. There is a lot of variation in what activities are permitted in each state forest. Mountain biking is popular in some State Forests, as well as walking, bouldering, and 4WDing.

State Forests are also subject to closure for harvesting timber and other reasons, so once again it’s best to check what’s on offer before heading out. My suggestion is to get on the Internet and search for State Forests in your area to find out more. Very generally there are fewer facilities and less infrastructure provided at State Forests than in National Parks so you need to be prepared to be self-sufficient.

What are Regional Parks?

There are lots of other public parks and reserves that are not National Parks or State Forests. Many of these are managed by regional councils or other local authorities so we’ll refer to them here as Regional Parks. They could also be managed through partnerships between different authorities and even with the private sector. Because the management can vary from place to place, you’ll need to look up your local council government website, or contact your Visitor Information Centre or your regional tourist association for more information about what’s around and what you can do there.

I want to give another plug for Visitor Information Centres. They can be a wealth of information about all sorts of local attractions, not just parks. And they should be able to tell you or give you brochures about local marked or signed walks, places where you’re allowed to take your dog, and parks where there are public toilets. Information Centres are often staffed by volunteers who are enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge of their area.

How do I find out about privately owned places that I can visit?

There are some privately owned or managed properties that the public can access for recreation, often for a fee. I’m thinking here about campgrounds, bush retreats and farm properties which allow you to camp and/or use the property for bushwalking, bike riding, climbing, bird watching, photography, picnics and so on. These properties are usually required to comply with certain regulations or have a licence and insurance to allow visitors. Once again you can find out about them through Internet searches; social media groups; Visitor Information Centres; and travel, tourism and accommodation platforms.

Your mental health will thank you for it!

I hope this article has given you some helpful information about how to find parks in your region and what the differences are between National Parks, State Forests, Regional Parks and privately managed park lands. All of these parks offer a different range of outdoor experiences and activities. It’s absolutely vital for your mental health and overall well-being to get out, to be active and to connect with nature. And my aim is to help you to do that in ways that are safe and health-giving as well as good for the environment.

Listen to the audio version of this blog on the podcast!

You can listen here to the audio version of this article on the Outdoors is my Therapy podcast, or find it on your favourite podcast player and remember to subscribe so you won’t miss future episodes about places you can go to get your outdoor therapy!

Daisy Spoke

Discovering mountain biking as life’s ultimate parallel universe in her middle age, Kathryn Walton shares information and reflections in ‘Daisy Spoke’ that inform, inspire and empower women to a healthy and active lifestyle.

Get Organised: working from home

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Have you needed to get yourself and your household organised so you can be working or studying from home during the current coronavirus isolation? In this article I share why working from home works well for me (at least at the moment!), the fact that it can take a bit of experimentation to get it right for YOU, and a list of things that I find helpful to work effectively from my home office including systems, tools, routines, and all the other invisible stuff that people often don’t talk about.

Over the last couple of months we’ve seen an unprecedented rise in numbers of people working from home all round the globe. Even though there’s been a gradual transition towards remote work over the past few years, the current wave of moving work to home is absolutely astounding to witness. Getting organised to work from home is just one of many significant changes the world is adapting to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How are you getting along with it?

I had a love-hate relationship with working from home for a long time

I’m sitting in my home office as I write this blog. At the moment I’m loving it! You see, I’m used to working from home, but that’s not to say I haven’t ever struggled with it! I had a love-hate relationship with working from home for a long time, and I’ve learned what works for me and my family in the space I have. Being self-employed, I’ve pivoted my business a couple of times over the years to better fit my vision, my family and my desired lifestyle. And that means I’ve needed to adapt and re-adapt more than once.

Kathryn looking at camera with wide eyes and smiling. Background of rainforest.

These days a lot of my work can be easily done from home and it saves a lot of money in office rent! My days are mostly spent preparing for workshops, collaborating by email, managing and promoting projects, applying for grants, using video-conferencing and phone for consultations, and of course writing. Not being able to lead bush adventure groups, retreats or workshops, or meet up in person with collaborators at the moment, means I now have space in my day to create my new podcast. This is also easily done from home. All in all, working from home is a really good fit for me.

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Getting organised to work from home will take some experimentation

I’m going to share with you a list of things that works for ME with the responsibilities I have and the home environment I’m in. You can use this list to inspire your imagination to make working from home much more do-able for you.

This year, 2020, is the first time in 24 years that I haven’t had school-age children with all the responsibilities that brings. It really has made a huge difference to my work output even though we’re a family of introverts and there isn’t a lot of noise or activity in my neighbourhood! I live out of town on a property in regional Queensland, Australia. YOUR responsibilities, family commitments, home environment, culture, workplace expectations, personality and supports will all have a bearing on how you get organised so you can work from home. It will take some experimentation, practise and negotiation with your employer to optimise how effective and efficient it is!

Patiently persist!

What does it take to get organised so you can work from home?

Here’s my list of the most important systems, routines and equipment I use to keep myself organised when working from home:

The actual office
  • Reliable internet (which only came into being in my region a few short years ago – such a blessing!)
  • Computer with webcam
  • Printer
  • Smart phone
  • Stationery (yep – good old notepads, pens, sticky notes, stapler, diary etc)
  • Yearly planner
  • Desk and chair adjusted for ME to support MY posture
  • A quiet space for my office that also provides privacy for calls, video-conferencing and note taking
  • Office door that gets closed during confidential discussions or when I need to reduce distractions
  • A window to look outside, let the natural light in and let the breeze through
  • Resources, books and filing cabinet

Make a list!

Systems and tools
  • Asana for project management and daily to-do’s – I love checking off my completed tasks and replicating projects on Asana to save my time. Asana can also be shared in a work team and it syncs beautifully between your devices so it can update in real time.
  • Keep Notes” – I use this for lists and it also syncs between devices
  • Canva for basic graphic design
  • Paper notepad systems – I have separate A4 notepads with different coloured covers for different purposes eg notes from training programs, notes from meetings with collaborators, notes about amazing business ideas that I don’t want to forget
  • Alarm – I set a timer for some work tasks and use the alarm for meeting reminders
  • Spreadsheets – I still prefer pen and paper but electronic spreadsheets have their advantages. I use them to log my time and budgets on various projects
  • Email program – I close it down when I don’t have to have it open because it’s a distraction
  • WordPress – mostly easy to edit by myself to keep my website, blog and web shop updated
  • Mail Chimp – stores subscriber lists and templates for outgoing emails

The challenge with time management is to manage ourselves

The invisible part of getting organised
  • Boundaries – This is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect of getting organised to work from home. Set boundaries or parameters around your availability, work hours, work space, people, emails, phones, meal breaks, toilet breaks, social media, housework, cooking, grocery shopping, everything! If it’s outside your work hours, turn it off. If it’s not being used in the moment, turn it off.
  • Distractions – Turn off notifications on anything that really doesn’t matter or that distracts you during work time. Create rules about interruptions and be ready to gently remind others about them. Use self-discipline (see below).
  • De-stress your workspace – A cluttered workspace can add to your stress levels. Eliminate what you don’t REALLY need and add some stress-reducing features such as a pot plant, a painting or calming music. Keep your workspace tidy and uncluttered by developing systems to ensure that it doesn’t become a dumping ground for ‘stuff’.
  • Places and spaces – Create designated places and spaces for work materials, tools, resources. And then use them rather than spreading everything across the room or the house. Keep it organised – especially anything confidential.
  • Legal issues – Check with your employer, insurer, council and landlord about your rights and responsibilities regarding working from home.
  • React vs respond – If a new task comes up and it can be done in less than 2 minutes, do it now. Otherwise schedule it.
  • Self-care and self-discipline – These go hand in hand. Stick to the task you’re working on and manage distractions. Imagine that your boss, colleague or a video camera is watching (this is not meant to make you feel paranoid!) – what would you be doing differently? Are your actions aligned with your values and intentions?

Are my actions in alignment with my values when working from home?

  • Rewards – Reward yourself with a relaxing activity when you’ve achieved your work goals, reached the end of your work hours, or stayed on task. This is a great way of marking the switch between work and personal time.
  • Task Lists – Write a list of tasks for each day, categorise them, prioritise them and cross them off when you’ve completed them. Keep your daily to-do list short and keep another list of lesser priority tasks handy that can be brought up as your list gets shorter. I use Asana because I can categorise tasks into different projects and re-prioritise them as needed by sliding them over to the next day or next week. I used to use my diary or notepad or sticky notes – use whatever system works for you.
  • Sense of humour – A sense of humour doesn’t go astray – I’m working on that one 🙂
  • Family / household support – Talk to your family or housemates, including children, to plan how to meet everyone’s needs through the day (and night). Enlist help and support and work as a team as much as possible. Everyone can contribute to deciding on the priorities and how they will be put into action.
  • Systematise your meal times – Plan meals ahead including who’s cooking each night and what time you’ll eat. This also helps optimise your time grocery shopping!
  • Batch as many tasks as possible – Using batching techniques for work and personal tasks. I batch my social media design and scheduling as well as my baking which can be frozen and used later.
  • Put the big rocks into your day first – Plan the little tasks around the bigger tasks that are less flexible or time consuming. Watch my video on getting organised by putting the big rocks into your day first.
  • Time your tasks – Plan your trickiest work tasks for when you feel most alert and when the house is at its quietest.
  • Be consistent and clear – Put your work times up on your door, fridge, notice board or anywhere that your family will see it, or maybe an OPEN and CLOSED sign. You can also add work times into your email signature, Google business page and other web-based applications. If you respect your own boundaries, others are more likely to as well.
  • Move more, sit less – Get up and move around regularly, at least every 20-30 minutes. It can be tempting to stay working if you’re in flow and everything is quiet but your health and well-being needs you more.
  • Delegate jobs around the house – Invest time in teaching others how to do things for themselves. Don’t be a martyr to your work or to the household. This is an opportunity for everyone to learn and develop skills for life rather than another thing to feel guilt about.
  • Wear a uniform or work hat – Create a mental and visual boundary between work and personal hours by wearing a uniform, designated work clothes or even a hat that signifies to others as well as yourself which ‘mode’ you are operating in.
  • Celebrate – Identify, acknowledge and celebrate when things go well! It’s ever so easy to get caught up in what’s problematic without being present for the little wins and moments of joy along the way.
  • Problem-solve – Persist, be patient and get creative when something isn’t working so well. This is an experimental time for many workers and employers. View it as an experiment and explore the challenges and the possible solutions.
  • Connect – Create or request opportunities to connect with your work tribe and other supporters regularly by having online or phone meetings, morning teas and brainstorming sessions.
  • Think outside the box – Create opportunities to make things work! Working standard office hours may not work when you’re working from home especially if you are also supervising children playing and studying. In fact, it’s unlikely to work! For example, I typically do my internet-heavy tasks (eg watch training videos, upload videos) before 7am because that’s my off-peak internet time. Then I’ll spend a few hours of personal time before getting back to work till late afternoon or evening. I aim to leave my social media tasks till late in the day, use normal business hours for connecting with colleagues, and spend my most energised hours on tasks that need the highest level of concentration.

With any obstacle quote

Wow there really are so many aspects of getting organised to work from home when you start to list them all out! This is not an exhaustive list and some of them won’t work for you in your situation. But I do hope it gives you some hope and some ideas to work on for yourself. Let me know how it’s going for you!

Hot chocolate and home baked muffin
Time for hot chocolate and home baked muffins!
Daisy Spoke avatar has long curly hair and smiling mouth

Discovering mountain biking as life’s ultimate parallel universe in her middle age, Kathryn Walton shares information and reflections in ‘Daisy Spoke’ that inform, inspire and empower women to a healthy and active lifestyle.

How to keep exercising during the coronavirus pandemic

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In this article I’ll be sharing 20 ways to keep exercising during the coronavirus pandemic. Whether you are able (and allowed) to get outdoors or whether you have to stay indoors while you’re isolating, there are plenty of ideas here to keep your body moving and your mind feeling at ease.

Isolation around the world during the coronavirus pandemic

No matter where you live in the world as I write this blog post, you will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the health and government directives to manage its spread. Many people are isolating themselves at home or in hotels, and options to spend time outdoors and to exercise and socialise have been restricted.

But, you need to continue to nurture your health including your mental health. You may need to be creative in how you get your regular exercise fix, your outdoors time, and how you socialise.

Mental health risks during isolation

For myself, one of the biggest fears I had about isolation practices was concerning my mental health and the mental health of other people. Vigorous exercise, time in nature, and deep connections with others form the foundation of my ability to function. Without them, I’ve really struggled in the past. And I know I’m not alone. Exercise and movement also boosts your immune system which is incredibly important now too, and it provides protection against future disease.

Stay active and stay connected when you can’t get about freely

I’ve collected together some ideas to help you stay active, stay connected with the outdoors, and stay connected with others during periods of isolation. These ideas are just as useful for other times in your life when you can’t go out as freely as you’d like to such as:

  • when you have to stay home to care for young children or someone who is not well
  • during times of injury, sickness or limited mobility
  • when your non-working hours are after dark
  • when you’re travelling

Caution: check your local regulations about isolating during the coronavirus pandemic

Of course, you need to pick and choose, or innovate your own ideas based on your own circumstances, what your local regulations require and what resources you have access to. Not all these ideas will suit everybody or every situation. Naturally keep your physical distance from others during the pandemic, and don’t take any unnecessary risks that might result in injury and the need for medical assistance. Another thing – be mindful of the level of noise and disturbance you might make if you share a house with others, live in an apartment building, or if you live on a small block.

We’re all in this together!

Let me know if you have other ideas to add to mine and we’ll include them in a follow post! Remember, we’re all in this together and supporting each other is the best way to overcome challenges like this.

fear and possibility

20 ways to keep exercising during the coronavirus pandemic

  1. YouTube videos provide a wide selection of workouts for you to do in your own time at home. Look for ones that have been created by accredited instructors or recommended by exercise physiologists or physiotherapists.
  2. Virtual gym classes enable you to participate in a class in real time. Generally virtual classes are streamed live and everyone participates at the same time from their own location. Check if your local gym is offering these (most gyms have closed their face to face services at the time of writing), or search for online businesses and exercise apps which offer this.
  3. Home equipmentMake use of what you have at home such as weights, skipping rope, Swiss ball, steps, and old exercise DVDs . You can adapt everyday household items too such as water bottles or cans of food for weights, and don’t forget the stairs in your house can add value to your workout too.
  4. Virtual accountability buddies can check in with each, hold each other accountable to daily activities, and support each other to problem-solve issues as they come up. You can probably find an accountability buddy amongst your contacts, friends or work colleagues.
  5. Get out where and when you can. Look for opportunities and make the most of them while you can. If your local park is open and it seems quiet around dinner time, that might be a good time to get out there because you never know when places like that will close, or when your household will be quarantined.
  6. Plan and track your exercise in a journal to keep yourself committed and valuing your daily exercise on an ongoing basis. Take it another step forward by tracking how you felt before and after your workouts as well as your recovery experiences.
  7. Callisthenics, stretches, and body weight exercises were probably part of your school Physical Education classes. Do you remember star jumps, lunges, squats, jogging on the spot, push ups, and planks? If in doubt about injuries or medical conditions seek advice from an exercise physiologist or doctor first.
  8. Put on some music and dance and move to the rhythm! This isn’t about your style or skill – it’s about moving and having fun! Invite your household to join in.
  9. Chair yoga is great if you are not feeling well, have balance problems or limited mobility. Look on the Internet for workouts by yoga instructors who have adapted traditional yoga for use in seated positions.
  10. Street dances / classes are happening around the world in some suburban areas. Check if this is allowable in your area, and if so, organise a designated time for you and your neighbours to come out into your front gardens or patios for a dance-off or workout. Remember to maintain your physical distance!
  11. Backyard workouts are as varied as your imagination. Is there a job in the yard you’ve been meaning to do ‘one day’? You’ll get a great workout lifting logs, moving rocks, pruning trees and digging in the garden. You can also create an outdoor workout space in which you can jump obstacles, climb a pole, move through an obstacle or slalom course, practice bike handling or skate boarding skills, run around with the kids, or play games with your pet dog.
  12. Birdwatching from home is an activity that can have you moving gently and quietly around your garden, or if you are not able to go outside, watching from your balcony or window. Grab a bird identification book from your shelves or research your finds on the Internet or using an app such as eBird. There are also plenty of online forum and social media groups sharing birdwatching experiences.
  13. Mindful walks are another gentle activity that can be done in your own yard, footpath, or even indoors. Bring your attention to the sensations of placing your foot down and slowly moving your weight, lifting your foot and placing it forward. You can also bring your attention to the sensations in your legs and the rest of your body as you walk.
  14. Be a kid again! What did you do when you were a kid? Active kids don’t need dedicated exercise or outdoors time because their activity tends to be spontaneous and spread throughout the day. What did you do when you were a kid? I played elastics, tiggy / chasey, Red Rover, trampoline, balance games such as balancing on a log, backyard cricket and soccer, and hitting a ball against a wall. Don’t leave it only to the kids – these activities are perfect for any age!
  15. If you have children living in your household, get down on the floor and play! Games like wrestling (gentle of course!), kneeling chasey and indoor hockey can give everyone a great workout.
  16. If your National Parks, regional parks and State Forests are open and are not busy with other people exercising, go for a walk or a bike ride being careful not to stretch yourself past your comfort zone by taking any unnecessary risks or going off track.
  17. Make your own workout space at home by creating a dedicated exercise space (if you have the room) in a spare room, a section of the living room, the garage or the verandah. If you don’t have enough space for this, you can get yourself organised by creating a dedicated storage area for the equipment you use in your workouts.
  18. Use an App to track your activity levels, and if you’re into it, you can share your stats with your friends.
  19. Create circuits or stations with a variety of exercises, moving from one station to the next every minute (or longer or shorter if you prefer). Keep moving around the circuit to complete your workout.
  20. Use active indoor games like indoor hockey, quoits, and freeze as an alternative to your usual workout whilst having fun with your family or housemates.

Plan of Action

Now it’s your turn – what will YOU do?

Now it’s your turn to put these ideas into practice so that you look after your health, including your mental health in spite of the limitations you have during a period of isolation. Which of these ideas would you like to try? Have you got some other ideas to share with our readers? I’d love to hear from you and include your ideas in a future post. How will YOU keep exercising during the coronavirus pandemic?

You can listen to this article on the Outdoors is my Therapy podcast!

Daisy Spoke avatar has long curly hair and smiling mouth

Discovering mountain biking as life’s ultimate parallel universe in her middle age, Kathryn Walton shares information and reflections in ‘Daisy Spoke’ that inform, inspire and empower women to a healthy and active lifestyle.