Awe in Nature

There is infinite awe to be experienced in nature and the wide open spaces of the outdoors.

Helen Lewis, Picots Farm

Season 2 of the Outdoors is my Therapy Podcast

The Outdoors is my Therapy podcast is back for Season 2 and in each episode you’ll get to meet one of my friends who’ll share what inspires them about the outdoors. Each episode is just a few minutes long, like a little snack of information and inspiration that feeds your mind and your heart and reconnects you with the therapeutic benefits of the outdoor world.

This is the transcript from the latest episode with my friend Helen Lewis from Picots Farm on the Southern Downs in southern Queensland.

Awe in Nature with Helen Lewis

Kathryn: How many times have you experienced a sense of awe in nature? You know that feeling of immense respect combined with curiosity and wonder when you’ve noticed something in nature. Perhaps it’s something that you’ve seen or you’ve heard, or you’ve touched, or you’ve smelt, or perhaps you’ve tasted it. And how often have you kept that feeling close to your heart as you’ve gone about the rest of your day or cherished the memory of it in the years afterwards? Experiencing awe in nature can connect you to the greater world around you. Some people speak of awe as a spiritual experience that helps them to transcend challenges in life and raise their sense of wellbeing. There are many factors that contribute to that experience of awe, and each of us will find different things awe-inspiring: sunrises and sunsets, bird song, the desert sands, the touch of the breeze, waves in the ocean, microscopic creatures, gigantic animals, ancient trees, birth, death, dew drops and more. The close association between mental health and that experience of awe has been documented in many scientific studies and incredibly, when you experience awe, changes take place in your brain and your behaviours change too. You feel calmer and you feel more connected to the good stuff in life. When it comes to awe, Julia Baird, an Australian bestselling author wrote a book called Phosphorescence with the subtitle On Awe Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark. In her book, Julia writes of awe “…[that] it seems increasingly vital that we deliberately seek such experiences whenever we can. The good news is that they are very often all around us in every corner of nature.” And by the way, Julia has a TEDx talk on the same topic, which I’ll link in the show notes. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from my friend Helen Lewis, as she speaks about awe as well. Helen lives on a farm near Warwick in southern Queensland where her lifestyle is intimately connected with the outdoors. You’ll hear Helen share her sense of awe and her wonder about the natural world around her, the changes that she sees day to day and season to season, and the special spaces and the experiences that inspire her. Meet my friend Helen.
Helen, what inspires you about nature?

Helen: Well, being on the farm, I think I’m in awe of nature. I think it’s just quite incredible how it functions and the growth. I definitely think, coming out of the drought and the enormous response we got so quickly, was very telling, of yes, our management, but also just how, um, how quickly nature wants to regrow and rejuvenate itself, I guess, and, and um, responds to the right conditions. I guess one of the things I love is in summer when we’ve got dewy mornings and going out really early and just seeing all the spiders webs and just the intricacy. And we were actually had a spider build a, um, web on our veranda and between the posts and put so much effort into it. And then we had a huge amounts of wind and rain and just gone in an instant and then sure enough, next day, she’s back at it, doing it again. And look just the amount of time and effort that they put into those spider webs and just seeing the spiders webs with dew, you know that things are functioning if we’ve got so many spiders webs and took a photo of there’s just like hundreds of them within an acre, you know, like just everywhere on all the grass and everything. And it’s just magic.

Kathryn: Do you have a favorite place or space in nature?

Helen: Yes, I do. Down on the um, on Greymare Creek on our place, um, there’s all these old river gums and the green grass, and old logs. And, even when it’s dry, it’s just this lovely place with a lovely, feeling. And then when it’s got water in it it’s even obviously more majestic, but, yeah, I love, I love going down there and, just having a look and just seeing these old trees, and the bark on the trees and the patterns of the bark and, uh, and just the location of the trees. They’re very grand in the landscape. It’s a beautiful spot.

Kathryn: Thanks for tuning in to the Outdoors is my Therapy podcast. We hope you feel inspired to connect with the outdoors no matter how big or small your adventures might be. If you’re looking for more inspiration or you’d like to connect with others in the Outdoors is my Therapy community, check the show notes for all the links.

LINKS
Contact Helen Lewis at Picots Farm

The power of feeling small: how awe and wonder sustain us | Julia Baird | TEDxSydney

Phosphorescence: On Awe Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark by Julia Baird

Contact Kathryn via her website

Grab your free Guide to a Perfect Nature Escape Day when you subscribe to the Grounded Inspiration newsletter (limited time)

Join the Outdoors is my Therapy Facebook Group

“Your Personal Day of Retreat: A guide to planning self-care and stress management that really works” e-book 

You can listen to the “Awe in Nature” episode here:

Listen to Helen Lewis talk about decision-making tools in the Speak Out Loud: Stories of Strength podcast:

Movement and Mindset with Jessica Carey

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

SEASON 2: EPISODE 12

GUEST: Jessica Carey

PUBLISHED: 4th April 2022

Jessica Carey at Girraween

[00:00:00] Jessica: When we work on our mindset, when we work on our emotional resilience, when we’re connected to nature and when we’re moving our body, it actually shifts energy. It moves and creates change. And I think within anything to do with movement, it is creating change not only on a physical level, but with your mental health, also with your emotional wellbeing, which are all part of being a human, like when we’re very multifaceted and it’s not a one size fits all thing. It’s about choosing what works for you and, what makes you feel good. And I think that’s really important.

[00:00:42] Kathryn: My guest today is Jessica Carey. Jessica’s deep connection with the Southern Downs Region goes back six generations. In our conversation, we chat about the cycles and the seasons in nature, and that by choosing your mindset and your actions, you also choose to build your personal strength and resilience and this positions you in a much better place to manage the changes, the cycles and the seasons in life. Jessica also shares in this episode, her love of physical activity and sport, and the many opportunities across the region for joining in structured activities like sport, as well as unstructured leisure activities such as bushwalking that gets you connected with nature. Our conversation reflects many of the themes that we’ve explored in Season Two and I’m sure it will inspire you to get out there and get active.

Hello, Jessica. Welcome to the podcast.

[00:01:46] Jessica: Hi Kathryn. Thanks so much for having me.

[00:01:48] Kathryn: Can you tell our listeners what your connection is with the Southern Downs?

[00:01:53] Jessica: My connection with the Southern Downs is very much family-based. So I’ve grown up in the region and I have six generations back, uh, on both sides of my lineage and family line in the Yangan and Emu Vale area.

[00:02:08] Kathryn: During the drought which we had over several years, and that was followed up by the bush fires in 2019 and 2020, I spoke with a lot of people about their experiences. And some words that were commonly used were devastation, hopelessness, and despair. And so clearly for many people, those were really tough times. But at that time, I also recall having some conversations with you too. And you had a slightly different perspective, I’d have to say, which I really think must’ve helped to boost your resilience. You were speaking about the cycles and the seasons in nature and in life, and there are purposes and benefits to each of those cycles and seasons, even though they can be challenging. Could you share some of your thoughts on that perspective with us a little bit more?

[00:03:00] Jessica: I would love to. So in my profession I have a lot of conversations and I hear a lot of stories, uh, from really beautiful and happy memories to really hard times, um, being a hairdresser. Yeah, people are really vulnerable with you. So feelings of devastation and hopelessness and despair were definitely very common during that time and how I look at it from a psychological perspective and a cycles of nature perspective is that we have a life death life cycles. And that happens in nature, that happens within our bodies, our life, our inner world. So when we went through that really, really tough time, which many are still in, it was reflected back to us within what was going on in our internal world. It was really hard to see the devastation that the drought bought just like right now, the land is very fertile. So those cycles of nature are continuous. I have a lot of conversations with farmers and a lot of them are just very connected to those seasons, those cycles in nature. And I really like hearing those stories because it actually teaches us that there is always a time for these things, um, that nothing ever stays the same, that we are cyclic beings. And that what’s really important is to learn how to become resilient through some of those harder times, some of those tougher times in life, um, that we will all face at some time.

[00:04:23] Kathryn: So our thoughts and our attitudes can really have quite an impact on our resilience as well as the actions that we choose to take. Now, I know that you’re someone who highly values health and vitality and resilience. What are some of the choices that you make every day that keeps you feeling strong?

[00:04:45] Jessica: I love this question, Kathryn. Health is one of my highest values because I believe without it, that we can’t actually make the choices from a really clear and vibrant space. So, uh, eating really well from the land from the earth is really important to me, whether that’s growing your own food or going to local farmer’s markets and sourcing locally and seasonally. Really good sleep cycles. I believe that’s really important in how I show up in the world every day is sleep is how our bodies heal. So that’s really important. Movement, so physical activity, whether that’s team sport, getting out in nature, doing a yoga class. Being still for a period of time within that movement is important as well. Being aware of your body. Having really nourishing relationships and being social is part of that as well, whether that is on a hike or team sport, or simply saying hello to my neighbour as they walk past. And having really clear desires and goals are another part of my life of working towards being a really, just the best version of myself in this life. I think that’s really important and I’m really connected to nature. I think we live in an incredible region where nature is at the forefront and I love being connected to her. I think it’s probably the thing that I love the most is, um, it connects to all those other things and it creates a really incredible foundation for the rest.

[00:06:12] Kathryn: And you’ve been involved with lots of different physical activities over the years that you’ve lived in the Southern Downs and even when you’ve gone abroad Jessica. What opportunities are there for people to get active on the Southern Downs?

[00:06:28] Jessica: Ah, where do I begin? There’s so many. I was brought up playing a lot of team sports, so I was involved with netball and touch football um, in particular. I was into athletics and swimming as well. And I’ve always done some type of gym work. So, there is just so many depending on where you want to start. You can pick your team sports, you can pick your individual sports. You’ve got incredible gym facilities in the region. You’ve got, um, some of your unstructured sports, like you’ve got your mountain biking, orienteering so many, so it really depends on the way that you want to move your body, but we are an incredible region, that offers so much for getting outdoors and yeah, just seeing what we’ve got on offer.

[00:07:10] Kathryn: So with so many opportunities out there, how can people find out about what’s out there if they are starting from not doing anything, they don’t know what’s available to them, how can they get connected?

[00:07:27] Jessica: I would say first port of call is talk to people. I think within anything in a small country town, it is asking the right questions and asking around. Secondly, using your social media apps. I think that everything is on there now uh, whether that’s your unstructured or your structured sport. I think, uh, using your hashtags is really powerful, especially on Instagram. So if you’re like hashtagging Southern Downs or Granite Belt, there’s a lot of people who explore this region that are tourists that love coming out here who share pictures and who share what they’re doing to get outdoors. It’s actually how I found a hiking group that I’m now involved in for 25 to 35 year olds in the Southeast Queensland and we do hikes and outdoor activities everywhere, but they also come here. So it’s how I found them. I found them through Instagram and I wanted to meet like-minded young people. Um, yeah, so there’s, there’s so many opportunities if you put yourself out there and aren’t afraid to, aren’t afraid to get a little bit vulnerable and put yourself out of your comfort zone. And the council website has a great foundation on there as well for a lot of facilities and a lot of ways that you can get connected in the region. And also just going to some of the like asking local businesses, go down the main street of any of the parts of our region and ask locals. Locals know what’s available. Um, you’ve got your outdoor sports shops. You’ve got your camping shops. They’re like they’re owned by locals. Locals love this region. They explore and get out there. You’ve got so many ways to find your resources, to get outdoors and love this region.

[00:09:01] Kathryn: What are your favorite ways to get active and why? What motivates you with those activities that you love to do the most?

[00:09:10] Jessica: My favourite ways to get active is I really enjoy hiking. I love experiencing nature in a way, uh, that I’m moving without actually feeling like I’m exercising. So it’s just comes naturally. And like, I can enjoy it with friends. I can also enjoy it solo. I feel really connected when I’m with nature, when I’m in immersed in nature. And when I can experience what what’s on offer there. So for me, it’s, that would be my foundational one. And then I also really enjoy team sport because it’s social. I really, really, I think team sports are really great, great way to flourish. And, um, couple of nights a week for that for me is, um, gives me a good people fix and I can move my body, do some cardio and head home.

[00:10:00] Kathryn: Those places that you like to go hiking, Jessica, could you tell us a little bit more about them?

[00:10:06] Jessica: Oh yes. So my favorite place to go hiking in this region is Girraween National Park. I that’s my local stomping ground. Anyone that I meet in hiking groups, that’s they’re like, Oh, you’re so close to Girraween. And I’m like, yes. Yes I am. And there’s something about that granite in that region in Stanthorpe that has so much on offer, not only for just hiking, but so many other outdoor activities. Yes so that is an incredible part. I also love just going out to Killarney. Leslie Dam’s got some really incredible spots as well. I love watching a sunset out there and, uh, yeah, there’s just so many snippets of this region, but definitely Girraween National Park is something that is very much sought after by most people I meet in a lot of parts of Australia.

[00:10:57] Kathryn: For people who are living in town or maybe don’t have that transport to get out to some of those National Parks, some of those big open spaces like that, what would there be for someone say who’s in Warwick or Allora or in Stanthorpe?

[00:11:15] Jessica: Well, we have really incredible waterways in each of our towns and we have incredible walking tracks that are paths. They’re concreted and at the moment the water’s flowing beautifully. So there’s some really incredible river walks that are really flat, really accessible for children, for anyone who maybe their fitness isn’t up to going on a mountain. So I think our waterways in Warwick, Stanthorpe, Killarney, even, and, um, the centre of Stanthorpe are really incredible ways to start.

[00:11:43] Kathryn: Jessica, you also teach sport. Could you tell us a little bit more about that role that you have?

[00:11:51] Jessica: Uh, yes. So on through the summer I teach swimming. So I swam for a number of years and I believe it’s a life skill that everybody should have, whether that’s swimming in a pool, the beach, or skiing out at the dam, whatever it is, it’s one of those life skills that I believe are really important. So yeah. I love teaching kids swimming. It’s really fun. It’s, I love seeing their development. And I love seeing how they grow in confidence and build body awareness. And it’s something they can take for the rest of their life, which is really fun.

[00:12:25] Kathryn: And I imagine that even for adults who may want to learn to swim, that there are opportunities for them as well. Or it might not be swimming. It might be adults who want to have a go at a new sport that they haven’t done before.

[00:12:39] Jessica: Oh, absolutely. Most of the clubs in town, like most of your team sports or even your local gyms are always providing opportunities for you to move your body and get active and meet people. And yeah, I think you just need to ask around and find one that suits you. And there’s always incredible, incredible ways that you can get moving, get outside and umm move your body.

[00:13:01] Kathryn: For somebody who maybe doesn’t move a real lot, maybe isn’t really physically active, perhaps they have some pain or they haven’t had as many opportunities as somebody else to get involved with sport, or maybe they find it really hard to find the time to do that, what advice would you have for that person?

[00:13:23] Jessica: I would say start small. I think with anything with movement over my entire life, it’s been about setting a goal and slowly working towards it and being really kind and compassionate with yourself because all things take time. And I think resilience is a part of that. It’s nothing happens overnight. So you’ve got the river walks, as I mentioned earlier. And then you’ve also got some of the tracks that are in our region, whether that’s Queen Mary Falls or you’ve got a beautiful track at Girraween called Granite Arch, you know, they’re, they’re very gentle tracks for beginners and a way to move your body in a very short amount of time. But a lot of it’s mindset. A lot of it’s working towards something, knowing why you do it and being intentional about it. I think intention behind anything that you choose to do is really vital.

[00:14:13] Kathryn: Jessica, is there anything else that you’d like to share with us about that power of mindset or choosing to be active and getting connected with our community?

[00:14:24] Jessica: Absolutely. So whether it’s our mindset, how we choose to move our body or getting connected with others, it’s all about how we choose to show up in the world. You know, when we work on our mindset, when we work on our emotional resilience, when we’re connected to nature and when we’re moving our body, it actually shifts energy. It moves and creates change. And I think within anything to do with movement, it is creating change not only on a physical level, but with your mental health, also with your emotional wellbeing, which are all part of being a human, like when we’re very multifaceted and it’s not a one size fits all thing. It’s about choosing what works for you and, what makes you feel good. And I think that’s really important. If you’re flogging yourself to do something, it’s not sustainable. And I think like anything in nature, things need to be sustainable. So again, coming back to connection with nature and connection to cycles, it’s really important that we treat ourselves with love, respect, and compassion. And when we do that, that’s reflected around us as well.

[00:15:27] Kathryn: We mentioned before that you had travelled abroad. Could you tell us a little bit about what you were doing when you were overseas and how that’s relevant for us here on the Southern Downs?

[00:15:40] Jessica: Yes, I would love to. So a couple of years ago I went and lived in Canada for a short period of time. And I worked at a summer camp in BC. So I was working with children in the outdoors doing structured and unstructured movement and leadership. And it was an incredible time in my life. I believe this region is so similar to parts of BC in Canada. Every time I come back through Stanthorpe after being at Girraween, I just, my heart just takes me back to that time. We have so much opportunity in this region and for what’s available to explore, get out doors, be connected, go mountain biking, hiking, not just your team sports. We just have an incredible resource here in, on the Southern Downs. And I’m very passionate about getting people out doors, getting people moving and showing what is on offer in this beautiful region we call home.

[00:16:38] Kathryn: And we started putting together a list of those sports and those unstructured activities which we have access to here on the Southern Downs. And I’m sure that there are many more that we haven’t even thought of but that’s quite some list, isn’t it?

[00:16:51] Jessica: Oh yeah. There’s oh, from orienteering to tobogganing, soccer, netball, volleyball, water polo. You know, we’ve got our gyms, Pilates, yoga, National Parks. You can walk the dog, basketball, like it just, the list goes on whether it’s trials, whether it’s team sport or whether it’s individual, there’s literally something on offer for everybody, especially in a, in a beautiful country town.

[00:17:16] Kathryn: How can listeners contact you if they’d like to find out a little bit more about what you’ve been talking about today?

[00:17:23] Jessica: So I have a website. It is www.jessicacarey.com.au. I have a contact email that is accessible there, and I have social media. So I have an Instagram account, which is underscore Jessica Carey and Facebook is Arise with Jessica Carey. You can find me pretty easily. So yeah.

[00:17:44] 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 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.

Landcare with Tanya Jobling

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

SEASON 2: EPISODE 9

GUEST: Tanya Jobling, Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group

PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022

Landcare tecahing group of students

[00:00:00] Tanya: We run a range of workshops that suit people who are farming, either grazing or cropping or land managers in that way. So sometimes there we’re working on soil. Sometimes we’re working on natural sequence farming. Sometimes we’re working on regenerative agriculture. There’s also a range of bush care groups that we support. So we’ve got at least two bush care groups in the area.

[00:00:22] Kathryn: Tanya Jobling joins me for today’s episode to share information about the Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group, a not for profit organisation which has been active across the region for 30 years. The Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group collaborates with other organisations to help the community connect with land management workshops and projects that benefit the health of the land and the health of the people. This includes education on techniques such as natural sequence farming, regenerative agriculture, bio controls and bushfire risk mitigation, as well as bush care groups which are open to anyone interested in getting involved.

Welcome to the podcast Tanya. Can you tell us what’s your connection with the Southern Downs?

[00:01:21] Tanya: So I work here at the Condamine Headwaters Landcare office. I work as the project manager and coordinator here at the office. I run the projects and deliver all the activities of the group to the community.

[00:01:35] Kathryn: Can you share with our listeners a little bit more about what the Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group does?

[00:01:41] Tanya: The Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group has been running for almost 30 years now. It’s been a very long term Landcare group, one of the longest in Queensland and in the current format it delivers projects on a wide range of land management techniques, Um, relevant to farmers, bush carers, conservationists, any land managers in the Southern Downs. We like to look at what the issues are that land managers are facing. And there’s been some that have been very long-term the usual ones like weeds and erosion. Um, and then there’s some newer ones. We talk a lot about regenerative agriculture. We talk a lot about soil health. We talk about alternative ways of dealing with weeds like bio. And so I look around at the different kinds of needs that land managers have. And I try to design projects that meet those needs.

[00:02:33] Kathryn: The Southern Down’s Region has been on what we call a recovery journey following drought and bush fires in 2019 and 2020. And more recently the region has had some pretty significant rainfall and flooding as well as the pandemic. So there’ve been a number of layers of stresses across our community, as well as right across Australia and the world. What are some of the challenges that people who are living and working on the land have needed to navigate throughout this time?

[00:03:05] Tanya: I think like you said, I think the challenges have been all of those things. And I think that people on the land aren’t really a different country though. I think they’re feeling the challenges that we’re all feeling in terms of what’s been happening for the last couple of years with the pandemic, um, all the rules, the difficulties with travel, the difficulties with sourcing materials or labour. So I think, you know, people on the land are just, you know, feeling what the community feels. We’re part of the community just the same. With respect to the bush fires and the floods and the drought, I think most people on farms can mostly take that in their stride because they well and truly know that that’s part of the landscape that we manage when, when we’re land managers, that’s part of our environment. We always know in any business, be it in land management or in any retail or wholesale or manufacturing, we should be prepared for different things. Maybe the rest of the world now has more of an understanding what farmers go through and farmers have these kind of major disruptors often. So, I think farmers are really good at handling disruptive events, you know, you just take it on the chin and look to the next day.

[00:04:33] Kathryn: Being immersed in land management, and obviously drought, bush fire, floods is going to affect the land management, what activities and events is the Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group currently focusing on? And in what ways is that benefiting the region?

[00:04:52] Tanya: I had a wonderful project that came out of my experiences in the 2018, 2019 dry period, which was having the opportunity to look at some early adopters of natural sequence farming in our Southern Downs area and how those farmers had actually managed to create a place in their landscape that held water and held biodiversity and a lot of life in that really dry period. And so that inspired me to write a project looking for funding for a natural sequence farming project that was successful. So from 2019 to 2021 we ran a natural sequence farming project. That’s a natural sequence farming is based on the work of Peter Andrews looking at holding water in the landscape, rehydrating soils, creating a better environment in the Australian farming system for capturing rainfall and increasing biodiversity, increasing soil cover like pasture cover on the soil. Really interesting conceptual work that really does apply to us here in the Southern Downs. So that project delivered a range of workshops. It delivered a training course with Tarwyn Park Training that was extremely well-received. And we then went on and did funded works on a whole number of properties in our area. And that got a lot of people started with trialing natural sequence farming. And you know, that really builds people’s experience with a new land management technique and looking at those results now has been very encouraging and it’s a kind of work that applies right across the seasons. Um, both in the dry times and the not so dry times, it’s still relevant. You know, we are almost always limited for moisture supply to our plant life in this environment. So increasing the capture of rainfall is really critical, even in the current season. And if we don’t actually capture the rainfall when it is raining, then we don’t have a chance any other time. So that’s one of the projects that’s been very inspiring over the last few years. That’s led into Uh, a range of projects in regenerative agriculture and working with farmers who are deliberately working with a whole range of techniques to build soil, build biodiversity, build health in their system. And the health in their system is then a resilient system. So it’s a system that can handle a bit of dry or a bit of too much wet or a bit of cold or a bit of heat because it is a system that is more intact. So you know, if you’ve got pasture cover on your soil, then a hot windy day is of less damage to your soil than if you have no pasture cover. I mean, that’s a simple example, but farmers who are trying to work with their landscape to increase its function as a system, as a whole, has been a lot of the focus of the regenerative ag work that we’ve been doing. So we’ve currently got a program running a whole range of workshops in regenerative ag. So some of that is natural sequence farming. Some of it is multi-species cover crops. Some of it is pasture crops. Some of it is grazing practices. Some of it is tree establishment where there’s no trees in the landscape and a lot of it is around soil health and system health for for farming. So we’ve got a really active cohort of people who come to those workshops, contribute to them, or, you know, take on ideas out of those workshops. And that’s been one of the really interesting projects that’s been running across the Southern Downs community.

[00:09:00] Kathryn: Tanya, that sounds like there are benefits for the land in terms of a healthier landscape, increased productivity for those who are working on the land which also leads to profitability and benefits for the economy, for the larger economy across the community, which all leads towards health of the people.

[00:09:25] Tanya: I think very much so. It’s not always as direct as what you’ve just said. You know, if we shift to regenerative practices, we might take a hit on yield, for example, if we put on less direct urea in a certain crop, but we might’ve reduced our costs as well. And we might have reduced our runoff to the waterways and we might’ve reduced our insect pressure in the process. So, the benefits are as you said, across the landscape and definitely across the community, but sometimes they’re diverse. Sometimes they’re not as quick as, you know, the quick fix solutions are and the most benefit, and I think this is the one that you could never measure, but is, is the most interesting and most exciting is that people gain a real sense of enthusiasm from understanding that they’re farming better, that there is an encouraging way to work with the landscape, and that there’s a whole world out there to explore of other ideas that apply to a farming. It doesn’t just have to be more of the same fertilizer and more of the same pesticide. That’s not to say fertilizers and pesticides aren’t an option, but they’re one of a number of options. And so a lot of our farmers are really exploring those options and finding it very interesting and rewarding to do so. And the rewards are financial, the rewards are on their farm, but their rewards are in the joy of you know, the work of finding that out as well. It’s probably a little bit idealistic to say that we’re all immediately profiting from regenerative ag. We are, but in a sort of deeper way than, you know, increasing yields.

[00:11:20] Kathryn: Thanks Tanya. How can people get involved with the Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group if they’re so inspired to do so after hearing about some of the projects that you’ve got going?

[00:11:31] Tanya: We run a wide range of projects for all different kinds of interests. And so the best way is to look out in the media for what kind of workshops are on that are going to suit your interests. So for example, we run a range of workshops that suit people who are farming, either grazing or cropping or land managers in that way. So sometimes there we’re working on soil. Sometimes we’re working on natural sequence farming. Sometimes we’re working on regenerative agriculture. There’s also a range of bush care groups that we support. So we’ve got at least two bush care groups in the area. There longstanding bush care group at Killarney. So Killarney Bush Care. They’ve been meeting for a lot of years. People are welcome to get involved with that. And we’ve got a more recent group that does bush care here in town at a reserve, at a particular reserve. So people are welcome to get involved with that. And so there are ways that people can get involved in specifically conservation works and have an interesting social time while they do it. People can get in touch with the office and I can hear what they’re looking to get interested in, and I can put them in touch with the right kind of groups for that.

[00:12:44] Kathryn: Tanya, what’s your top tip for managing tough times, for example changing weather conditions for someone who might be living or working on the land or caring for land in some way?

[00:12:57] Tanya: A top tip for dealing with change is to know that it is all going to change. I mean change is certain. My top tip would be look after yourself and get yourself ready for change because it will come. It is coming. It’s here all the time. Put yourself and your family and your farm or your piece of land in the best possible place for that change. We don’t know whether it’s a drought next or a flood next or a fire next or we often in our lives have personal changes as well. We just need to be sure to position ourselves as best as possible for that. I often like to talk to people and I say, well, you know, there’s three kinds of business. There’s your own business, there’s the business going on around you, and there’s the business that belongs to the rest of the world. Well, the only business you can really mind is your own business. And so get stuck into your own business and make it a good one. Whether that’s your health, your family, your landscape, your own life, you know, and be ready for change.

[00:14:02] Kathryn: Before we started recording Tanya, you mentioned the cultural burning workshops. Could you tell us a little bit more about those?

[00:14:10] Tanya: Yes, certainly. Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group has been involved in cultural burning workshops for a lot of years And all through 2020 and 2021, we ran a series of cultural burning workshops to help people in the Southern Downs understand more about cultural burning. So there’s, there’s three really important aspects to cultural burning. There’s the cultural aspect of it. So understanding the indigenous perspective of land management and burning as it applies in this environment. The second aspect is understanding the way that appropriate fire increases the health of the tree, grass landscape. And so there’s a whole lot of biodiversity benefits that go with an appropriate fire regime looking at grass health, looking at weed control, looking at tree health and looking at cycling nutrients. So the third aspect of cultural burning is understanding bushfire risk mitigation. So with appropriate fire regimes in a predominantly fire prone landscape, we can manage to some extent bushfire risk. All right. So what our workshops were were helping people to understand how they could use cultural burning, cool burning, and appropriate burning to reduce the bushfire risk, particularly in areas where people’s houses are close to bush. They were a really interesting series of workshops. We had a lot of people attend them and still a lot of interest in cultural burning you know, in the community now.

[00:16:08] Kathryn: Is there any possibility of future workshops?

[00:16:12] Tanya: There’s plenty of possibility. It’s always a juggle to squeeze a bit of funding here or there, and then, you know, bring it all together. That’s, that’s our task as a Landcare Group. Certainly the interest is there and I imagine there would be a range of cultural burning workshops coming up in future years.

[00:16:31] Kathryn: Is there anything else that you’d like to share about Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group?

[00:16:37] Tanya: I’d like to share that I understand that it’s difficult for people to know where Landcare sits in, in the whole bureaucratic framework. A lot of people come to Landcare thinking that we’re somehow a government thing. And whilst Landcare is right across Australia it’s not the least bit government funded in Queensland. We receive no government funding at all. We’re not connected to council or to state government or the federal government. We’re actually a local, not for profit community group on the same basis as as many other local community groups. I feel that we as a community have a responsibility to land management, but you know, we also, as a country, I guess, as a nation, have a responsibility for land management. And I guess that’s where state and federal connections come in. And I understand that it’s hard for people to know where Landcare sits in that framework. So when we get a project that is funded, it’s up to us where we can actually get our money from to run those projects. And I guess Landcare has got a bit of a legacy of having been highly funded in the past. There’s just so much less funding around and anybody involved with community groups will know this, uh, there’s a lot less funding around now than there was in the past but I think, you know, I guess that’s relevant in a conversation on resilience. Isn’t it? You know, that, uh, we’re resilient too, but it also means, I guess, resilient doesn’t mean expecting things to be like it was 10 or 15 years ago because that’s not possible. So what we’ve aimed to do at Landcare is to work our way forward in the current funding landscape and be the best kind of group that we can be for the community for what’s going on now, for what our outlook is for the next few years. I hope that people understand that Landcare sits in that kind of community groups space whilst dealing with the rather enormous issues of erosion and soil health and and weed management and land management, and you know, what is sustainable and what is regenerative and what is good agriculture. And we tackle the big questions from a small base. And I think we’re good at that.

[00:19:05] Kathryn: How can people get in touch with what you’re doing with the Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group, Tanya?

[00:19:11] Tanya: So the best way for people to get in touch is to call the office directly. We have a landline. Four double six one, double 9 0 9. We have a Facebook page, so people are welcome to have a look on our Facebook page. We always post our workshops and any other current activities on our Facebook page. People are welcome to sign up to our newsletter. So we send out a newsletter three times a year. People are welcome to become members. So members always receive the newsletters and also are welcome to come to meetings. And they’re welcome to send an email into the office as well. You’ll find the email address on the council website.

[00:19:50] Kathryn: How can people get on your newsletter list?

[00:19:53] Tanya: They can ring me up or send me an email And they can ask to be on the newsletter list. And there’s no obligation. If people want to be on the newsletter list, you don’t have to be a member or participate in anything in particular, just to read what we’re doing on an ongoing basis.

[00:20:11] 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.

Recreation in National Parks with Jolene Nelson

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

SEASON 2: EPISODE 7

GUEST: Jolene Nelson, Acting Senior Ranger – Visitor Management
South West Region, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service & Partnerships
Department of Environment and Science

PUBLISHED: 14th March 2022

Jolene Nelson Girraween National park

[00:00:00] Jolene: I guess what any National Park, or any protected area brings to people is that chance to reboot and reset and disconnect from everything, you know, the busy life that you might have come from. You’ve just got the sights and sounds of nature to enjoy. And it’s just a very simple and nice, easy way to just connect with yourself as well as with nature.

[00:00:34] Kathryn: Today’s episode is with Jolene Nelson, who is the Visitor Management Ranger for the South West Region. Jo chats with me about the National Parks in the region, the activities that are on offer, and she shares with us the recovery journey that she’s seen following the bush fires, particularly at Girraween National Park where she’s worked for over 20 years. The region has some incredible green spaces. And I really hope that this episode inspires you to get out there, to get active and to connect with nature.

Welcome to the podcast Jo. Can you tell us what’s your connection with the Southern Downs Region?

[00:01:13] Jolene: Well, I have pretty much been connected with this region for half of my life. I moved here when I was 28. I’ve worked out at the National Park at Girraween for the last 25 years. So yeah, I’ve kind of grown up here. I’ve had a family here. I love this community. I certainly found my niche. There’s so many different flavours in the region, as far as the environment and the culture and arts and food and wine and so on. I really do love this area. It’s something that I don’t hold back sharing with people.

[00:01:46] Kathryn: So you mentioned Girraween, can you tell us a little bit about the National Parks that are in the Southern Downs Region?

[00:01:52] Jolene: Yeah. So I probably talk about Girraween a lot because it’s kind of my favourite. But we are very lucky in this region. We do have a few different National Parks. We’ve got Girraween and Sundown National Parks on the Queensland side of the border. And then just a little bit across the border out of our region, of course is, Bald Rock and Boonoo Boonoo National Parks. But then we also have state forests as well. So where I live, I actually back onto Broadwater State Forest. And then just a bit further north is Passchendaele State Forest. So lots of protected areas, lots of places to play, lots of recreational opportunities, camping, walking, hiking overnight, mountain biking, a lot of bird watching, nature, just places to reset and enjoy and experience nature and in beautiful environments. And our climate is perfect, all year round, really, you can go walking, it’s not too hot. But there’s lots of places to swim if you do. So. So yeah, that’s what we’ve got around our region. We’re very lucky.

[00:02:48] Kathryn: In 2019 and 2020, there were some bush fires that came through the region. And that happened after several years of drought. And more recently, the region has had some flooding and we’ve seen lots of regrowth since then, but in general, how have all these different weather and climatic events impacted the National Parks in the region?

[00:03:13] Jolene: Yeah, look, I guess it’s the nature of our business. We do work in a natural environment and it’s shaped by, you know, what’s going on in the big picture. So the weather will definitely shape what’s going on down on the ground. In my time, like I’ve been there for many wildfires. We had a big one back in 2002, another one in 2005, another one in 2015, but the 2019 one was certainly odd being February. It’s not generally when we have our wildfires and it was kind of cold, like we were actually rugged up on the fire line. But that unfortunately was because we just had so much fuel because of the drought that, you know, leading up to that wildfire. And then Broadwater State Forest, was the big fire that impacted on Stanthorpe more so. That was also pretty crazy. Unfortunately it was, it occurred or started on an extreme fire danger day. Actually it was catastrophic, I should say. Yeah, it was, it was just horrible when it happened and, we knew that at some stage there would be a fire in Broadwater, but we just didn’t know to that extreme and threatening town like it did. But as far as these environments, yes, we do have these extremities. We’ve got the fires and I’ve also experienced a few floods in the region, 2011 and then again, last year, and even this year we’ve had the little sort of flash floods. And then drought. To experience the two year, 2018 to 20 drought, you know, that was the biggest for our region. Like they’re hard, you know, you fall in love with these environments and then I guess it’s like seeing a friend stressed and, and not at their best, you kind of, um, it touches your heart. You know, I would go out to Girraween to work and I would see ridges of trees dying. And yeah, it was, it was heartbreaking. And then I’d come home and I’d see my own backyard, you know, stressed. You would see populations reducing. It was really hard times, but I guess the recovery of these things is amazing, you know, and that’s nature is that you hope in the long run, yes at the time things might look terrible, but in the long run, you hope that they’re going to recover to some state where, you know, you can still go out and not see the ridges of trees dying and so on.

[00:05:29] Kathryn: You mentioned those fires that you’ve witnessed or, you know, are aware of in the last 10, 15, 20 years as well. So I’m imagining that you’ve seen recovery taking place from each of those over the longer term?

[00:05:46] Jolene: Yes, definitely. I mean, I guess after a fire, you do start to see the epicormic shoots and the regrowth starting to happen. It was a bit of a slower recovery process because of the drought. We didn’t have the follow-up rain that would generally help recover the bush. But eventually it has got there. I’ve had a few days where, I’ve kind of had a little cry, but of joy. And one of those was actually, it was exactly this time two years ago. I was at, down The Junction and finally seeing the creeks flowing. And it was like, this rain is pumping life into Girraween again. So, you feel really warm and fuzzy and hopeful that things are going to come back. And I can tell you that two years later, the bush is looking definitely healthier. We’re seeing species recover. I think we just had one of our best wildflower seasons. We’re seeing orchids that we hadn’t seen for a couple of years you know, come back out. We’ve got naturalists doing field studies, finding quolls. We’ve seen wombats on cameras. The bird life, the reptiles, everything seems to be coming back. So that’s, yeah, a really good sign of, um, better times ahead. Hopefully.

[00:06:54] Kathryn: That must be really exciting to see those changes.

[00:06:57] Jolene: Oh it is for me personally, um, yeah, beautiful. Like I go for a walk in the bush now and I’m not so kind of worried and stressed out. I just am now just back to enjoying it and getting back to discovering things about why I love being out where I am.

[00:07:12] Kathryn: Preparation for natural disasters like fires and, and drought and the floods as well can be really valuable, not just for survival, you know, surviving that particular disaster, but also for the longer term recovery for the land and the people. How do you prepare and plan for bush fires in a landscape such as Girraween?

[00:07:37] Jolene: Yeah, look a huge component of our jobs as Rangers is we’re fire managers. So it’s not just about being there as a firefighter. It’s about the years and months ahead, where you’re actually putting your thoughts and your learnings and your training into coming up with fire strategies. Now we develop fire strategies for our National Parks up to 10 years. Um, and then we’ll you know, narrow that down. It might be a year burn plan that you will come up with about where the best places need to be looked at at that time. We work with other agencies as well, so that we can at a larger level, look at our landscape and see what we need to do, to protect our communities as well as our environment. Through the year, like winter there’s a lot of work that goes into the preparation for the coming fire season. So that’s anything from slashing your fire trails to making sure your neighbours’ contacts are up to date. Your roads are maintained, so they’re ready and doing those prescribed burns, working with our First Nations People. Cultural burning and prescribed burning can be a little bit different. So combining the two definitely is more productive, uh, more effective we’ve found. And then I guess you go into the warmer seasons and it’s about being prepared and ready and trained and having resources and just waiting for those horrible extreme fire danger days and making sure your work plan is revolving around what’s going on out in the environment and you’re ready. And yeah just once you get those calls, just getting onto fires wildfires as soon as we can. So yeah, there’s, there’s a lot that we can do and that we do do, but there’s also, you know, nature that sort of will take its toll and determine how our days turn out.

[00:09:22] Kathryn: Natural environments like our National Parks are really valuable spaces for lots of different reasons. And from a mental health perspective, they give us the space to get active and have social gatherings and get connected with the natural world. What are some of the activities that people can do when they visit the National Parks such as Girraween and Sundown?

[00:09:46] Jolene: We’ve got many different types of recreational opportunities available in the different areas. So Girraween, it’s obviously very busy. But that’s because we’ve got the walking tracks that will cater for those numbers. We’ve got the small half-hour walks through to, you know, six hour walks if you’re prepared and want to, um, there’s the overnight hikes. We’ve got remote camp sites and we’ve got our camping areas as well. So, they’re kind of the main things that goes on. Lots of walking and camping. But then you’ve got rock climbing, you’ve got mountain biking, there’s orienteering. There’s a lot of birdwatching people. Naturalists love Girraween because it’s kinda like a little biological island. We’ve got a lot of species that you won’t find further north, south, east, and west. So it’ll bring a lot of your bird watchers, people that love reptiles, spotlighting at night for possums and gliders. You know, many go looking for wombats, but you gotta be lucky to spot one of those. But then you have Sundown, which is only an hour or so away from Girraween and it’s way more remote. So you’ve gotta be really prepared there. You can do remote walks and hikes. There is the Severn River, so you can go paddling, have a swim, you can even fish. And four wheel driving of course, because of its remoteness and ruggedness. So yeah, different opportunities, but I guess what any National Park, or any protected area brings to people is that chance to reboot and reset and disconnect from everything, you know, the busy life that you might have come from. You’ve just got the sights and sounds of nature to enjoy. And it’s just a very simple and nice, easy way to just connect with yourself as well as with nature. And yeah, I, I personally get a lot of calmness out of being in the bush, whether it is a ride or a walk or a climb or a swim, just to focus on yourself and just what’s important in life, I guess, you know, about looking after yourself.

[00:11:43] Kathryn: If anyone’s listening is interested in coming along to one of the National Parks and doing any of those activities, camping, for example, or bushwalking, where can they go for more information or to make a booking?

[00:11:57] Jolene: You can either just Google Girraween, and it’ll come up as the number one website, but for any of our National Parks, if you just go to the Department of Environment and Science and look for camping or booking online, you’ll just follow the links and you’ll find it.

[00:12:10] Kathryn: Jo, is there anything else that you’d like to share about the National Parks?

[00:12:15] Jolene: Girraween in particular again, the jewel of the crown, for me, it’s one of our iconic parks in Queensland. It’s actually going through a facelift at the moment. So yes. Had some hard days, but it’s having some funds injected into it to up grade our camping areas. So we’re closing Castle Rock, and that’ll be the first one to receive the facelift. And by the end of June, we hope to have three camping areas in Girraween that will cater better for the groups that we have coming. Big things happening for us, and I guess, with COVID we’ve seen that a lot of people have the need to go to these beautiful open places and be with nature. And, so I’m hoping that this is going to be a lovely way that we can get past this pandemic.

[00:13:01] Kathryn: Lots of opportunities for people to get out there and get active and nurture themselves.

[00:13:06] Jolene: Exactly, exactly. And yeah. Leave those gadgets at home. Bring some marshmallows, sit around the campfire with the kids and then just enjoy nature.

[00:13:16] Kathryn: That sounds beautiful. Thank you, Jo.

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.

Get Creative with Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery

Get Creative with Mary Findlay from Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery

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

SEASON 2: EPISODE 5

GUEST: Mary Findlay, Director Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery

PUBLISHED: 7th March 2022

Stantghorpe Street Art
“WHATEVER THE WEATHER, WE STAND TOGETHER”
https://www.srag.org.au/stanthorpe-street-art

[00:00:00] Mary: I talk about uniqueness there. Not one of them, not one artwork is the same. And that tells you a little bit about yourself. So find your uniqueness of what you would like to do and follow that in your heart and do it because it does give you peace. And especially with the things that we’re kind of facing. It connects you to yourself, first to yourself and then it can connect you to other people.

[00:00:23] Kathryn: Mary Findlay is my guest on the podcast today. Mary is the director of the Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery and her enthusiasm for connecting people to the creative arts is incredibly contagious. As Mary says, the arts are a wonderful connector that brings people together as well as being a valuable way to express your own voice or story.

Mary, welcome to the podcast. Can you tell us what your connection is with the Southern Downs?

[00:01:05] Mary: Kathryn, thanks very much for inviting me, first of all. And connection. Well, oh about 20 odd years ago, I came up here for my honeymoon with my husband, it’s really his connection. So his mother was born up here in Nundubbermere which is a sheep station on the Texas Road. And we came up here for our honeymoon and that was kind of it. I’d heard about Stanthorpe. And a friend of mine had moved up who was an artist as well. And then several years later we bought a 10 acre property. Then and several years later we moved up and I got a job at the high school and then subsequently got this job as the director at the Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery. I feel like I’ve known this place for a long time, although it hasn’t been really my connection, but I suppose now it has, I come from a tiny village in Scotland about the size of Wallangarra on the east coast of Scotland near the, um, North Sea. The sense of community here and this smallness, I think really I was never a city girl and the city is kinda too big for me and so when I came here, I felt the sense of peace and, and I feel it’s a really, really strong community, so that’s my connection at this point. And I think slowly over time, you know, the investment in the community and then other people invest in you and that strengthens you, your connection to the place and to the people so that’s where I’m at at this time and it’s strengthening every moment, I suppose, really.

[00:02:36] Kathryn: Mary, could you tell us a little bit more about the Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery and the role that you have here?

[00:02:43] Mary: Yeah, this is my sixth year and um Nicole Holly was here before me and she was a young Irish girl and she kind of woke the place up a bit with her ideas and everything. And then I heard that through the grapevine that her job was there. And I, I was teaching art up at the high school amongst other subjects and my background’s with theatre with Zen Zen Zo theatre company in Brisbane for 10 years, so I applied for the job and got it, which it was 4th of October, five years ago, last year. So it’s nearly six, this I’m in my sixth year. And it was a 90 degree learning curve, but this gallery has at this point 71 active volunteers. Some of them have been here for over 20 years and they know this gallery inside out. We have a 4 million just underneath a $4 billion collection that’s been gathered over many years. We have a very, um, feisty and wonderful calendar of events and lots of exhibitions we change every six weeks. We have a biennial art prize, which was last year, and that was a $50,000 art prize national. We had a photography prize last year and another national prize. We’ve got the, at present a local art prize, but we do favour local art here. And this particular exhibition is, just to give you, as a kind of example, there’s 95 works here from 95 different people. So that gives you an insight to how many artists are here. And there’s a few people I know haven’t entered for a variety of reasons. We’ve run a boutique and under that boutique it’s all local art and all that money goes back into the local community of artists. And as you know, during the last few years, it’s been difficult for artists, you know, um, performance art, everything to, you know, to make a living out of what they do. So that has been really, really useful. So I think the art gallery I’m kind of the face of it, but really, it’s been around for over 70 years in different forms in different places here. And then 33 years ago, 34 maybe now, they pushed for an actual bespoke gallery and no one can believe that we have such a kind of large, beautiful gallery as this in a small town. And these people who there’s a whole, um, what is it? The triangle of them behind me have pushed to this point in time. And, they valued art and I often thought, why it was so valued and there’s so many artists and so much creativity here is like during the 18th century. Cause we are having the hundred and 50th of Stanthorpe this year. We’ve done a lot of research and um, there was a sanatorium here and people came up here because of TB and well there was no television or anything. So they drew and they painted. And then there was the first world war people came up to recover from that. And then people didn’t have television. They didn’t have radios. There was theatre and plays people put on and there was poetry nights. There was art club. And then there’s a huge Italian influence here as well. And I think the cultural, uh, marriage of colonial people and the Italians was really amazing and they’ve fought hard for their place in this town and brought their culture here, which has been fabulous. But I mean, one thing I admitted to see that Indigenous people here long before us and we in our hundred and 50th, we’ve actually got some artwork and we’ve had permission to put a photograph in there from the Kambuwal people and so art has been practised by humans for thousands and thousands of years. And we’re just carrying on as a way of expressing ourself, our emotions, our stories, the things we’re thinking about, the things we’re worried about. And it’s a way of doing this. And I think that’s what makes art so important. For me anyway.

[00:06:39] Kathryn: Mary, you were talking about different art exhibitions and photography. And that brings me to the next question that I wanted to ask you about, which is the Hope and Growth Photography Exhibition, which was a community exhibition that began in late 2021. Stanthorpe is in the heart of this Granite Belt area which is at the southern end of the Southern Downs Region. And this whole area had been experiencing severe drought for quite a number of years and then there were the bush fires in 2019 and 2020. There were a number of them and I know there were fires before and after that as well. And since that time, we’ve had some other challenging events such as floods and the COVID-19 pandemic which has brought a few extra bumps to the region’s recovery journey. But one of the wonderful projects that was created as part of the region’s recovery journey, was this photography exhibition called Hope and Growth. Could you tell us a little bit more about how that began and what sort of benefits there are for the community and for the people who got involved with that project?

[00:07:53] Mary: Yeah, I think it was really timely, you know, because people were struggling in some ways of, you know, I think acknowledging that we had gone forward, even though there had been other issues after the fire and all that sort of things and the drought that we’d experienced all that time. So there was a chance then in that particular project to celebrate some of the things, but also acknowledge what had happened to us and not let it go, you know, like it’s happened, but as usual things do happen and they’re not what we want, but people stand up and they’re counted and they come together and they survive. And which is what we did. I feel really strongly, we did survive as a community. So the word was out that um photography, and we’d done this during Crisps Art Prize. We’d ask people to send to the gallery photographs to us of things that were happening to them and everything. And we put it up on our webpage. So it was put out again to photographers or people in the, in the region to send them to the council as well, because they were kind of putting this together with the recovery resilience and getting us back. And so they were chosen some of the photographs that did remind us hope and growth, but also reminded us of what we had done to survive. And there was three exhibitions. Was one down at Jamworks and one in town and then one at Vincenzo’s. And I thought they were kind of really timely because they were south, the middle and we had all experienced everybody in these communities had experienced the fire particularly and the drought. So, um, we were able to put these exhibitions up and come together again to um, the word celebrate isn’t perhaps correct, but acknowledge, and celebrate what we, how we had survived and how we continue to overcome things there. And to see some of the beautiful shots of growth from, you know, nature and nature had grown again after being burned to what we thought would never recover and what happens? You know, it, it does recover. And that gives you hope and hence the name Hope and Growth because it does give you hope. So I thought it was a really, really important exhibition and the Rural Fire Brigade were part of that as well. And there was photographs of them and they were there at every occasion because people looked to them at the time to help us and they did and um, it was unbelievable. And I know many of these people and, you know, we, we were all feeling very fragile at the time, so it was great to look back on it and see, well, we had felt pretty tricky, but here we are now, so yeah. Very important.

[00:10:39] Kathryn: A really lovely way to reflect and look forward to the future with some hope. Stanthorpe has a reputation for creative arts, as you were mentioning, before Mary. What else is on offer for locals as well as for visitors to get involved with arts projects or arts pursuits?

[00:11:01] Mary: Well, oh my goodness. I’m overwhelmed by how much there is to do. I mean, just to start with the gallery, you know, we have our fibre art group every second Wednesday. So they knit and a lot of them make their own patterns. And mix things up and they meet here. Every Wednesday we have an art group who meet here. We have workshops during the school holidays for young people and workshops during the year, like during the Apple and Grape. We’ve got our Indigenous basket weaving going on if you have a look on the webpage. Other great celebrations of art is GBART, which is a group that’s come together there. And we have one weekend where everybody in the district who are artists come out and show their wares, and this has become a tourist attraction. So it brings other things to the region as far as accommodation, and as far as for restaurants and things, but people can showcase their work and that has being hugely successful. We’ve got, um, the pottery club has been here for over 50 years and they have workshops if you’re interested in that. It’s really nice. And so many people willing to help you start off as a beginner. It’s always a bit intimidating, but these people really do help you. And we have Artworks are part, um, the QR Precinct. So they run art classes all the time, which is on the webpage there. They’ve got I think working Monday, Tuesday on a Friday and I think there’s cheese-making classes going on on a Saturday and then you’ve got another one, Laurie’s Larrikins. They’re up in the Agricultural Society on the Monday morning and Borderline are another group of artists who cross the border from Tenterfield in here. They’ve been together for, I think, a long, long, long, long time, 50 years, a long time. And they are very strong group as well. And there just seems to be something going on all the time, you know, for different things to do. And if you feel that you wanted to get involved in any of these, you know, please, you know, give me a ring and I can put you in the right direction. But I think what it does bring to people that when I noticed some of the group on, particularly the Wednesday group who are in the room next to me, and I’m often sit and have a cup of tea with them, is there’s all different levels. One person had never painted before in her life. And she’s a single person. And I know that, her horse had to be put down and things like that. And she came to the Wednesday group and, and that was really sad for her, but she had a group of people who shared that sadness. They were all loved nature and knew that. So there’s a sense of community in that little group that’s really lovely. And I was sort of saying to them, Do you think you’d ever like to put a little small exhibition together and we could celebrate? And they sort of giggle and think that might be a good idea or it might not be a good idea. When I go up to Artworks on a Thursday, I get invited for coffee there and there’s poetry every Thursday and they read poetry and it’s humorous and it’s social commentary and it’s, some of it’s a bit sad sometimes. And then there’s people who paint at that same time, again, all different levels and people just pop in and they have coffee at 10 o’clock and do the poetry. If you’d like to just have a look at that. I think there’s lots of musicians here. People come in, we have a piano in the gallery too, if you’d like to. Grand piano in beautiful condition. Many backpackers come in and play that, other people when they’re doing their exams play it. One of the volunteers just plays it cause she likes playing it. And so there’s a lot of music here as well and teachers who teach music. So I think there’s so much creativity here, and I think it does bring people together. And I find it really a way that people can express themself. It’s what they paint. They don’t paint as a person the same next to them. You know, they have different choices. Some are doing water colors. Some are doing acrylic. Some are using pastels. Some are just drawing. And so it’s, um, something they seem to, when I observed their participation in that, there’s number one, a sense of connectedness on their art connects them together. Then there’s a sense of peace when they’re actually doing the work. So they lose themselves in the work and there’s peacefulness in what they’re doing. And there’s also they share capabilities and skills, like someone’ll say, Oh, I can’t get this bloody tree right. Or, you know, something like that, I can’t get this right. And I remember one of the, another artists who came down one day for a meeting with me and someone was struggling with perspective and he did a quick fix on perspective, which was really super. So I think such sharing of skills and the fact that you don’t have to feel that you’re perfect or ultra good or you know, anything. And I think we discussed before that people say they aren’t creative. And I think everybody is creative in different ways. It can be gardening. There’s a community garden up within the Artworks Precinct which is a QR Precinct. And they meet a couple of times a week, which is really amazing. And they create gardens. They create food, they, um, brought some peaches along the team came on Saturday. The steam train came on Saturday at 10:15, but it was late because we had a tree over the thing. So we all hung around and someone had dropped peaches along for us to share from the community garden. So whether it be gardening, I find for myself, cooking is great for me. I love cooking. You know, I love gardening because it just gives me peace and I feel like I’m in nature and you really enjoy it. So lots of things to do.

[00:16:51] Kathryn: Lots of things to do by yourself, but also lots of things to do if you choose to gather with another group. Sounds so vibrant.

[00:16:59] Mary: People YouTube things to learn things too, you know, if, if technology has its benefits and other things, but we won’t talk about that are annoying, but you know, if you want to do something, you can have a look at that too. So there’s lots of ways to do it on your own too.

[00:17:13] Kathryn: If someone’s listening in and is feeling inspired to get involved with a community project, or one of the groups, or even to take up a new hobby that helps them to express themselves creatively, have you got any advice for them, Mary, on how to get started?

[00:17:29] Mary: Number one, you can phone the gallery or look on our website or any of the websites around here. And I mean, if you’re in Warwick, Warwick Art Gallery, again, get in touch with them. And they know other community groups that are doing things as well. And I suppose, talk to people, I think, follow your heart and making time to do something that you have thought that you might want to do. Is it writing every day? Is it a bit of poetry? Is it spending 10 or 15 minutes? If I spend 10 or 15 minutes in my garden, I can actually pull out a few weeds and sort things, put a rock here and there, you know, try and give yourself some time. It is really, really important to give yourself some time because um you deserve it. And creativity, you might say to yourself, it doesn’t exist, but it’s hidden away inside you. And maybe you’ve been told you aren’t creative. But during the Crisp’s Art Prize, we had 918 entries from all students in this area. Kids who don’t paint, who don’t do things. Cause I go and visit all the schools. And when I asked the teachers, they thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it. And everybody has a goal and I talk about uniqueness there. Not one of them, not one artwork is the same. And that tells you a little bit about yourself. So find your uniqueness of what you would like to do and follow that in your heart and do it because it does give you peace. And especially with the things that we’re kind of facing. It connects you to yourself, first to yourself and then it can connect you to other people.

[00:19:08] Kathryn: That sounds just absolutely inspiring, Mary, thank you. Is there anything else that you’d like to share with us about the arts generally or about the Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery?

[00:19:21] Mary: I think arts transcends things. It transcends differences. You know, the street art that we have here, you don’t have to walk through a door and feel intimidated if you’ve never been to a place like an art gallery before, but you can see it in the streets. So public art is seriously important. So I think art to me during this time, I’ve noticed that people have found a lot of peace and joy in singing and creating music, all the forms of creativity that, that are in the world. We have really, really enjoyed it. So participate enjoy and find your muse.

[00:19:59] Kathryn: Thank you so much, Mary. You did mention the art gallery website. We’ll include a link to that in the show notes for this episode. And, we’ll try to link up as many of those groups that you mentioned as possible into the show notes. I think on the gallery website there’s also a page, a bit of a directory?

[00:20:19] Mary: Yes, there is. And we give it out freely. If any of the art groups want to put their webpage, we put a link on because we see ourselves as trying to bring people together and people are, it doesn’t have to be at the art gallery. You find where it suits you, you know, to be a part of whatever it is.

[00:20:37] Kathryn: So it’s a wonderful way for people to get connected. Thank you very much for your time today, Mary.

[00:20:41] Mary: Thank you Kathryn.

[00:20:42] 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.

Where to Mountain Bike on the Southern Downs

I get lots of queries about where you can mountain bike on the Southern Downs. This article gives you a summary of some of my favourite places to ride close to my home. If you live further afield, you might be interested to know what’s around here so that you can bring your bike on future visits. And if you think you’re not likely to ever come to the region, keep reading anyway because you’ll get some tips on how to find out where you can mountain bike in other regions as well.

MTB Southern Downs

MTB for fun, fitness and mental health

Over the last couple of years I’ve been running some mountain biking (MTB) skills clinics for beginners/intermediates in the region through The Adventure Therapy Project for Women. This community project is an initiative of Kathryn Walton Consulting and has been supported by funding from Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN. Supporting women to ride off road is important to me because I know there are many barriers that prevent women and girls getting out and having a go or consistently being involved with adventurous activities. I’ve been riding MTB for about fifteen years recreationally. I’ve competed in a few races but my love for MTB is all about getting out there for cross country rides with my family and friends and inspiring other women to do that too. It’s all about the fun, fitness and mental health.

Where is the Southern Downs?

The Southern Downs region is 1 ½ to 2 hours south west of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, or about 1hour south of Toowoomba. The Southern Downs stretches down to the New South Wales border through the Granite Belt district and includes the regional towns of Warwick and Stanthorpe with dozens of smaller rural towns and villages throughout. There are plenty of dirt roads connecting our farm communities and groups regularly get together to ride and enjoy a coffee stop along the way.

The best places to MTB on the Southern Downs

Across the region you’ll discover National Parks, State Forests and lots of other parks. This is not a comprehensive list or description of every spot you can take your mountain bike but it will definitely get you started! You can also check the Trailforks app or website for trail information, and you can ask people who are familiar with the region. Jump on the Southern Downs Mountain Biking Club Facebook Page and ask questions anytime.

Mt Marlay MTB Bike Park, Stanthorpe

Trail head: Foxton Street, Stanthorpe
Trails: Green, blue and black cross country and downhill trails
Length: Currently total of 6-7kms of purpose-built single track with new trails under construction (as at December 2020)
Facilities: Picnic table, signage
Features: Lots of granite rock with short ascents and descents; naturally occurring rock obstacles; views; tank mural/artwork; close to CBD and accommodation
Best suited to: Riders with some prior experience riding off road who enjoy a variety of short loops
Club: Southern Downs Mountain Biking Club

Mt Marlay MTB

Broadwater State Forest / National Park

Entrance: via Glenlyon Drive or Plant Lane
Trails: Mostly green / blue level of difficulty; cross-country
Length: Currently approximately 15 kms of multi-use cross country trails, double track and dirt roads for walkers and MTB
Facilities: Limited facilities – be self-sufficient
Features: Sandy, rocky terrain only a few minutes from Stanthorpe CBD; old-style trails; close to Granite Belt Brewery and accommodation
Best suited to: Riders of all levels; can be very hot in summer

Passchendaele State Forest

Entrance: Multiple entry points off Amiens Road
Level of Difficulty: All levels of difficulty catered for. You are permitted to ride only on formed management roads and you may require a permit if you are organising a group ride or an event.
Length: You could easily ride all day in Passchendaele!
Facilities: Limited facilities – be self-sufficient
Features: Sandy, rocky and granite terrain with some steep sections; dries out quickly after rain; 20-25kms from Stanthorpe
Best suited to: Riders of all levels especially beginners and intermediate cross-country riders

Women's MTB Ride Passchendaele

Girraween National Park – Peak and Creek Trails

Northern Entrance: Mt Norman Road – approx 5-6kms east of the Bald Rock Creek Day Use Area

Southern Entrance: Mt Norman Day Use Area, Mt Norman Road
Level of Difficulty: Green, blue
Length: The Peak Trail is 10.6kms return and can be combined with the Creek Trail which is a 3.5km loop.
Facilities: Toilet at Mt Norman Day Use Area; signage on the trails
Features: Granite terrain with some sandy sections; spectacular wildflowers in spring; amazing views of Mt Norman and other parts of Girraween; 20-25kms from Stanthorpe; car-based camping at Castle Rock and Bald Rock Creek Camp Grounds; bush camping at designated sites along the Peak Trail (permit required); accommodation nearby
Best suited to: Beginners and intermediate cross-country riders

MTB at Girraween, Mt Norman

Other parklands

There are several other State Forests and regional parks suitable for MTB in the Southern Downs Region. Remember to check for alerts (closures, bushfires, harvesting etc) and whether you need a permit to access. Locations include:

  • Leyburn State Forest
  • Durakai State Forest
  • Gambubal State Forest
  • Condamine Gorge
Maryland National Park

Maryland is not technically part of the Southern Downs Region but it’s very close and runs along the border in New South Wales. You can access Maryland National Park from Cullendore Road by turning west into Maryland Cullendore Road and following this dirt road into the park. There are no facilities and you must be careful to leave all gates as you find them. Ride the length of Maryland National Park along the dirt road from Cullendore towards Dalveen. It’s a great ride for beginner and intermediate riders through beautiful forest.

Cullendore High Country

Cullendore High Country Camping is a privately owned establishment next to Maryland National Park right next to the Queensland border. This is a working farm with beautiful camp sites and dirt roads and tracks suitable for beginner riders including children. The owners are continuing to develop on-site MTB trails with direct access to Maryland National Park.

Safety first

For a fun day out, prepare and research your mountain bike adventure before leaving home.

  • Check the National Parks and State Forest alerts, Southern Downs Mountain Biking Club and Southern Downs Regional Council notifications
  • Take plenty of water and some food as many of these places do not have water or shops close by
  • Make sure your bike is suitable for the terrain that you’re going to ride
  • Be sun safe
  • Follow signage and advice from the authorities including COVID-19 regulations
  • Be First Aid aware and know how to manage snake risk and other injuries
  • Mobile phone service may not be reliable in all areas
  • Let someone know where you are going and what time you expect to be back

For more information go to:

You can also listen to this article via the Outdoors is my Therapy Podcast using the link below or via your favourite podcast player / app. Subscribe so you’ll always know when the latest episode is up!

Till next time, enjoy your outdoor adventures!

Daisy Spoke

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

Where to go walking in the Southern Downs

Whether you’re a visitor or a local, there are plenty of choices when it comes to walking in the Southern Downs. The region is about 1 ½ to 2 hours south west of Brisbane in Queensland. The two main urban centres are Warwick and Stanthorpe, with dozens of smaller rural towns and villages across the region.

This post is an overview of just some of the many walks you can choose from. Keep an eye out for future posts that will give you heaps more detail on a selection of the bushwalks and mountain bike trails in the region like the one I wrote last year on Bushwalking in Goomburra, Main Range National Park.

Thinking about taking up hiking? My blog post How To Get Started Bushwalking will get you going!

Walks in and around Warwick

Queen’s Park River Walk

Condamine River winds through parkland
Walking in the Southern Downs – the beautiful River Walk in Warwick

The Southern Downs region promotes 5 different urban walks close to the Warwick CBD which you can follow along on this map. The popular River Walk at Queen’s Park has recently been extended past Hamilton Oval in the direction of Gillam Park. The River Walk is also suitable for bicycles, scooters, prams and wheelchairs with easy access to toilet facilities and picnic tables. There’s plenty of shade and a fenced off-leash area for dogs.

Walks in and around Stanthorpe

Quart Pot Creek

Quart Pot Creek is an absolute gem in the centre of Stanthorpe flanked by parklands on both banks with extensive walking and cycling paths, gardens, picnic tables, toilets and play equipment. You can access this beautiful green belt from many points along its length including Apex Park, Lions Park, Heritage Park and from the Stanthorpe Visitor Information Centre.

Mt Marlay

Mt Marlay is a small bushland reserve in the middle of Stanthorpe, popular for many years with locals on their regular walking routes. There are a couple of short, marked walking tracks on Mt Marlay which you can see on the map below. The regional council and the Southern Downs Mountain Bike Club have recently begun developing a small network of mountain bike trails here which are clearly marked so that you don’t accidentally wander off the dedicated walking tracks onto the mountain bike tracks.

walking in the southern downs - Mt Marlay map
Walking and MTB trails at Mt Marlay, Stanthorpe

Donnelly’s Castle

Donnelly’s Castle  is about a 20km drive to the north west of Stanthorpe. Access is from Castle Lane which comes off Donnelly’s Castle Road at Pozieres. Donnelly’s Castle is a natural formation of the locally occurring granite rocks and boulders which apparently served as a fabulous hideout for the bushranger known as Thunderbolt. You can really imagine the truth of this legend when you scramble up, around and through the rocks and peer into the distance from the lookout at the top. Kids and adults alike are bound to have a heap of fun here exploring the ‘castle’. I’d recommend close supervision of young children and keeping a keen eye out for snakes. Toilet facilities and picnic tables are available.

Girraween National Park

Rocky expanse of Girraween National Park
Walking in the Southern Downs is stunning at Girraween National Park

Girraween is about a half hour drive south of Stanthorpe. This unique national park is a landscape of stark contrasts. Girraween is famous for its abundant wildflowers and its rugged granite outcrops. The national park is also home to an extensive variety of birds, kangaroos, frogs, reptiles and other wildlife and is a popular place for day visitors and campers. As I write this article in January 2020, the camp grounds have been closed for some time due to ongoing drought, and the area has suffered from recent bushfires. As with all natural environments, Girraween changes with the seasons and I’ve loved watching the cycles of regeneration here over many years. There are signed bushwalks at Girraween ranging from 280metres to 11kms. Or simply explore the granite rock pools near the day use area. Toilet facilities, picnic tables and BBQs available.

You can read more about Girraween in my Great Backpacking Adventures series.

Sundown National Park

Sundown National Park rocky gorge
A rocky gorge at Sundown National Park

Sundown National Park can be accessed by most conventional vehicles from the south near Glenlyon Dam, or from the north off Texas Road and onto Nundubbermere Road. A third access point is along Sundown Road via Ballandean however once at the National Park the tracks become rough and steep so a 4WD is recommended along here. Sundown has several walks of varying lengths and difficulty as well as some camping areas. Look at the Sundown National Park website to plan your trip before heading out there as it is more remote than other regional parks with fewer facilities.

Walks in and around Allora and Goomburra

Dalrymple Creek Park

Dalrymple Creek Park is a shady park along the banks of Dalrymple Creek in Allora. The walking trail leads you along the banks of the creek with toilet facilities, picnic tables, BBQs, and play equipment along the way.

Goomburra Section, Main Range National Park

Waterhole in Goomburra National park
The Cascades walk in Goomburra National Park

The Goomburra section of Main Range National Park is about 40kms east of Allora. Sections of the road into the National Park are unpaved and at times can be difficult for low clearance vehicles to navigate. After rain there can be several water crossings into the entrance of the park. A day use area and camping sites are available within the National Park as well as toilets and a variety of walking tracks that begin at the camping and day use areas, as well as other walking tracks that can be accessed from Lookout Road. Goomburra walks range from less than a kilometre to 12 kilometres long. All the walks are on unpaved surfaces and can include steep sections, natural obstacles (eg tree roots) and creek crossings. Spectacular views of the surrounding valleys and ranges can be seen from the high points of some of the walks.

Walks in and around Killarney

Queen Mary Falls, Main Range National Park

Queen Mary Falls
Queen Mary Falls in Main Range National Park

Queen Mary Falls is about 45kms east of Warwick. It offers a beautiful day use area with car parking, picnic tables, toilets, water and BBQs as well as a small kiosk across the road.  The walk to The Falls is a 2 km circuit through the forest to the bottom of the Falls and back up again. The walk is steep in places, has stairs and is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs. The causeway at the bottom can be slippery.

If you’re looking for a shorter walk that’s suitable for prams, wander along to the two lookouts on either side of the Falls just a couple of hundred metres from the car park.

Browns Falls

Browns Falls is accessed from Spring Creek Road as you travel from Killarney towards Queen Mary Falls. Park your vehicle at Brown Falls Park where there is play equipment, picnic tables, BBQs and toilet facilities. Follow the track under the road and along the watercourse in an easterly direction for about 600 metres. The track is not well defined in places and you will need to scramble or rock hop along the watercourse. Take care as it can be very slippery when wet. The falls plunge into a beautiful waterhole surrounded by rock.

Walks near Maryvale

Cunningham’s Gap Section, Main Range National Park

Cunningham’s Gap is at the top of the Range on the Cunningham Highway about 90 minutes south west of Brisbane or 45 minutes east of Warwick. The closest town in the region is Maryvale only 15 minutes on the western side of the range.

There are two main access point to the walks in this section of the National park. At the top of the range known as “The Gap” there is a small car park and toilet facilities on the northern side of the highway with additional limited parking along the southern side of the highway. If you are crossing the highway to access the facilities or the walks on the other side, take great care and follow any signage that has been placed there for your safety as this is a very busy highway. Most of the walks are accessed from the northern side of the highway.

Kathryn looks amazed and wide-eyed at the rainforest in Main Range National Park
The rainforest in the Cunningham’s Gap section of Main Range National Park is stunning!

The alternative place to access The Gap walking tracks (and my personal favourite because it’s off the highway!) is via the West Gap Creek picnic area on the western side of The Gap. From Warwick, West Gap Creek picnic area is on your left just past “Stacey’s at the Gap” a couple of kilometres before you reach the The Gap. There are two small car parking areas, an extensive grassy picnic area, toilets, water, picnic tables and access to the Box Forest Walking Track which takes you about 2.5 kilometres through rainforest uphill to The Gap and the other walks. Walks here range from 1.6 kms to 12 kms long with varying levels of difficulty. Once again, check the National Parks site if you intend visiting as there were extensive bushfires through the Park in late 2019 resulting in closures of most walks throughout Main Range.

Some things to remember when walking in the Southern Downs!

There are simply SO MANY wonderful choices when it comes to walking in the Southern Downs. With so much natural beauty surrounded by a rural landscape, it’s the perfect place to relax and unwind. But safety always comes first! Here are a few reminders to help you have a truly fabulous time whilst minimising risks:

  • Always prepare by doing your research before leaving home
  • Check the National Parks ALERTS web page for closures and other advice, or contact the Rangers at the Park you plan to visit
  • Take plenty of drinking water and food for everyone in your walking group as drinking water may not be available
  • Wear comfortable closed shoes suitable for the terrain
  • Protect yourself from the sun
  • Follow signage and advice from authorities such as staying on track and taking all your rubbish with you
  • Be First Aid aware and be well prepared including knowing how to manage snake risk and other injuries
  • Mobile service may not be reliable in all areas
  • Let someone know where you are going and what time you expect to be back
  • Make sure you have plenty of fuel in your vehicle – some parks like Sundown National Park are a long way from fuel stations

For more information about walking in the Southern Downs

For more information about the parklands across the Southern Downs region, go to the Southern Downs Regional Council website or check with the Visitor Information Centres or the many tourism operators.

Let me know your favourite places and spaces for walking in the Southern Downs and further afield! And join us over on our community Facebook Group Outdoors is my Therapy where you can share ideas and inspiration no matter where you live or how you love to spend your time outside!

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.

Women Empowered: Life Without Limits

“Life Without Limits” is the first Women Empowered retreat for 2017 being held in Warwick on the Southern Darling Downs on Saturday 25th February.

This tranquil day of RETREAT will have Kathryn Walton guiding a small group of women through reflections, discussions and creative activities as we explore the perceptions and experiences of  barriers, obstacles, restrictions and limitations in our lives. Identifying and acknowledging these issues is a step towards EMPOWERING ourselves to step into the LIFE we want to live, the ATTITUDE we want to be living with, and the very real POSSIBILITIES this opens up for us. We want to do more than survive – WE WANT TO THRIVE!

By taking time for your own self-care, you will be modelling effective life strategies to your family, colleagues and the wider community of women AND men AND children. Remember, you can claim a 10% DISCOUNT when you register with a friend!

Refreshments, a delicious morning tea, and workshop materials will be supplied for participants. In order to keep costs as low as possible, please BYO lunch. Refrigeration is available, as well as crockery and cutlery.

So ….. are you ready to LIVE a LIFE without limits? Information and registration is available on the link below, or email me for more information 🙂

https://www.trybooking.com/ONZJ

kwalton@condamineassist.com.au