Latitude 40: Redesigning tourism on a small island

Dianne Dredge
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  • PLACES & TRAVEL

The podcast series is part of the Islander Way regenerative tourism project being conducted on Flinders Is, Tasmania. The Islander Way aims to co-design the future of tourism with and for the community using regenerative tourism principles. Dianne Dredge from Designing Tourism and The Tourism CoLab describes the project, then subsequent episodes feature personal accounts from Islanders about what makes the Island special to them, their vision for a flourishing or thriving Flinders, and what role tourism and visitors might play in contributing to their own vision for the Island. Interviews with Mel Telfer, Ben Backhaus, Lois Ireland, Annie Revie, Peter Rhodes and Wendy Jubb-Stoney.

Episodes

  1. 10/05/2022

    Smell the Island air - Ben Backhaus

    Debbie and Josie speak with Ben Backhaus about his family business, Bush Pharmacy, where Ben distills essential oils grown and harvested on Flinders Island.  You can almost smell the aromas as Ben describes the range of oils. Ben attributes the unique properties of the oils to the geographic isolation of the Island created by the separation of the land bridge to the Australian mainland. Ben sees the support of the Island community as instrumental in allowing his business to develop and bloom. Tourism has a future on the Island according to Ben, but he also recognises the strong ownership Islanders feel towards their home and their desire to share it with people who come to visit, who appreciate and respect the Island as much as locals do. You can go to the beach, and there's no one going to be there for a few kilometres. You know, you have that isolation, you have that pureness and I think that, plays in a way, of the place thriving as well as people were considerate of this. Ben's love for the Island is evident when he speaks of his return from an overseas trip and his exhillaration upon returning to the wild terrain, the isolation, the beaches and the smell of the ocean breeze.  Show notes and links Bush Pharmacy | http://www.bushpharmacy.com | @bush.pharmacy  Kunzea ambigua | https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp8/kunz-amb.html Melaleuca ericafolia | https://austplants.com.au/Melaleuca-ericifolia/  Leptospermum scoparium| https://www.anbg.gov.au/leptospermum/leptospermum-scoparium.html Smokey Tea Tree |  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospermum_glaucescens Flinders Islannd Blue Gum | https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/179365 Separation of land bridge from mainland | https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/separation-of-tasmania Furneaux Distillery | https://www.furneauxdistillery.com.au/flinders-island-single-malt-peated This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist. Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story. Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp. The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The Tourism CoLab and the support of Flinders Island Business Inc. If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

    26 min

  2. 09/21/2022

    Beyond the Purple Swamphen: Creating is living - Mel Telfer

    In this espisode, Josie and Debbie talk with Mel Telfer:  dental assistant, ambulance service volunteer, school teacher, truck driver, and a maker and the driving force behind The Purple Swamphen, the makers' co-op on Flinders Island. To outsiders Mel's life might look daunting but for her, the multiple roles she fills provide opportunities to feel purpose,  structure and function in her life.  Mel talks about her connection to the Island community, and the honour she feels  to serve in her varied roles.  Mel's need to create drives her to make and inspires others: "I feel like being creative is so much a huge part of being human." Mel talks about the different makers who have embraced circular economy: salvaging found objects, creating new products and increasing their usefulness.  "We've got a few different makers  ... one particularly works with plastics and ropes she finds on the beach, and she'll turn them into either artworks like a wall hanging and a lighthouse made out of different bits of plastic from the beach, or she'll make cards or key rings from the beach rope. So she's really starting to explore what she can do with all this kind of waste products that keeps washing up. Yeah, I've got another maker who will use baling twine from the hay bales to crochet baskets." Show notes and links The Purple Swamphen | https://thepurpleswamphen.com.au/about/ The Purple Swamphen instagram page | https://www.instagram.com/thepurpleswamphen/ Kangaroo Island | https://southaustralia.com/destinations/kangaroo-island This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist. Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story. Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp. The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The Tourism CoLab and the support of Flinders Island Business Inc. If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

    28 min

  3. 09/15/2022

    The islands get a hold on you, girl - Wendy Jubb-Stoney

    In this final episode of Season 1, Debbie and Josie speak with Wendy Jubb-Stoney who owns and operates Flinders Island Retreat.  Wendy talks about her childhood on Flinders Island and her deep attachment to the Furneaux islands. Returning to Flinders Island after years away, Wendy brings together her experience in food and hospitality, and her strong connection to the Island, to create a special guesthouse and cooking school at Cooma House.  You can almost taste the flavours as Wendy describes the fruit and vegetables she lovingly grows and then harvests from her kitchen garden at Badger Corner. Wendy takes genuine pleasure in hosting guests and sharing the stories of her island home. She recommends that visitors bring a good coat and hat, and a sturdy pair of boots. Wendy reflects on the importance of visitors understanding that "they are coming to a place that is remote. That is beautiful because it is remote. And as a result, the kinds of services that you may wish to have on a holiday elsewhere are not going to be necessarily at your fingertips on Flinders Island. You have to be resilient." Show notes and links Flinders Island Retreat | https://flindersislandretreat.com.au/ Long Island | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_(Tasmania) Cape Barren Island | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Barren_Island Wybalenna | https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history /W/Wybalenna.htm Howqua Dale Gourmet Retreat |  https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/howqua-dale/ Truganini | https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/T /Truganini.htm George Augustus Robinson | https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/robinson-george-augustus-2596 Boadicea | https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boudicca Soldier Settlement Schemes | https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_ to_tasmanian_history/S/Soldier%20settlement.htm Memana, Flinders Island, Tasmania | https://www.flindersisland.net/memana/ Babel Island, Tasmania | https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/environment/babel-island-ipa-and-tasmanian-aboriginal-centre-rangers This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist. Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story. Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp. The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

    31 min

  4. 09/06/2022

    The pull of the mutton bird - Lois Ireland

    Lois Ireland shares her unique family heritage on Flinders Island as a member of the third generation of the Bowman family owning and running the general store.  Lois reflects on the "pull of the mutton bird" that has drawn her and others back to live on the Island in Bass Strait.   Lois describes the sort of visitor she’d like to see on the Island,"people who come with a genuine interest in finding out about how the place ticks … someone who's got an inquiring mind and is interested in what happens ... more like your family visitor than a tourist who just comes and takes the last fish.” Lois believes the Island's negative experience with tourism several years ago has served as a catalyst for regenerative tourism.  Feeling the effects of an excessive number of people with their boats and campervans who descended on the Island, Lois says locals felt affronted by visitors who were not respectful of their environment and community. Lois talks about the inevitability of change and the need for the community to embrace change, to shape the future of the Island, to control their own future, and guide government decisions. Show notes and links 'Bowman's General Store Celebrating 100 years' in The Tasmanian Tuxedo, 4 November 2021|  https://www.thetasmaniantuxedo.com/all-stories/92-bowmans-general-store-celebrating-100-years/ Muttonbirds or the short-tailed shearwater, The Muttonbirds of Bass Strait, CSIRO (1956) I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Edgsbq6k8 Songlines of the Moonbird, TasEducation, 14 March 2014 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAugRUk43qc Furneaux Museum | https://www.furneauxmuseum.org.au Interstate Hotel, Whitemark | https://www.interstatehotel.com.au This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist. Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story. Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp. The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The Tourism CoLab and the support of Flinders Island Business Inc. If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

    27 min

  5. 08/15/2022

    Don't try to change this place, let it change you - Annie Revie

    Former Mayor of Flinders Council, educator and always the Scot, Annie Revie talks about the dark history of Flinders Island and her decision to make the beautiful small island her home. Annie talks about what a thriving Flinders Island would look like: "we're kind of living on the edge of sustainability.  We're almost close to the stage where we may not have enough people to take us forward in a sustainable way." "The people here have a strong sense of belonging. And what I would really want is that the people feel they are being listened to. And because of being listened to, that they'll kind of take up the reins. And from doing that they'll accept ownership of this place in a way that makes it more than the place it is now ...  I'd like the community to value, its own values, to understand what their values are. And to value this place themselves, as well as any visitors. I'd like there to be a kind of a host/guest relationship between visitors and the community. Because when you have a host/guest relationship, it's like you're inviting people into your home. You know that they will value it, you know, that they will not trash it, you know, that they'll offer to do the dishes and that kind of thing. And we need people to participate in our island like that." Show note and links Annie Revie | https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-revie-a9148a217 Mt Strzelecki | https://parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/strzelecki-national-park/strzelecki-peaks Wybalenna | https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian _history/W/Wybalenna.htm The Flinders Story, the "Islander Way"| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k88Btlw88pw&t=1s Dianne Dredge and Sarah Lebski are Designing Tourism | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianne-dredge and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-lebski-43052413 Art Gallery response to consultation on Flinders Is: https://www.islanderway.co/post/art-in-community-consultation This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist. Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story. Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp. The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The Tourism CoLab and the support of Flinders Island Business Inc. If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

    31 min

  6. 08/03/2022

    The second best place to live! - Peter Rhodes

    Self-proclaimed contrarian, Peter Rhodes, was born on Flinders Island and returned 40 years later to live. Peter claims it's only the second best place in the world to live - he's still looking for the 1st. Peter talks with Debbie and Josie about growing up on Flinders Island, going mutton birding with his father and his purchase of the figurehead of the Farsund, shipwrecked in Bass Strait. Peter's love of maritime history has led him to develop plans for a Furneaux Maritime History Centre to tell the stories of the region's rich maritime history. Peter sees Flinders' ideal visitor as the sort of person you might want to invite to stay, not someone who wants to be entertained. They may even help with the washing up! Show notes and links: Peter Rhodes | https://www.flinders.tas.gov.au/councillor-profiles Mutton birding | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muttonbirding The Farsund shipwreck |Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database: http://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=7151 Moonbird People by Patsy Adam-Smith | https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/10509; https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Moonbird_People.html?id=F7mQzgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y Latitude Forty: Reminiscences of Flinders Island by Jim Davie | https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2963916 These days have gone forever: a narrative of the early days of the Furneaux Islands as I have known them by Stan Blyth | https://www.librarything.com/work/24124867 Furneaux Maritime History Symposium | https://www.flinders.tas.gov.au/history-symposium Visit Northern Tasmania | https://visitnortherntasmania.com.au/events/furneaux-maritime-history-symposium Forty South| https://www.fortysouth.com.au/history888/furneaux-maritime-history-symposium Islander Way project | https://www.islanderway.co This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist. Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story. Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp. The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The Tourism CoLab and the support of Flinders Island  If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

    22 min

  7. 07/27/2022

    The Islander Way regenerative tourism project - Dianne Dredge

    Debbie and Josie speak with Dianne Dredge about the Islander Way regenerative tourism project on Flinders Is, Tasmania, Australia.  Dianne explains the innovative, emergent, community-led approach to co-designing a visitor economy with the community  that respects the community’s values, contributes to a resilient economy, and that takes responsibility for the impacts of tourism on the natural environment. "Let's do community consultation in a genuine way, and really experiment with what the solutions might be as well. So this regenerative tourism Living Lab is not only just about delivering a framework for Regenerative tourism, it's actually trying to unleash the local creativity of local people to find solutions and find ways that they can actually benefit from tourism as well, because quite often tourism is done to them, rather than with them." In 2019 the 'tipping point' for the Island was identified: "if the population continues to age, if there's less people on the island, then it's going to actually reach a point where the local economy is not going to be able to sustain the social and economic economy, the social services that it needs." Dianne describes how the comprehensive data collected through the community consultation process allows tourism to be considered in a bigger system to identify what is really needed to help address this tipping point.  Before you can actually be a good community to host visitors, you  have to have a sustainable, resilient local community.  Community consultation has identified 7 directions for the future of tourism on the Island.  So far, emerging business ideas identified through the project focus on waste and circular economy, food security and tourism experience. Show notes and links Learning from a Regenerative Living Lab | https://www.islanderway.co/post/learning-from-a-regenerative-living-lab The Islander Way project | https://www.islanderway.co The Tourism CoLab | https://www.thetourismcolab.com.au Dianne Dredge | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianne-dredge FTI Consultants, Study of Economics, Business and Social Structure on Tasmania's Flinders Island (the 'Tipping Point' report) https://www.flinders.tas.gov.au/client-assets/images/Learn/downloads/Council%20Reports/2019.03.31%20-%20FTI%20Consulting%20'Study%20of%20Economics,%20Business%20&%20Social%20Structure%20on%20Tasmania's%20Flinders%20Island'.pdf This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist. Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story. Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp. The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The Tourism CoLab and the support of Flinders Island Business Inc. If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

    37 min
  • 7 Episodes

About

The podcast series is part of the Islander Way regenerative tourism project being conducted on Flinders Is, Tasmania. The Islander Way aims to co-design the future of tourism with and for the community using regenerative tourism principles. Dianne Dredge from Designing Tourism and The Tourism CoLab describes the project, then subsequent episodes feature personal accounts from Islanders about what makes the Island special to them, their vision for a flourishing or thriving Flinders, and what role tourism and visitors might play in contributing to their own vision for the Island. Interviews with Mel Telfer, Ben Backhaus, Lois Ireland, Annie Revie, Peter Rhodes and Wendy Jubb-Stoney.

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