[00:00]
To kick things off as we always do with the podcast parent. I’m gonna ask you first. Where did you move from?
[00:06]
I moved from Perth in wa to Cranbrook NWA and Astrid. What about you
[00:11]
I moved from Perth to Moody are which is very near dark and both very little towns
[00:18]
population below 300 for both of them. I’m pretty sure so going from like a big city into a tiny tiny town you both grew up outside of wa as a start parent you grew up in Tasmania on King Island. I’m only familiar with King Island through the cheese because what but talk to me about your upbringing and how you came to be in w a well I’m
[00:44]
a bit like you I’m a lover of cheese and I think one of the island I didn’t necessarily I was only there when I was really young so I was born there. I think I was one of the last babies to be born on King Island. Yeah, Tasmania was a beautiful place.
[01:00]
To grow up. I don’t think that small Country Town image left me. I’ve always wanted to move to the city, but I think my roots were.
[01:10]
smaller town
[01:11]
Yeah, and you moved to Perth after uni and worked extensively in arts and culture across the range of different jobs. Tell me about what your life was like in the city
[01:23]
there. I ended up Landing Calgary for the first year because my best friend was there and as a 20 year old that place it was it was so different to where I’d grown up and I landed a job pretty quickly in an art gallery, which was a bit of a dream job for me at the time and I just I think the culture of the place
[01:45]
I remember someone taking me out to the Big Sky country and that was it was just so different. So I love that first year of being in wa and having
[01:55]
having that experience meeting young people and everyone was from somewhere else. So you immediately fit in we then moved to Perth after a year followed that Gallery circuit, which I was really lucky. I ended up getting a job when the maritime museum opened. It was a huge project. So
[02:13]
having the opportunity to work there stepping into that realm of Maritime history and historical rather than you know, Fine Arts was was again a new experience. I ended up working in the museum for a number of years quite a long time. Both of you have such incredible
[02:32]
experience in maths and culture from working the city.
[02:36]
Asteroid for you, you were oppressed photographer for many years and you also before we get to your career. You also actually grew up out of wa as well in Singapore. So tell me how you arrived to be in wa and then we’ll talk about the work you did.
[02:52]
Yes, so I was born in Singapore and I went to school there till I was seven and then we moved to wa it was actually my mum that pushed me into photography. She just said, you know, you’re really good at this one you were to go so I got into photo media and got a Bachelor of Arts at edit account and photo media. And then yeah, then trying to get into photography is a whole. Nother thing. It’s like you don’t just study something and become it and it’s more you so I started doing some work. I actually went over to England and worked to the photographer for a little bit over there. And then I came back and did work experience at the West Australian newspaper almost like a day a week for a whole year and then eventually I got some part-time work and then eventually went on to full-time so full-time General news in the end, which was what I was aiming for.
[03:36]
And I was there for nine years as a press photographer. Yeah,
[03:39]
amazing because such high level of skill for you by like such a massive project working on that museum for you parent and then also Astrid working for the West in that capacity.
[03:51]
A huge jump to then move to the regions and to be working in a very different way without quite so many people and quite a long distances to get to certain places. It’s interesting parent for you. You use sort of grew up in the regions and had that urge to go back based on your experience. But Astrid for you growing up in Singapore is very different. What was it that made you actually
[04:16]
Want to go to the regions in the first when you talk about wanting to leave the city, what was that for you? Well,
[04:21]
obviously, my husband is from the country. He’s from a property in West so he’s country boy at heart when I first met him. He was actually in the military and then he went and worked in oil and gas but he’s always been going back to the farm for many years. And so yeah through him we ended up we saw an opportunity to come back and take over his parents business which but we always wanted to move out of Perth. We were always Keen to even when I was at the West I really loved all the jobs that took me out to the into the
[04:49]
bush and what was it about the bush that was appealing to you. Oh just you know, the people you meet
[04:55]
just been out on the open road obviously photographically. It’s fantastic the lights amazing the textures and the color people is Just A Feast for them cameras fantastic and it’s an adventure. So you get to go all over the state. I mean, I went all over the state and Australia for different stories, and I used to do all the lift outs for all the regions.
[05:16]
Actually one point and that was one of my favorites. We just traveled around and met people and did stories and it was great
[05:21]
pairing for you similar thing. Really? What was it that made you ultimately move from Perth to
[05:28]
Crandall for me being at a museum. We also I also traveled to the regions the Western Australia museum has looked after all the branches across the states so Geraldton, Albany
[05:39]
And so and calculi so I did spend a lot of time traveling down to the regions as well, which was great. I loved Albany because it was a lot like home my husband. We he was working away and I was working full-time. We wanted an investment. It was interesting back then because you know, we could have bought an investment property, but we realized
[06:02]
For not much more we could have bought a parcel of land and we could make money off that land we could set up a business. So for us.
[06:11]
That’s why we decided to.
[06:13]
Pay those crazy people in Firefly.
[06:17]
Put a book on that.
[06:17]
So I think
[06:20]
parent is fascinating because of the we’re here on a working farm at the moment and it’s such a there’s such a specialized knowledge that goes into any farming obviously coming from Tasmania. There’s an incredible farming that happens down there that’s quite different from the type of farming that you get here, but it’s such a specialized area depending on every different thing and the land that you’re on and all of that sort of sort of thing. So for you to actually throw yourself in head first with having like a romantic connection to that concept, but actually not really any practical experience either of you. What a huge transition. What did that involve?
[07:04]
Well, it’s interesting what you say about the the tasmanian type of farming because
[07:10]
agriculture was never something that I would ever consider farming in Tasmania tends to be
[07:17]
that Legacy that’s handed down from family to family, you know, the really beautiful old style farms and so forth over here yet so completely different.
[07:27]
Style of farming size of farming I think it is a little bit more accessible. We had to pick people’s brains on local knowledge. So the community was amazing. But yeah, he used to work away for a month. I would work and then we would come down put in the crop. We would do what we had to do and then we go away again and just leave it.
[07:48]
Once we’d had kids I was only working part-time. So there’s a bit more freedom to come down and do a little bit more.
[07:55]
And eventually we moved down permanently. We’re now first born started school. That was a permanent move. But by that time we’d spent a lot of time down here part-time. I’d already joined the local playgroup and a few things when I was working part-time, so,
[08:13]
I got a good sense of what the community was able to offer. I think I was a bit of a novelty for the community because this girl from the city would come down to play group on a Friday and then go back to work on a Monday or Tuesday.
[08:27]
And then bring the big kids back down on Friday, and I got to know the incredible group of women that are in Crown.
[08:34]
Astrid for you sort of similar thing to parent where you jumped into a family business that was a campground and had obviously no prior experience in managing a campground
[08:46]
What was that like for you?
[08:49]
We’d been coming down for many years Graham’s parents start. It used to be a sheep Paddock and then they turned it into a campground which is amazing and it’s been actually we’ve had people coming to Camp families coming to Camp there for about 40 years.
[09:04]
So it was a very established well loved Campground. And yes, so just yeah moving down and getting to know obviously doing the books of the campground. That’s probably been the hardest thing because I’m not much for encountered.
[09:19]
Photographer I wouldn’t have studied accounting but yes, so I managed to get through that. I do make my mistakes and I get there and you know, obviously when it comes to photography photographing a campground upgrading the website, I got the logo. I got the logo refreshed all that stuff. I’m gonna stop I’m not very good at the management of the campground or the doing the books.
[09:44]
That’s so good. I think that Innovation, I mean even the campground coming into being as he described it previously being a paddy
[09:53]
It’s these new ideas and New Perspective that you bring when you come into a community that you might have had some long connection with like not particularly close, but had a sense of humilier to some degree, but for both of you very very new experience to land and have to live in these new communities in these new businesses.
[10:14]
And then that mindset of innovation the things that you just have to evolve and adapt because of the environment you find yourself in. I mean that’s where really interesting thing things start to happen. Isn’t it like to talk about the skills that you bring a small and
[10:28]
quickly you learn? So when we first got there and we’d moved into our house which was a transportable house that we got put there I didn’t really realize that if you leave the light on in the bathroom and the window open that up with bugs, so I went and I might sealing with black and I remember Grandma was the way and I called up his mum and I was like, what would I do? What do I do? She’s like welcome to the country love turn the light on out the brand of inside and they’re all go out.
[10:57]
There. Was this something that you had to kind of come to terms with that you are unfamiliar with when you got to the country.
[11:07]
Everything. Oh, look it’s everything about farming. Everything was quite unfamiliar. It’s hard to pinpoint but I always laugh because there was a rule with me that while Tony was working away. We were never to have sheep ever, you know, I was not prepared to forgo, you know, all the things that I’d seen about sheep getting out and people calling you because the Sheep are on the road. I’m like, I’m on my own. I’ve got three children under five. I don’t think I can do with that while you’re away. So we did we actually didn’t get cheap till Tony finished the offshore work and that’s a whole different probably podcast on its own. You see people trying to round up sheep. I know there was a bit of a final story. I think for both of us. I think Tony was it was when the farm was quite established and there was a lot going on, you know, we were running quite a decent sized Farm business by the time he finished offshore and again running around with the kids and trying to keep an eye on that while he was away. There was this last particular job that
[12:07]
He was doing where he was away for a month. And I think they wanted him just a few more days in a few more days, which is nice sometimes.
[12:14]
And I think I had pumps burst and I’d had cars broken down and I’ve had trips to the vet with the dog and all those things that happened and this big storm came through one day and I just remembered the sky went dark and everything went still and I heard this bang and I watched our trampoline.
[12:33]
Catapult through the air and land on on the outdoor laundry hit the power line nearly hit my car and fly into the front Paddock, and it was just that moment of you know, it’s sometimes when you’re dealing with those things, but, you know, we always say these things create a fun story
[12:50]
afterwards. So you’re brand new in town. You constantly having to just find solutions to new things and navigate new problems that you have. Never had any Benchmark for I think that sense of probably creativity in your approach to adapting is something that you’ve also both of you used for your careers. So you’ve you have you can’t dim creativity. It’s in you more ways and as straight when you got within your community and had this amazing skill set as a photographer you were able to leverage the regions and your new environment to actually provide you with a new way of working. Can you
[13:33]
You explain to me? Yes what you did there? Well, I was obviously been a very keen Storyteller being a photo journalist. So initially I started with just providing pictures for our website and I did a Blog called 62 mile radius, which was our stories from within 100 kilometers of Lake towering. So that was an outlet of creativity for me for start and it benefited the campground just because it was part of the blog and I got to know the area and all the characters and around it the local CRC and dark and they every year they get some funding to run a creative workshop and they asked if I wanted to run a photography Workshop, so I said, yes, and then I realized that I needed to kind of create this Workshop. I didn’t want to just do one on you know how to take a photo with shutter and aperture. I wanted to make it a bit more of a project so people could have an end result. So I was teaching people how to create a photo story which is what I always loved a series of images with a Common Thread and that’s where my real passion of you know, storytelling so I sort of created a workshop that pretty much
[14:33]
Told them what type of photos made a coherent story they went out and just created all the stories from all the different, you know, wherever they were from within the Shire and there’s a range different people. I helped them with that and then we had a big Community event which was a screening and an exhibition and it was just really popular it sort of made everyone look at their backyard and a new light and it’s just a lot of Pride and belonging. It creates these events, you know, where people kind of photograph their own backyard and of all ages and abilities and using all devices after doing that. It was such a success. I thought this is just right I need to do more of this so but I went for a grant and got an Arts Grant and I emailed see our seas because they’re a great like people to do with people on the ground in the community very proactive. So I emailed about 50 c r C’s all over the state to see who was Keen with this idea. And I wanted to see who would jump the highest and it turned out hope town and broom with the King and so I went to both Hope Town and bro.
[15:33]
And ran this Workshop. I actually went to each Place three times each and it was a huge success. So there was people from the age of seven to 77.
[15:43]
Of people involved. I showed stories from hopetown and broom and shows showed stories from Broome and hope town so I connected them over kind of the time. There was just a huge amount of different stories and it was yeah. It was a really great success. Yeah. It’s been fantastic so many good things there because
[16:01]
bringing people like yourself into towns providing opportunity that wouldn’t have existed and like you said a new way for them to kind of experience and view their backyard tell me about some of the people like I guess you providing discoverability as well like, you know Finding talent and helping them realize ambition that they might not have thought about before have you had some really incredible people that you’ve seen sort of come through amazing programs. Yeah, one of the very first Workshop in in Hope Town there was a boy who’s now teenager and he did a lot of amazing underwater photos on his GoPro and he’s just grown I take absolutely no credit for his photographic talent that He has just won the like young ocean photograph.
[16:43]
For the he’s unbelievable. His name is Java smallman and you have to look up his Instagram. I just remember him clearly and I’ve been following him for a long time now, but you just meet so many different people like you wouldn’t expect everywhere and all different types of creatives all different types of people. There’s stay-at-home mums are getting involved, you know, sure workers professional photographers students. I’ve run workshops at schools. Everyone all walks of life. It’s great and it’s that
[17:10]
exposure that I think is all so something that communities benefit from and parent you’ve done that as well with the business that you created where you are highlighting different makers within the Region’s he talked to us about that.
[17:25]
So I was really Blown Away in our area one thing about farming is Mother’s Day always falls on seating time and Christmas is at Harvest time. So I found when I was talking to the ladies in our region that they were very much are you know, my husband
[17:43]
Never bothers because it’s just too busy. So I could see that there was these incredible makers and there was this Niche that
[17:52]
These Farmers could ring me and I will bring them a beautiful gift to give to their wives and they’ll be happy days happy. So that’s where it started. So I wanted to highlight the makers. We created beautiful hampers. I’d find myself delivering these things in letterboxes to tractors on the size of the roads posting them to win a wonderful places traveling myself to weird and wonderful places meeting incredible creatives. It was fantastic and I think in the end, I thought that I was giving something to other people but I think in the end it was a few years of me getting to know my region and getting to know rural wa and I wasn’t working off a web page and I wasn’t using those sort of good shop online platforms. It was really just word of mouth and
[18:45]
Gifters would then start ringing me and gift on and it kind of relaxed that so it started local went a little bit wider and I found I was sending things to Queen’s land and and over Eastern all sorts of things. So
[18:58]
It really I think solidified those few years where it was very full on just solidified my space in Regional or rural. Wa and having a really good understanding of the incredible women particularly the hampers that parent
[19:16]
creates a consist of all these local wears and a whole range of different things that she sourced locally from makers and people from within the region and I just love that that was an opportunity for you to research and discover these people connect with them, but then also connect with the people purchasing them and then highlight just the same as what you were saying after the extent of creativity and talent that is in the regions like what an incredible idea and
[19:46]
I used to like to tell the story. So when you got a gift you would get the story of the maker as well people love that people love to know that it wasn’t just a wine or it wasn’t just a
[19:57]
Necklace or it wasn’t just it was this was their story so that that was really quote in those early days. When I I think I had smaller children. I used to I’m A Creative as well. So I love to paint and I love to make things so I did used to do a little bit myself as well. So that was a great little creative output in a
[20:17]
Quite different environment, I think being on a farm. If you are a creative person you need to have that outlet and I think it was going from your professional career to taking on a new business. That’s so left of center. You you need to have some sort of an outlet to keep you I think on track I think it’s fascinating talking to the Toby because it is such a cool
[20:41]
perspective that you bring going into the communities that you come to find yourself in. Let’s talk about those places.
[20:50]
Astrid you’re in darken tell me
[20:53]
about that area and Community, oh there are an amazingly Dynamic and proactive community so Dynamic that the ABC back roads came and did a episode on them in february so that was incredible and yeah, it really was great to have have that happened. But yes, it’s a really really Vibrant Community one thing I’ve learned from being in the regions that was and you cannot judge a community by its Main Street.
[21:22]
Because many towns look like they’re dead. They look like there’s no one there. But really there’s an absolutely thriving community. So people drive through towns and go. Oh my gosh nothing there. That’s a ghost town. But it’s not
[21:32]
do you find Astrid though? I think when you living in a small town you you can drive through a town and you know, because you live in a small town, you know, you can feel yes something and
[21:44]
You know, there’s the obvious ones like cool and like when you know, you’re in a town and you can see that there’s a cool little cafe with lots of local produce. Yeah, they’ve got a big water slide a big water slide doesn’t get in a community just like that. It takes a community to get that kind of infrastructure. Yeah, you can drive and see like
[22:05]
model models or creative creative things that that and you know, you know yet someone like we have for Christmas time all along the corporation. Yeah, like cold Fields Highway, you know all the way to collie through dark and everyone all the properties who live along there or put up Christmas decorations in The Paddock. So we’ve got youths and Santa’s and reindeers and flashing lights and they go all go out and put it and then yes, so they make a lot of effort and there’s a lot of decorations in the town center, but it is a really tiny little Street not really any shops. I mean, there’s a few and it’s you have anyone who comes through would just go there’s nothing here, but then there’s a community that
[22:44]
created a event called Sheep Fest that brings lots of people and that was purely the locals creating an event an annual event, you know, so yes, very very done at Community. Yeah.
[22:57]
Very so much diversity even within the regions, isn’t it? Like you’ve got those big sort of regional centers and then you’ve got tiny little towns like your own and even the dynamic kind of experience that you can still get there. It can happen even though it is so little because of that Community Spirit what
[23:15]
is community spirit in the regions? You really know a community Spirit when things go wrong, you know, like when a Bushfire goes through and suddenly everyone is helping everyone. So I find it really comes to shine when times are tough or there’s a family that their children’s unwell in their own hospital. Then you really see everyone come together.
[23:34]
Yeah that resilience is an interesting because that’s one thing we found when we’d only just and we will still part-time on the farm is Tony broke his leg.
[23:42]
And these people came from everywhere and they bought for food and meetings. So they offered to do our seating for us
[23:50]
and
[23:51]
it was just incredible and we’d never experienced anything.
[23:56]
Mhm. Community Spirit was
[23:58]
We were very overwhelmed but they were you know, they were humble. That’s what we do and you know, you’ll help us one day or that’s just what community does and you know to this day that’s always been a really special.
[24:12]
Memory and again reinforced to us why we wanted to stay in in rural Country Town. It’s just that that’s and that’s done that for others and it’s just what you do everybody pitches in and everybody helps out and everyone volunteers. There’s a lot of volunteers here,
[24:30]
but it’s
[24:32]
really attractive isn’t it living in cities?
[24:36]
So come super lonely, even though you’re close to people everyone’s really busy and the networks that are in the communities are also really interesting tell me about the networks that you both involved in that kind of help. You have that Dynamic connection with other people in
[24:52]
your communities. I think people that’s one thing I’ve found that really surprised me. We’ve been in a rural area and I wish I had of knowing this 10 years ago, perhaps the opportunities and the networks incredible particularly if you want leadership roles, I think if you are a career orientated person, there’s lots of regional board member opportunities leadership courses scholarships. There’s some incredible opportunities for those who are in the region that want to explain expand or want to utilize those professional skills. I was approached a few years ago by I was on the school board with our shy president at the time and he preached me to see if I wanted to
[25:36]
To nominate for counsel and bless his cotton socks. His words were we need some brains? There was a few of us that were approached that were they classes the younger demographic. We’re not really young.
[25:51]
Hedging more towards 50 now, but when someone asks you to do those things and take on those roles, I think have to say yes, so I did nominate for Council and I was elected as a counselor. So
[26:05]
that was something completely left field. It’s been a great opportunity to learn some new skills.
[26:11]
to make a difference
[26:14]
cramp book is
[26:15]
such an interesting place. Isn’t it closer to like Sterling ranges? Taught me through? Yeah, because like
[26:20]
yeah Crumbs are incredible place, I think.
[26:25]
People would drive past and probably not even notice that it’s there because it is a little bit off the highway, but our sure runs from Cranbrook.
[26:35]
tendon
[26:36]
and out to Franklin.
[26:40]
unicap
[26:41]
which are all completely unique Aries in himself. So we’ve got yeah the Sterling Rangers on one end and
[26:48]
I mean that’s incredible place in itself the diversity there in Flora and Fauna and everything else and
[26:55]
it’s just beautiful and we’ve got the Salt Lakes which are photographic dream. A lot of people come to see the pink lakes and then out to Franklin. We’ve got the wineries which
[27:06]
You know, I find when people come to visit us again, they turn up and they say oh gosh, you’re out in the sticks. What do you do here? We’ve got two lakes that you can water ski in that you can swim in we spent a lot of time with our kids in late Peru cup because it’s the most safest environment for young kids to swim and it is like a beach
[27:26]
the tape friends out to the wine is which are just beautiful and it’s also only now from Albany and now from Denmark, so
[27:33]
It’s cycle saying earlier, I think once you step into sight into these small once you step into these small towns.
[27:41]
It’s incredible what you unlock and what you uncover. I’m a coastal girl. I never thought I would be this far from the coast.
[27:49]
It’s only an hour to see the beautiful South Coast. And like I said, there’s two beautiful lakes that you can swim in you can still enjoy canoeing and water skiing and packets up for 10 minutes drive down the road put them in the back in the car with this salty Towers. It’s just saying it is just the same so
[28:10]
Yeah, it’s it’s in and I know with your area with your legs as well. It’s the most beautiful place. It’s
[28:16]
in the middle of nowhere people that have pop over the hill and go. Wow. It’s like a little Oasis. Yeah, it’s funny because I used to initially make up a bit of a folder of to do, you know, like this is what you can do around the area, but everyone would be like, I don’t want to do anything. I just want to stay here people come from personal. Like I just want to not do anything like people actually travel to not do anything so that they just like set up a hammock and you know, look at a cross the lake and watch the sunsets and that’s what they didn’t want to actually go out to all these tourist destinations that are put in a folder. Yeah. That’s the same with the like poorer cup is we turned up over Christmas day and there was all these people camping there and they were trying to get away from the coast. They were from Bunbury and Bustleton and they would come Inland to move away from the crowds. He get people going off the bench and track a bit more now, they like to come to the smaller campgrounds and they like to we have a lot of campers that come from here button and Dumber and everything and they could
[29:10]
Camp closer, but they come into the wheat belt. Yeah, maybe it’s also because people are looking for different
[29:16]
things in their holidays now, aren’t they like a lot of the discussion that we’ve had within the podcast is one of the things people find really attractive in moving to the regions is an opportunity to connect more with their family something about taking all of those options that are in the city away because you got so many options, you know fast food all these things you can do in taking them away and actually having less options. It allows you to do something together where you don’t have that distraction as much so what you saying about singing in a hammock watching your kids play putting them into the back of the car with crusty salty Town. It is something really lovely about that that people seem to Aspire to in this day when like everything’s in you’ve got your phones and there’s a lot of attention constantly being bombarded with things through your phones and advice is and stuff.
[30:04]
It does seem to be this trend where people are actually going to places where there’s less so they can actually focus on what’s there, you know and really tap back into those kind of simple things of like connection and laughing with each other and sitting around and sitting around a fire and those sorts of things. Like I don’t think that’s a romantic concept. I think people are really pursuing that now that seems something that lots of people have talked about is we’ve moved through these different episodes. The regions allows you to be so in that sense when you get to actually lean into their Serenity of it all.
[30:44]
but actually
[30:45]
something that people probably confuse is that actually life in the regions is slow but it’s not is it it’s very busy like your both business owners parents involved in multiple, like different organizations and networks. And how do you juggle all of the different things
[31:04]
that you do in the regions? I think it is a Juggle and I think you can do as much or as little as you need to and I think there is a balance sometimes where you do have to pull back and
[31:18]
Just focus on what you want to achieve.
[31:22]
There’s definitely no end to options.
[31:26]
and the world’s your oyster that I mean, that’s one thing I really found about the regions is that
[31:31]
Whatever you decide to do people will Champion you and I think that’s the different perception that people have in the city. You think you go to the city because it’s a land of opportunity this so much stuff that you can tackle. But I find in this idiot can be overwhelming and you are competing against a lot of others who are probably wanting to do the same thing if you take that up in a rural town,
[31:57]
He probably the only person having that great idea or joining that club or wanting to make a difference in that area and everybody will Champion you not just once but over and over again and they will tell your friends and they will become involved and I think that’s a beautiful thing. So, there’s no end. If you want to be part of something or you want to start something. The problem is the balance and that’s I think what I found is particularly on a farm. It’s pretty full-on. There’s no scheduling. So it is quite hard to run a side business and have small children and then be part of taking time to be part of the community with your volunteering or joining a club or so forth. So for myself, I found I had to pull back a little bit and when I greet to become a counselor, that was my focus, my focus was Farm my children my family and taking on that role this still things.
[32:58]
I do but I really wanted to make sure that I do the very best job of that role for my community. They’d put me in that role. So I wanted to give it 110% So I think yeah, it’s finding that that good balance. Yeah, definitely so that you don’t
[33:15]
sort of burn out
[33:16]
that does happen. I think people can get volunteer overload or
[33:20]
yeah, volunteer fatigue volunteer fatigue. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah and
[33:25]
there, you know, there’s a lot of incredible people that have incredible skills. So I think if everybody’s picking those few things that they can do really well and fly with it, you gonna have a really successful Community. Yeah,
[33:38]
like a group project isn’t it? Like everyone needs to participate he got to get it done the two of you obviously bring vibrancy and like, you know, so many different ideas and ways of approaching, you know, you can even hear in the chat today, which is why it’s wonderful to be receptive to new people that are coming into communities that
[33:58]
Are moving in from somewhere else and coming as new asteroid, you’re introducing a range of silly people and new people into the community through an event that you have organized at Moody Arab birdies backyard. Can you talk to me about that?
[34:13]
Yes. Well, I I started trail running about three years ago and absolutely fell in love with it and really found my tribe of people really just because it’s just a bunch of people who love the outdoors love to challenge themselves like to do slightly crazy things because I’ve always been the type who likes to kind of get out of my comfort zone. And so yes, I made lots of friends through the trail running community and they come from all over so they’re mixed for Perth and all through the regions. That’s why I like it’s just everyone is everywhere and then meet for Vents and I yeah, I threw some connections and me planting a bit of a seed with one of the event directors. I said that if you ever needed a horse that’s flat with a campground then we’ve got a campground and initially I thought oh, why would anyone want to travel running event on?
[34:58]
That course but then it turns out that yes, they did need that and it was for a backyard Ultra. It’s called birdies backyard Ultra and it’s held at the lake and people run for about four days on the 6.71 kilometer loop on the hour every hour until its last person standing. So we have one of the best actual one of the best world champions who lives in wa actually and so when he comes and competes we yeah, there’s goes down and night for a long time. It’s an unusual event to have you know in a small town and we usually have the PNC will make meals and we’ll sell meals to the runners and people come down and just hang out and watch just because it’s a bit crazy and like you can come any day. You can come this day or this day. They’re still gonna be running. So just you know, so yeah, it’s it’s very unique to go to bed multiple nights and get up and they haven’t even gone to bed at all. Yeah, it’s amazing and it’s a great sort of like it’s a little bit of a village that’s what the campground and it’s in our winter season because we’re very
[35:58]
Is not so we could not have that in our peak season because that’s full of water skiers. And that’s our main income is for water scares the very popular water skiing like so in the winter, it gets very quiet and we have amazing Stars. It just gets very cold. So it is beautiful to camp in winter with the fireplace and the stars, but obviously it’s a much quieter Campground in the winter. So it was great to bring in an event in August the first weekend of August all these Runners come down because they’re a bit crazy and they can camp in the freezing cold and run it and they come and do that. Yeah, first weekend of Augusta for you. We now have birdies backyard Ultra which is
[36:33]
really really do events. So well and people like yourself who both have a background in events can then come and bring like world class events in
[36:45]
to you know, tiny towns International. So we actually did the guy who created it is an America and he watches it live. So he even disqualified to run because he was watching like there was one guy who you can’t
[36:58]
if you want to leave the Corral and you’re on your lap, you can’t even grab a water bottle or anything like that and he ran back in the water bottle when he got a qualified. He was the girls watching it in America. Yeah, so it’s
[37:10]
dusty and also just before we wrap up I
[37:17]
Want to ask you both. What is your favorite thing about your community? And where you live?
[37:21]
I love I think I sort of said it before I love the diversity of our and that comes with the people and the landscape. I just love our region and I love it’s pretty world class.
[37:33]
Our sure as far as the floor and fauna and the wildflowers and it’s just beautiful. So I love that that’s on our doorstep and I’m so proud when people come to visit us that we can take them around and that’s like the diversity comes from the people as well. We’ve got a really cool group of people in our community.
[37:54]
I think it’s interesting that such tiny towns for two of you. But like so much going on and Astrid. What about West Arthur for you? What is your favorite thing? Well, obviously we
[38:06]
all love to meet at the lake everyone loves to go water skiing and it’s a great spot that a lot of the locals come down. And actually that the Shire area has barbecues and I regularly going over to the Shire area to meet up with the locals because our campgrounds booked with you know people from all over but it’s great. It’s a fantastic spot to meet up and hang out. But otherwise, you know, it’s great. Just going out onto people’s Farms I get to photograph many families for many different reasons into many sharing sheds creating photos stories photographing sheep festive for Photograph that for many years. Yeah. It’s fantastic. Everyone’s been very friendly and it’s been wonderful
[38:43]
knowing how amazing this experience has been for the both of you. What is it? Do you wish people knew about Regional life?
[38:52]
I think it’s a land of opportunity out there. I think that.
[38:56]
There’s something really grounding about being.
[38:59]
In rural Australia,
[39:01]
or I think we’re just I’d love how connected we are to the environments and the weathers and the seasons one thing. I just really love like I just just watching what the birds are doing. Just all the different seasons. You’ve come quite connected with it. And I think people you know in you know, Perth quite often are like, ah, there’s too much rain or don’t want it to rain but you just sort of like we we capture all our own We’re Off the Grid so we off the good for power and water. So we have to be aware of when we use our water and you just, you know, just little things like that which is no people in rural Australia that don’t consider their water, you know, just something as simple as that that you can’t just have an endless 10-minute shower. We have constant battles with campers about that and they think they can have this long as they want but Stan water there using and we have to click that and everything like that, but you just become a lot more aware of certain very basic but not basic things even just things like Bushfire learning how you know, my husband’s on the deputy Fire Chief and he’s
[39:59]
Certainly that when when there’s a Bushfire everyone disappears to help with this Bushfire, but they start to learn be more aware about fires and how they move and how they created and people aren’t all very aware of that. Probably, you know, just little things like that. I find amazing and apart from just the just the general Beauty being able to watch the stars and the moon rise and you know really as in just a really appreciate it. Yeah, and I agree how hardly with you I think
[40:22]
that’s that is incredible thing of living in rural Australia is that you you have every opportunity available to you and your community Will Champion you to do whatever you want to do. But by the same token you strip right back. So you have that connection with land which I’ve never experienced before particularly where we are with the mountains and you can smell it right you can smell, you know, the seasons, you know, when the world flowers are coming up you could you could take a calendar off your wall and take your watch off. I think it’s really special and I think a lot of the other stuff
[40:59]
that you get absorbed within the city disappears.
