The 26th episode of episode of The GladWrap has lots of dogs- the well trained kelpies of Pandara Kelpies and Cobber Challenge winner from Fingal Valley, TasCountry’s call out to Farm Dog of the Year and King Island Dairy’s future is uncertain after Saputo Dairy Australia has announced it will be conducting a strategic review with plans to potentially sell the business.
The countdown to Christmas has started and the POKI market had a large range of handmade King Island gifts and produce to attract buyers.
The past few markets have attracted the younger island makers and the November market held at the weekend was Annalyse Dwyer’s first foray into the world of commerce.
“Annalyse is a pro-active, creative girl and loves any crafty activity, so it was a no-brainer that she took a stall at the POKI market,” proud mum Mel Livermore said.
“It was a great experience for her as she could earn some money to buy things she wants, and she enjoyed it.
“Having a stall at POKI teaches her some life skills, like the importance of earning her own money, the value of money and some responsibilities around money,” Mel said.
“Annalyse understands that with her earnings this also means putting some aside for purchasing more stock, which in itself is a big responsibility, especially when there are yummy lollies to buy.
She also has a paid cleaning job every afternoon after school at King Island Motorcycles and banks a percentage of this as well and thanks them for their support.”
HE Festival of King Island is known for a wide variety of different styles of music.
Besides performers from all over Australia, the festival also provides a stage for local performers.
One of them is The Rick Munday Band. Singer Jess Boyes and guitarist Sam Woolley got together almost two years ago and performed at FOKI 2023 – for the first time on a bigger stage.
“I started singing when I was really young”, said Jess. “I really loved it, but I have no grandiose illusions of my talent, but it’s just something I really do for myself.
“I’m a single mum, and my whole life seems to live for everyone else all the time.
“This is just the one thing that I do for myself for fun. When I was young, I used to love to sing. And then I got heavily involved in the music scene.
“But I just became a roadie. When I came to King Island, I just called out, is there anyone who wants a terrible vocalist? Can you just tell him to hit me up? I then became part of a new band Yentl As Anything, who unfortunately no longer exist”.
Sam Woolley came to King Island three years ago to stay for a week. Like many visitors, he hasn’t left.
“I played music for many years on the mainland of Tasmania, but I lost interest. When I came to King Island, I focused on improving my golfing skills, not on pursuing a music career.
Then Jess came up to me one day and asked if I would play the guitar for her. The rest is history”.
The name of the band, after a local golf player on the island, is a story in itself.
“Rick Munday was a bit of an idol of mine before I moved to King Island,” Sam said.
“He and his brother David certainly took an interest in my golf and my music”, said Woolley. “We couldn’t find a name for our band, and Rick was helping us to try and find a name.
“He would come to our gigs at the Grassy Club and then one night, I think I just said, ‘This is Sam and Jess, and we’re the Rick Munday Band.’
“I loved the sound of it. It was a joke for a long time, but it absolutely stuck.”
FOKI 2023 was the first time the band played on a bigger stage, performing a range of great cover songs.
“We can’t wait,” Jess said.
“I love the Festival of King Island. I’ve been in the Green Room a couple of times, and I’ve been in that kind of environment, and I’m just so excited to be on the stage. I can’t quite explain it, because I know the vibe that’s down there – there’s nothing quite like it.
“Everyone’s sitting on the hill and the kids and the families and the way it progresses through the day is awesome. It’s just one of my favourite weekends on King Island.”
“King Island is a special place and the people are phenomenal … and that all is on show during the first weekend in February,” Sam said.
KING ISLAND BOAT CLUB
SUNDAY was a beautiful sailing day with three Quests out on the water.
A few new sailors were learning skills from Brooke and our more experienced sailors are starting to train for the Stonehaven Cup being held January 3-4, 2024.
Thanks to our support crew Mark and Gary for being on the Gezza (support boat), Rod for teaching the theory and to Susan and Jeanette for keeping the kitchen and bar open and ready for business.
Sailing days coming up are November 19 and December 3.
Beginners, new club members and local and off island visitors are welcome.
The club’s Christmas party is December 17.
For the diary:
Stonehaven Cup, 3-7/1/24
Frog Rock Challenge, 21/1/24
Sailing Days, 4/2/24 18/2/24 and 3/3/24
The King Island Cup (Queenscliff to Grassy), 9/3/24
Sailing Days, 24/3/24 7/4/24 and End of Season is 21/4/24
Matthew Johnson breeds the kind of dogs “that would die for you”.
His kelpies are among the best in the country, often fetching big prices at auction, and he’s worked them every day and tested their mettle as a farm manager on properties at Fingal, Westwood, Cressy, and more recently Rupertswood at Hagley.
Such is his reputation with Pandara Kelpies, he is the longest serving brand ambassador for Cobber dog food, and not only nominated the winner of this year’s Cobber Challenge Champion Earl and owner Alex Johns from Fingal property Malahide, but he put up a special prize – donating a 10-week-old pup, valued at $1000, to add to the $3000 cash and copious amount of dog food the winner received.
Pictured here with another pup from the litter, Pandara Brock, Matthew recounts the journey Tasmanian kelpies have made to international recognition.
Pandara pups have sold for up to $40,000 once trained and the biggest prize paid for a kelpie in Australia was close to $50,000, so receiving a pup from fellow farmer Matthew Johnson as a prize was the icing on the cake for Cobber Challenge winner Alex Johns and his now famous working dog, Earl.
While the winner could have been from anywhere in Australia or New Zealand, and being based on kilometres travelled, it would be reasonable to expect one of the big interstate properties would produce the winning combination.
However Matthew was thrilled to see the title snared by someone from the Fingal Valley and he’ll be able to catch up with his pup, Joey, from time to time, possibly even at one of his dog schools.
Plus he’ll have to learn to keep up with Earl.
Bred by Mr Johns out of two of his best dogs, Earl is a perfect example of how important working dogs are in many livestock operations.
Mr Johns said Earl is a true all-rounder and tries his hardest whether he is working sheep or cattle.
During the Cobber Challenge Earl and the other competing dogs from across Australasia were fitted with GPS tracking collars each day to record how fast and how far they travelled.
Throughout the 21-day competition, Earl travelled an amazing 1343 kilometres.
However, it was Earl’s speed which helped him end up at the top of the leader board.
Earl had an average speed of 14.1 kilometres an hour, making him the fastest ever Cobber Challenge competitor.
Mr Johns said it was surprising to look at the end results.
“I was more surprised with his speed,” he said.
“The amount of kilometres probably wasn’t as surprising because we do a lot of work with the dogs, but the speed is what surprised me. I knew he was quick, but I didn’t realise he was that fast and he kept it up for so long.”
Mr Johns said working on a large property like Malahide, which has about 48,000 sheep and about 4500 cattle, means there was always plenty of stock work to be done.
While he may not show it, Earl is partially blind after an accident last year when he ran into a piece of wire which damaged one of his eyes.
Matthew also nominated the first ever Cobber Challenge winner seven years ago, Brad McDonald, who at the time was working on the same farm as Alex.
“When I won the Cobber Challenge in 2017 with my dog Flo, Alex was working alongside us so to see him and Earl bring it home this year, it’s a really special moment,” said Mr McDonald.
“Alex has done a great job with Earl and it’s a credit to him. Earl is a great working dog and he got some great numbers this year.”
“These kelpies are dogs that know how to do the miles, they’re the type of dogs who will die for you and go all day – and they love it too,” Matthew said.
The pup he chose as the prize he said will be no exception having come from one of the best sires in Australia.
“He came out of a litter of 10 and I kept two for myself,” Matthew said.
“I know he was going to use the Challenge prizemoney to buy a new pup, so it’s nice to know the family can now use that money for something else.”
Matthew has been demonstrating his working dogs at agriculture shows and will feature at Westbury this weekend, followed by Circular Head, Breem Creek and Bushy Park.
BUGGY
The 2023 King Island Golf Open was run and won. It certainly was a huge success with all golfers taking the opportunity to begin on Friday at Ocean Dunes and the local through to Monday’s Cape Wickham 4BBB.
The overall winner of the KI Open on 150 with a 76 on Saturday and 74 on Sunday was visitor Ben Wilton off a handicap of +2.
Runner-up on a play-off was Tim Barnes on 155 with an 84 on Saturday and a great comeback 71 on Sunday. The play-off was with former AFL footballer Bernie Vince 155 with 77 and 78 each day.
The play-off was witnessed by a large gathering on the Club Hill house balcony. You could hardly call it an A-grade finish, but it was full of drama. Both tee off – one in the bushes, the other hardly getting onto the fairway. Tim won with a 5 on the par 3 18th hole.
The ladies’ 36-hole gross was Tomi Crewes 169 and runner-up local stalwart Robyn Wilson 174.
The ladies’ gross winner was Lara Pascoe 143, and runner-up Olivia Homewood 146. It was fantastic to see a good contingent of 12 ladies compete and they all had a terrific and enthusiastic time.
All in all 84 competed in the Open. Saturday had pretty tough conditions with a stiff south-easterly wind. No one shot the lights out just hang-in was the word around the course. Sunday was far more favourable with an east breeze, warm, sunny and some good scores were recorded.
AROUND THE TRAPS
Visitors came from far and wide – from Adelaide, Melbourne and Tassie mainland.
Good to see Troy Sullivan back after 20-odd years. Pete Gardiner returned as did many others including Mark Walton, Clint Edwards, Greg Munday, Mark Johns, Lochley Watson and Dallas Ryan to name a few.
There were 29 players with a handicap of less than 10 including three + figures. A pretty talented field.
Friday evening’s Calcutta was handled by Sam Woolley. The King Island links course was in superb condition.
Volunteers and the behind-the-scenes team did a terrific job in recording scores highlighted by the absolute legend Rusty Scott, the starter for another Open. The bar team headed by Kirsty Russell and Salt & Thyme for catering Friday, and Saturday culminating in a superb Sunday evening meal. Captain Chris Richards did a fantastic job and again well done to the committee for a great weekend.
CHRIS RICHARDS-KING ISLAND GOLF AND BOWLING CLUB GOLF CAPTAIN
Congratulations to all our winners. Job well done, especially with a challenging windy Saturday.
Thank you to our local sponsors who give those who have no hope, some hope to take something home and to Kirsty, Patto, Craig, Jen and anyone else who faced the crowds at the bar.
Thanks to Mel, Garry and Jess for sorting the cards and the scoring.
Worst job done well. Thanks to the Salt & Thyme team in the kitchen, as well as Kirsty, the committee and members who provided us with responsible serving of alcohol by cooking for the crowd.
Lastly, thanks to those who spent countless hours making it possible to play this great game on such a great course.
Thank you for presenting another outstanding track to slice, hook, swear and put on. Back to 51 weeks of practising for the next one.
Winners of the Wickham 4BBB were Dallas Ryan and Lance Anderson (43 Points), second Helen and John Conway (39 Points) and a noteworthy third on a count back from Jim Cooper and John Mauric, Adam Hely and Roger Clemons (38 Points).
Thank you to the Cape Wickham team for providing another great day.
The 25th episode of The GladWrap recaps what happened around the Easterns last month and a one of Tasmanian’s medicinal cannabis operations has undergone a huge expansion and a hairy snail finding for islanders.
The King Island Lions Club held their annual Senior Citizen’s lunch at the King Island District High School.
The school again hosted the event which is held during Seniors Week.
Guests were entertained by Leon Barnes and the Kinder students.
“The Lions Club’s annual Senior Citizens Lunch is an opportunity for our catering class students with real-world experiences to plan, prepare and serve guests,” principal Denise Bryant said.
“Kinder also provided entertainment to the delight of our guests,” she said after the event.
Last week was a week of camps at KIDHS.
“Grade 5/6 students spent five days in our national capital and visited a range of landmarks,” Ms Bryant said.
“This trip took many months of planning and provided a wonderful opportunity for our students.
“Grade 7/8 students spent four days at Big Lake.
“Their endurance was tested through a variety of outdoor education experiences,” Ms Bryant said.
The creative arts haven’t been left out this term.
Prep to Grade 6 students enjoyed an enthralling Terrapin Puppet Theatre performance.
‘The Riddle of Washpool Gulley’ is a puppet story that is set far beyond the outskirts of the big city, near a tiny town that nearly everyone forgot, where a dry creek bed of no special significance lays.
Once upon a time, it had been called Washpool Gully.
But the world had moved on from insignificant things, and no one had time for dry creek beds.
Except in Washpool Gully something was stirring.
Shaken by the rumble of engines and the darkening of the sky, something long asleep decided to wake up.
ACTON Park’s Will Thornbury has continued his moto sport success taking out the under 19 champion at the Australian Mototrials held in South Australia last month.
Just 18 years old, Thornbury is now close to his dream of representing Australia after qualifying to compete in New Zealand next year.
Competing since he was just 10, Thornbury has shown remarkable discipline, hard work and tremendous skill to get where he is.
One of, if not the hardest form of motorcycling, competitors require good balance, fast reactions, the ability to control the throttle in conjunction with brakes and clutch.
After navigating a gruelling obstacle course, natural and man-made, Thornbury left his competitors – all 200 of them – in the dust.
Proud mum Megan said “not only did he win his individual class to become 2023 Australian Youth Mototrials Champion but he contributed to Australia defeating New Zealand bringing home a swag of medals, sashes and trophies!’’
Competition organisers said Thornbury, riding a GASGAS 300, showcased exceptional talent with a total of 31 points followed by Cameron Judd on 40 points and Matthew Herrmann on 43 points.
When we first met Thornbury in 2021, he explained the sport was all about balance, technique, control and timing.
Unlike other motor sports, slower is better as it tests balance and strength.
Points are lost if you put a foot down, stall or lose balance.
In Europe the sport is as popular as V8 Supercars in Australia, which is why Will has set his sights on going to Europe to compete one day, perhaps representing Australia.
Shoppers were greeted last week with a new-look IGA in Currie.
Overnight the checkouts were transformed, and they now have slick conveyor belts, a new storage area, swing gates and an open style.
Mainlanders wouldn’t notice the change as they are the norm in supermarkets, but for King Island shoppers it was a bit of a shock.
“The old checkouts have been in place for 29 years – that’s how long we have owned IGA and yes over the last 29 years, we have replaced all refrigeration, new deli cabinets, new kitchen, new containers for storing dairy and frozen and leased out the building where the chemist is,” co-owner Albie Jacobson said.
“I remember the chaos on Fridays. The checkouts weren’t where they are now, and multiple people were working the registers. People would come in with cash from payday Thursday to do their shopping,” Julie Bull said.
Reflecting on past years Chris Robertson said, “I’m showing my age, but I remember the checkouts were in what is the liquor area to the left of the entrance.
“The money was put into a ‘cash carrier’ pod railway and it would whizz across the store on wires near the ceiling and end up in the cash office.
“Cash sales are getting less and less, and I think that in the next few years, there’ll be no more cash sales and no more cheques,” Albie added. Despite the modernisation both IGA and Foodworks still carry customer’s groceries to their cars – a long-lost and forgotten service in mainland shops.
