Golf course ready for Open

AT last, King Islanders enjoyed a really great Saturday for golf and the course is in great condition.

The mowers were in full swing during the week.

The rough is now under control getting ready for the Open.

The greens are looking good with plenty of water being pumped onto them during the past two weeks.

The golf game this week was a three-person Irish Stableford.

In the first six holes, the best score counted, in the second 9 the best two scores and in the final 6 holes all three scores were counted.

The 20 players had a good day out with some very good scores both as groups and individuals. The winning group was David Munday, Brendan Strickland and Cooper Hamer with 84 points. Well done to Cooper a young gun in the making.

Runnersup on 81 points, Sukma Bowling Beau Keys and Brett Harrup.

Those two groups were miles in front of the other groups. It was good fun and individual scores counted as all players recorded their Stableford points.

The best individual scores of 37 points each were John Mauric, Beau Lee Keys, and Rab Denby. On 36 points Dave Munday and most players made it into the 30s.

Nearest the Pin Greg Barratt

18th Once again no one – amazing

AROUND
THE
TRAPS

Thanks again to Gary Strickland for helping the older, less computer-literate members to enter the Open, which is only a couple of weekends away. Apart from the two-day Open, the third day, Monday, is a 4BBB at Cape Wickham. Next week will be a Stableford two-person multiplier. Once again individual stableford scores can’t just get a partner to win the event.

Garden calling

As a senior scientist in cannabis crop production at Extractas Bioscience it stands to reason that when Lizzie Preece turns her agricultural expertise to growing flowers, she gets results.

With husband Travis and children Annie, 8, and Toby, 5, the gardening-mad mum has taken the original farmhouse on Cressy property Little Forest and set up a home business growing and selling flowers.

The 1910 property originally belonged to her great great grandparents James and Georgina Bayles, and by the time her dad had taken over management of the farm her family was living in a more modern home “further up the road”.

“This place was rented out and over the years became dilapidated – the garden, which had been beautiful, became overgrown and unkept,” Lizzie said.

“After I’d finished university in 2007 I moved back here with Travis and we started renovating.”

Lizzie admits she started working on the garden well before they even moved in and the pace only increased during maternity leave when they were expecting their firstborn.

“I remembered how gorgeous it was when my grandmother lived here and after she passed I just wanted to get it back a state that would make her proud,” Lizzie said.

“She used to have a lot of garden parties to raise money for New Horizons because one of my aunties had Downes Syndrome.”

With the same philanthropic tendency Lizzie will once again open up the garden for a good cause – to help the Cressy Holy Trinity Church raise money to restore its stained glass window.

Little Forest, which takes its name from the bordering river, will be one of four farm gardens to open to the public on November 25: Pisa, in Macquarie Rd, Cressy; Forest Vale, on Poatina Rd, Cressy; and Longford Hall in Malcombe St, Longford.

The gardens will be open between 10am and 4pm, cost is $25, which includes a Devonshire tea, sandwiches and beverages in the Cressy Church Hall throughout the day. Payment is taken at any of the four venues.

“Roses were my first love and I had planted heaps at mum’s, so I planted about 100 plus roses straight up, along with Pierre de Ronsard and David Austin roses, ranuculas, tulips, peonies and other spring bulbs,” Lizzie said.

“I was going for that traditional cottage style garden and then I got sucked into the dahlia world – I bought a couple and then it just got out of hand.

“When I started posting on Instagram I was soon approached by florists wanting to sell them, and now I’m at a stage where all my flowers are booked out next year, they’re already spoken for.

Every Monday morning the whole family is out cutting flowers at the crack of dawn before work and school and filling buckets ready to deliver.

As brides-to-be demand mainly white flowers, such as Boundary Snowflake and Café Au Lait, Lizzie has resorted to putting in extra beds of simple white dahlias to add to more than 50 varieties and colours already established such as Powder Puff, Coconut Ice, Samoan Prince and Elma Elizabeth.

The dahlia season is from January to the end of April so they won’t be on show for the open garden, but the Preece’s have plenty of gardening triumphs to show off, such as the grafting of old fruit trees to produce new varieties, a big vegetable patch and the garden apiary where they are sourcing and selling beautiful fresh honey with a highly sought-after soft floral flavour.

“Soil health, irrigation, the right time to pick, dealing with pests and diseases – my ag science knowledge comes in handy and I’m happy to answer questions,” Lizzie said.

“And I will of course have some bunches of flowers for sale to help with the fundraising.”

HER WHEEL KEEPS ON SPINNING

TAYLOR STEVENS– COORDINATOR KING ISLAND CULTURAL CENTRE & GALLERY

Despite growing up surrounded by the musty smell of freshly shorn wool laid out in the shed of a King Island sheep farm, it took leaving home for Robyn Eades to discover her love of working with wool. “I knew about spinning then, but I didn’t think of taking it up myself. I just loved the smell of daggy sheep”, she laughs.

It wasn’t until she went away to Teacher’s College in Melbourne that Robyn decided to take a spinning class on a whim. She was the only student in the class. That was over 50 years ago, and she’s been spinning wool ever since.

Despite her passion for spinning, it took a bit of coaxing to get Robyn to take up knitting. “I had to be encouraged to knit by my family pinning a 10-shilling note to the door frame to finish a jumper.” Despite her initial reluctance, the skill was passed down through generations in her family. Robyn was taught how to knit by both her mother and grandmother.

Robyn can remember when she started selling her wool in 1973, in what seems a lifetime ago, “I had a little shop on the Hume Highway on the mainland, it was good wool country. I had a new baby and a new spinning wheel, so I did spinning and had this little shop. I had my wool, and other people came along and put things in it, the minister’s wife was making things it was really very small to start with.”

In 1980, Robyn returned to King Island, where she put down roots once again with her two children and began designing and building her first home. “We kept this block of land that my parents had paid 100 pounds for in the fifties. So, when the rates went up to $20, mother said, I don’t think I can pay for this anymore so I said, well I’ll have it, I’ll have it!”

After a time, Robyn was forced to leave the house she built. “The sand mine came and said I had to leave, I had to get out. They were offering money. I held out as long as I could. I had to look for another place and start building again. So, I bought another block of land, and designed another house”, she states matter-of-factly. Robyn ended up selling that house to her son and staying on at the original house for 12 more years before someone finally caught on and kicked her out for good.

“At this time I got into the cat hats. We were worried about the feral cats, and we had somebody working for Natural Resources Management at the time, and they got me to take out the stomachs of cats they had in the freezer so they could be sent away to see what they were eating.” Rather than see the rest of the animal go to waste, Robyn began tanning the cats and using them to make various practical things such as hats.

Her dedication to the crafts of spinning and tanning garnered a bit of media attention over the years. In a time before golf courses and the island’s tourism growth, visitors made a point of including the Cultural Centre on their must-see King Island list. The driver of this was King Island’s ‘Cat Hats’. 

Robyn has been featured by big names such as 60 Minutes and Australian Geographic. “The Australian Geographic people came and took pictures of me spinning. I felt like I was a bit famous, the photographer said it was his favourite photo.” She got a bit of a shock during her opening scene of 60 minutes while being interviewed when “all the sudden a helicopter flies over me on the beach!” It was all quite exciting at the time.

Despite her incredible resourcefulness and self-reliance, Robyn has finally faced something that has succeeded at slowing her down – her ailing health. After living alone in the bush for many years, Robyn was struck with a severe aching caused by a mysterious illness and was flown to Launceston for testing. Six months later, they only started to figure out what was wrong. When she finally was able to return home, she found she was no longer able to cope with the self-sufficient lifestyle she had been living happily for over 40 years.

So, push came to shove, as it often does, and Robyn was forced to sell her last bush block at Naracoopa and move to town. Thankfully, she was able to find housing set up by the community. “I had my name down and they had this nice little unit ready eventually for me.” Since the move, she’s still been dedicating her time to volunteering at the Cultural Centre and keeping active with the Field Naturalists. Although Robyn tries to remain positive, she’s frustrated with the illness that still plagues her, having stolen so much of her independence and slowed her pace. “I was trying to do something with my hands last night, just a blanket stitch and I just couldn’t do it, and I used to love hand sewing”, she admits frustratedly.

Despite the setbacks, Robyn continues to keep the tradition of spinning alive on the island and holds out a bit of hope that younger generations will pick up spinning once again. “I’ve always been willing to teach anyone who will have a go at spinning.” With a bit of patience and an ability to be able to do multiple things at once with your hands and feet, she reckons it’s like riding a bike. “Once you get it going, it’s fine, you just keep going!”, she laughs.

You can still catch Robyn spinning in a friendly competition at the King Island Show or selling her locally sourced-wool down at the Cultural Centre. Other treasured items that Robyn produced for sale at the Cultural Centre were sheep wool blended with possum fur gloves and alpaca blends.

It’s one part of who she is that she has been able to hang on to despite the hardships she’s had to endure. We believe that’s something worth celebrating. So, we want to take a moment to thank local Craftswoman and Artist, Robyn Eades for her time and dedication to King Island Wool and the King Island Cultural Centre. She’s been a pillar of the Arts and Cultural space, quietly spinning behind the scenes, even if she does find wool jumpers a bit too hot for her taste.

The GladWrap!

the 24th episode of The Gladwrap celebrates what’s to be a rainy weekend ahead, farmers are being warned of frosty conditions, Launceston Show a success and the sneak peek of the restoration work on Yambacoona House.

Written and presented by Gladys Barreta
Gladys Barreta is a journalist at Font Publishing

Longford hosts stellar fleeces

More than 40 properties from around the state submitted stellar fleeces from their flocks for judging for the Longford Show tomorrow.

Vying for prizes in six categories – ultrafine, superfine, fine, medium and strong Merino and Corriedale  – among them were offerings from Rockford at Bothwell, Connorville at Cressy, Winton at Campbell Town, Beaufront at Ross, Merton Vale at Campbell Town, Glen Stuart at Deddington and Barega at Nile.

The best of the best will take home the coveted Tom Talbot Trophy for Grand Champion Fleece of the Show, an honour established just before the wool industry stalwart and long-time manager of the wool pavilion at the show died in 2019.

Taking over the role keeping order in the shed was his good mate Jim Young, who has farmed his whole working life at Ben Nevis at Blessington and since retirement mainly does a bit of fencing contracting in the Midlands area.

He said he’s always loved wool and feels privileged to be handling some of the best wool in the world at what he reckons is the best one-dayfamily show in Australia.

“Like my old mate Jack Bellinger said: “What animal converts this dry clump of grass into this magnificent fibre, that has graced the global catwalks?” Jim said.

“When you think about it, it is a marvellous creation and this fibre will be on display at the Longford Show in a simple corrugated iron shed for everyone to see and touch and smell.

“There were well over 100 fleeces judged on Thursday and while the price of wool might be half of what is was a year ago, there’s no denying the quality continues to improve.”

Judges this year were Nutrien’s Andrew Murfett and Damien Whiteley and Elders’ Mel Morris.

First and second places in each category will be in line for final judging for the Tom Talbot trophy with the scores for weight, micron and value all tallied.

Two wool growers have also entered the section for wool produced when sheep have been shorn three times in two years.

Genetic selection has resulted in sheep being able to grow wool faster and longer, and with wool mills preferring the wool at a certain length it’s become viable to shear every eight months.

“We’re not far behind Hobart and Campbell Town when it comes to the popularity of the wool section,” Jim said.

“To take home the main prize really means something and provides a stud with a great marketing opportunity for their stock.”

For full results of the wool judging see the Tas Country facebook page.

Truckies on the road to better health

Anthony Gibbons grew up at Longford and coached Longford seniors to the long-awaited ‘89 premiership and he worked at the Longford meatworks for 20 plus years, but for the past two years he’s been driving trucks for Island Fresh Produce.

Like many truckies there’s been a lot of work and not a lot of self-care, so the opportunity to call in to Epping Forest Roadhouse and jump on to the Royal Flying Doctor Service health bus for a quick health check, was appreciated.

RFDS Tasmania has teamed up with the Tasmanian Transport Association (TTA) and Rural Alive and Well (RAW) to help roll out the Open Road program.

RFDS Tasmania physical health worker Lachlan Farrel was able to check Anthony’s heart and lung health, ask some key questions designed to flag any issues with health and wellbeing and give some advice on how to manage the long hours behind the wheel.

“I got the thumbs up so that’s one less worry!” he said as he exited the bus.

TOOA’s Roslyn Bonner was busy making sure drivers connected with the new service and she said the feedback was all positive with the truckies saying “thanks for looking after us”.

Smoking cessation nurse Chris Burt was also on hand to help anyone wanting to give up smoking and RAW mental health workers Adam Lette and David Milne were available for those drivers who simply needed to debrief or unload some worries before they went on their way.

Combined with a free, healthy snack courtesy Bonney Energy, there was no excuse not to take advantage of the check-up and 11 drivers were assessed during last Monday’s session.

Two were referred to a general practitioner for follow-up assessment.

The RFDS has a history of engagement with the Tasmanian transport industry, particularly through the fundraising efforts of the Tasmanian Truck Owners and Operators Association and its annual truck run and truck show

South Road cost blowout

THE cost of ongoing roadworks at South Road have blown out by almost $900,000.

The original budget of $260,000 to $270,000 is now sitting at $871,000, with an additional estimated $95,000 this financial year to complete the roadworks to specification.

Mayor Marcus Blackie said the roadworks were significantly underestimated and underscoped.

The South Road roadworks project started before Mr Blackie was elected as a councillor and subsequently Mayor.

Mr Blackie said it appears that despite internal council operational and councillor reporting the project has not had oversight, transparency and accountability.

At the last ordinary council meeting Cr Ian Allan said there is an issue that when there is a larger or ongoing project, exceeding a year –

as in this case around three years, the council operates on a yearly budget and capital works projects look at one year at a time.

“King Island Council has indeed encountered significant unforeseen challenges refurbishing and resealing South Road,” Mr Blackie said.

“Council recently conducted a dedicated workshop to harvest the lessons learnt from this longer-than-expected project, in order to improve our internal project management processes and staff training.

“As Mayor the buck stops with me and if anyone goes under the bus for the team it is me but as a small council with the right intentions, we will always aim to redeem ourselves to the ratepayers,” Mr Blackie said.

“While we will accept fair criticism for schedule and cost overruns it first needs to be put into perspective.

“This arterial is the most heavily trafficked year-round and usually the most popular route to Grassy, with better visibility, especially for trucks.

“This South Road section is also subject to significant water flows during winter which create disproportionate wear and tear. Gravel shortages and quality issues also contributed to the schedule overrun.

“Unfortunately for us South Road is the responsibility of our council and not State Growth and in certain areas is up to 8m in width,” he said.

“Therefore, the council has had to cover a rolling refurbishment of this road with our own finite works resources that ended up being spread over four financial years to a current total of $871,000.

“The original budget for this work four years ago assumed all could be achieved during a single summer work period.”

Bushfire radio setup for emergency broadcoasts

The radio van has been set up to broadcast with the support of a generator and not only broadcast on 100.5 FM, but simultaneously live stream on social media.

“We try to cover every scenario possible, should we get hit by bushfires on the island”, says station manager Wade Roskam.

“What happens when we lose power? This is something that often occurs during bushfires. What if the internet goes down? The way we are set up now, we hope to cover most of the possible scenarios of failure”, Roskam said.

Community radio has a role during an emergency situation. Authorities like councils, SES and police prefer to direct people to the ABC Emergency Radio and in case of bushfires to stay up to date through the Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) website and the TasAlert mobile app.

Bushfires in recent years in Victoria and NSW, have shown that community radio played a vital and critical role in providing accurate and up-to-date information to its listeners.

“As a community radio station with local knowledge, we will do more than report on fires”, says Roskam.

“A lot of broadcast information will be about evacuation, logistic support and localised events and conditions.

“It is unlikely that the ABC will broadcast a message that Mrs B is missing her dog and ask people to keep a lookout for it, or put callouts for other immediate local needs and important instant information,” he said.

Roskam recently met representatives from the King Island Council.

“We do have a Municipal Emergency Management Plan, which is good of course, but there are questions around practicality and implementation,” he said.

“I have asked a number of questions such as:

• Where is there a page on the council website that explains emergency plans?

• Where are the safe houses, and refuge places for those who have to evacuate during bushfires?

• Are there dedicated safe areas where evacuated people can gather in the different townships on the island and how are these to be serviced?

• Is there a logistics plan in place to provide evacuated people with supplies?

• Is there a plan in place with the Opshops, to ensure that those who have lost everything can get some essentials, like clothing?”

Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Felix Ellis said the message that the fire season is expected to start early should not be ignored.

“We’ve seen devastating bushfires in the Northern Hemisphere recently and while our fire and land management agencies are playing their part it is also the time for all Tasmanians to start preparing for bushfires in their regions,” he said.

“Tasmania is one of the most bushfire-prone areas in the world and preparing for bushfires is everyone’s responsibility.

“After three years of mild bushfire seasons in Tasmania, the Bureau of Meteorology is advising that an El Nino is now increasingly likely.

“An El Nino would bring drier conditions with the potential for more fire weather.”

While it is hoped that the summer season will pass without incident, King Island Radio is bushfire and disaster-ready, and it is time that residents have their bushfire-ready plans in place and importantly be prepared to use if necessary.

Picture: Jonathan Velasquez

Dedicated followers of fashion

The annual Senior Citizens Fashion Parade and auction held in the King Island Hotel was a great success and raised money which will be donated to the Community Garden at Phoenix House in Meech Street.

The catwalk models were young, older and this year young males stepped onto the runway to support the fundraising cause.

It was a big audience and as with past years, some items set up a bidding frenzy with each bidder determined to win.

All items selected for the parade and auction are from the Senior Citizens Op Shop in Currie and most have little wear or were brand new with tags still attached.

Sam Woolley, Oscar Russell and Joseph Daniel were kept busy with quick pants, shirt and hat changes and confidently, with humour encouraged the auction bidders to do better and the audience took up the challenge and was keen to be “naughty but nice”.

Ruth McFadzean was an able MC keeping track of who was wearing what and auctioning the garments and behind the scenes, Sue Brook helped as dresser and ironer extraordinaire.

 Sally Haneveer and Jenny Hill supported by a rotating team kept tabs on the winners and money.

Sonia Louis coordinated the day from inception to completion, to when the last rack crossed Main Street back to the Op Shop.

It was a fun day with bargains galore, sore feet and lots of laughs.

Importantly all funds raised by the Senior Citizens will go back into the community.

This year $941 was raised and this will go to the Community Garden at Phoenix House.

Lucky locals get an early home renovation ‘reveal

Yambacoona House is a significant historical homestead in the Federation style and dates back to the early settlement days of King Island.

It has been undergoing significant renovations to restore this grand house to its former self.

Last weekend islanders were invited to visit the property and be part of “the reveal”.

The property will feature in the Restoration Australia television and streaming program to be broadcast mid-2024.

Yambacoona is a small settlement on King Island about 30 kilometres north of Currie. Yambacoona House, built in 1902 sits on 6.8ha of picturesque countryside.

Visitors to King Island will be able to stay at the house and experience its history and the grandeur of a time gone by and immerse themselves in the King Island historical setting.

Yambacoona House is the legacy of cattle kings. It was built by the original cattle baron of the north, Francis Stephenson who commissioned Yambacoona House and who was in partnership with Gunn of Launceston. 

Between 1916 and 1919 Yambacoona Estate was owned in partnership by the ultimate Australian cattle lord Sydney Kidman, who was seeking southern, high-rainfall cattle country. It was partitioned by the government to settle returned soldiers after World War I.

The settlement’s name is most likely taken from a ship, the Yambacoona, which was owned by the firm of Stephenson and Gunn.

The owner and the restoration driver is Gordon McKenzie and his family.

“I’m a born and bred King Island person, we lived just up the road at Egg Lagoon,” he said.

“My family first came to King Island around 1910, making me fourth generation KI.

“I dreamt that one day I could do something with the property. And then it was available.”

The restoration has taken more than two years and has involved local trades, spare hands, tradespeople from New Zealand (where Gordon and family currently live), Tasmanian and mainlanders.

It has involved camping, hiring, borrowing and ingenuity when supplies have required importation to the island.

Some interesting items have been found as works have gone on and give a glimpse of times gone by.

A postcard from 1898, tarot cards and instructions dated around 1900, and stamps were found behind a fireplace mantle. An interesting find was a handwritten potato yeast recipe written on a wall.

Restoration Australia followed and filmed the restoration progress and Corey and Sarah Brazendale, owners of the King Island Brewhouse, created a beer using the yeast recipe to create a Yambacoona beer which was enjoyed by Mr McKenzie and the TV program’s presenter to celebrate the reveal.

There are plans around the gardens and more.

“I’ve bought the Yambacoona church with partners and this will be the next restoration project while Yambacoona House beds down,” Mr McKenzie said.

“We hope to establish a small accommodation village on the church site while ensuring we keep the authenticity of the church, which my grandmother Winsome was a founding and lifelong member.

“So, a special building as well. I’m really looking forward to what we can do to bring the north/ Yambacoona back to life with people.

“I’m also hoping to one day buy the hall and have that as a reception venue/bar-cafe.

“I think the three buildings working together would make a great place for visitors and King Islanders alike,” Mr McKenzie said.