The lyrics say it’s time to say goodbye and Anna De La Rue and husband Adrian Gobel left King Island this week. Anna, after more than 20 years and Adrian after 60 years.

The pair have joined an increasing number of long-term residents, and in some cases, lifetime King Islanders who as they age, leave to be closer to family, medical care, and hope for a reduction in the cost of living.

“I have lived on King Island for over 20 years and for Adrian it is more than 60 years,” Anna said.

Adrian came to the island with Dutch family connections to take up dairy farming. This migrated to beef farming on their South Road property.

“The farm has sold and Adrian’s daughters both now live in Tasmania,” Anna said.

“My daughter and grandson live in the US.

“Now the family is close by, and we increasingly have medical issues, I can comfortably know that if I visit my daughter and grandson, Adrian has his daughters only a few minutes away in Launceston.”

Over the years the couple have been involved in many community groups and businesses. Adrian enjoys sailing and his sloop, moored in Grassy will make the journey to Tasmania.

For many years Adrian ran a tour coach and tourism business before selling and focussing on the farm.

Anna is a qualified psychologist and in private practice as well as working for many years at the King Island District Hospital as a rural resource worker until the position was defunded.

As an authorised marriage celebrant, she has officiated many island couples’ marriages and as a funeral celebrant helped families and friends say goodbye to loved ones.

Over the years Anna has served the island’s Catholic community acting as both a liaison and service leader in the weeks when the priest is not visiting the island and with Adrian was part of the church’s Holy Donut team making and selling donuts at events.

“I also instructed Tai Chi on a Tuesday at Phoenix House and a member of the island’s Red Cross, a member of Lions and also the cross churches Christian Women’s Group,” Anna said.

“I was a volunteer ambulance officer for many years and while the Red Cross closed on King Island, I’m still an active member of the Red Cross Emergency Response team.

“Over the years I have had the phone duties, but I have also been deployed off the island to disasters like floods and bushfires,” she added.

“I will miss King Island and most of all the community. Yes, it’s the community I will miss and the bonds we all have.”

Just north in Currie Harbour is Gull Rock, well known to our local fishermen.

Recently I did some observations from Devil’s Gap, noting the weather and ocean conditions, as well as the time I was there. As an observer of the coastline, I’m not usually in one spot for any length of time. It might just be for a few minutes and often determined by the amount of time available and the number of birds in the area to watch.

 My observations are just a snapshot of that brief period, and if I go back to the same place later, the observations are always different. Occasionally the results are very different – as the birds are moving all the time.

A brilliant observation point is on the top of the cliff at Devil’s Gap, looking westward towards the horizon. I saw several fishing boats and one of them was motoring back towards the harbour followed by several Australasian Gannets.

 They were soaring above the waves with no sign that they were feeding. Closer inshore, Silver Gulls were randomly flying about, while several Black-faced Cormorant were flying low over the water from the north in a direct line for Gull Rock.

Along the waterfront, fresh kelp gets dumped on top of older kelp.

 I could see little kelp flies in the sunlight, a perfect place for the Pied Oystercatchers to be gorging themselves in preparation for their breeding season.

Hooded Plovers were on a nearby patch of sand enjoying a meal of flies and hoppers near the edge of the water. Rotting kelp is an important source of food for our shore birds as it breaks down like compost and provides an ideal environment for hoppers to breed and a place where kelp flies lay their eggs.

Hoppers will bury themselves under the kelp or dig into the sand while kelp fly larvae provide excellent protein for foraging birds.

Dense wind-pruned and stunted coastal scrub surrounded me.

These bushes were loaded with small bush birds darting in and out, chasing small insects and whatever else they wanted to eat.

The White-fronted Chat is often seen feeding on the kelp and is common around the coastline, although they can be found further inland along with many other small bush birds.

I could see birds on Gull Rock, and I walked closer to investigate. Gull Rock is a safe haven for breeding birds as it is surrounded by water at all times of the year.

This makes it more difficult for feral cats to hunt and eat incubating birds and chicks. Although I only viewed the rock from one angle, I could see a large colony of nesting Black-faced Cormorants.

 Some were sitting on eggs, while others were still building their nests, flying in with beaks full of soft kelp. Some of the substantial nests were on quite steep rocks and as the kelp dries the nests stay in place, so the eggs and chicks don’t tumble out.

 A few Gulls were perched up near the top of the rock as well as several Crested Tern.

Gull Rock is generally used by other breeding birds each spring and summer. Once the Black-faced Cormorants have raised their chicks to fledglings, the Silver Gulls move onto the rock and make it their home while they raise their family of chicks.

And when this is complete, a colony of Crested Tern take over to raise their own families. Gull Rock is a prized place for the breeding birds of Currie Harbour.

It was a most enjoyable and relaxing experience recording these observations for the Tasmanian Bird database. I encourage you to be observant when visiting the beach as you never know which birds you will see.

The King Island Arts and Cultural Centre had an active winter planning and organising for a busy last quarter and coming 2024 – and – after 20 years – the name is changing.

After almost 20 years, the Arts and Cultural Centre or the more recognised “Cultural Centre” is changing its name to the King Island Gallery.

“Since the renovation of the space a few years back, the number of cultural and workshop activities has diminished and the space has focussed more on the display of items made by local creatives,” the council’s Community Development Officer Mark Wischnat said.

 “The gallery will now become a dedicated space for viewing, learning and sales,” he said.

“Fortunately, we have two studio spaces, the wharf studio, and the previous porcelain painters’ studio in Meech Street, that are now available for workshops and activities.

“The council will hold a launch event, with a local exhibition to celebrate the new direction and name change in mid-November.”

Other developments include a refocus on local and visiting exhibitions. 

“We learnt from the nature photography exhibition in April that locals want to see new work at the centre and that we need a process to respond to exhibition enquiries from off-island artists and to develop a calendar of exhibitions and activities,” he said.

 “To present a broader range of exhibitions, we are introducing a simple call-out process that includes a small group that will help plan, make decisions, and curate an exhibition calendar. Eventually, we will move to an annual call-out similar to the Artist Residency program which has worked smoothly for the last few years and is developing a strong reputation.

 “We would ideally like to present four to five exhibitions throughout the year, with half being local creatives or community art activities,” Mark said.

Other works in the pipeline include the development of a standalone website for the gallery, added support for volunteers, two new exhibitions and the two studio spaces that will be available for the community to access.

 The extremely popular Artist Residency program is currently open for 2024 residency applications.

“The program is receiving strong enquiries from across Australia ahead of the October 1 closing date.

“We will announce the successful 2024 artists at the mid-November launch.”    

Island creators are encouraged to hold an exhibition of their work in 2024. The King Island Council website kingisland.tas.gov.au has more information and a simple form to complete. The closing date for the exhibition Expression of Interest is October 9.

“If you are interested in an exhibition, want to display new work in the gallery or are keen to spend a couple of hours each week or fortnight surrounded by art, we are always looking for volunteers and would love to have a chat about what would work for you.” Contact Community Development Officer Mark Wischnat on 64629000.

THE Currie Slipway is now operational, and it is welcome news for fishers who can now undertake boat repairs on the island.

 “On behalf of King Island, I acknowledge the refurbishment work and investment by TasPorts to get our Currie Harbour slipway operational again in a relatively short timeframe over winter,” Mayor Marcus Blackie said.

“It is great news for our fishing fleet and maritime safety as a whole that this facility is now up and running again,” he said.

“Innovative design work and engineering were required to replace the corroded sections and ensure the slipway meets all current compliance requirements.

“Hopefully, it will now receive more use than in the past to service our fishing fleet in situ and return the infrastructure investment.

“We continue to work very collaboratively with TasPorts under our reset relationship and they deserve credit for forward-leaning on this successful outcome,” Mr Blackie said after meeting with TasPorts executives.

King Island fishers and boat operators were concerned about the closure of the Currie Harbour slipway last November when the commercial Southern Rock Lobster season was due to open.

With the slipway closed fishers travelled to the Port of Stanley. Some fishers travelled to Hobart due to Stanley’s slip congestion and lack of space and others to Victoria for boat repairs.

“TasPorts closed the facility last year because of the poor condition of submerged sections of the slipway given its age and exposure to the marine environment over many years. The decision was an important one taking account of the safety of King Island’s fishing fleet operators, TasPorts’ personnel, and the wider community,” TasPorts said in a statement.

“TasPorts would like to thank the local fishing community, particularly Paul Graham, which worked so collaboratively with us on the remediation project,” TasPorts Chief Executive Officer Anthony Donald said.

“The work was completed by Tasmanian-based contractor BridgePro Engineering.”

Asparagus scandens, aka asparagus fern, is an invasive weed and has completely covered large areas of our waterways, particularly Fraser River, and along Grassy Rd and is a major island problem.

It is rampant around Grassy and Grassy River and is increasing in density in many of our precious forest areas.

It has the ability to completely smother all the medium and ground-level native plants in areas it invades.

Asparagus fern will invade and destroy all our native vegetation if we allow it to continue spreading.

The Birds of King Island group and visiting ecologists have grave concerns about the impact asparagus fern is having and will have in the future as it spreads further on the habitat (home) of our native animals, particularly our critically endangered birds, the King Island Scrubtit and King Island Brown Thornbill, both little birds that are unique to King Island.

We also have landholders who are very concerned about the impact of asparagus fern on the essential natural areas of their properties.

King Island Landcare is embarking on a long-term effort to control this weed once and for all. It will take many years and will rely on a whole of community effort, but the cost of doing nothing will be far greater than the cost and time to strategically control it.

We have a one-year project running until June 2024, involving some hand removal and chemical trials, and a management plan to inform future activity and leverage funding.

Asparagus fern is notoriously hard to kill with chemicals. We will do a trial of various herbicide chemicals that have been suggested might work better than our normal mix of metsulfuron, Pulse and Envirodye.

Always carefully read the labels and MSDS before using chemicals and follow the safety instructions. Avoid spraying chemicals into water).

Landcare is holding a field day on October 6 and we invite all sections of the community and farmers to attend.

This will be held at Carmen Holloway and James Hill’s property, where we will see the efforts they have made over the years by hand removal, and observe our herbicide trial site next door. See advertisement for details.

The most important part of the management plan is to update the mapping we have.

Do you know of asparagus fern outside of the areas shown on the map?

Close-up maps are available on the King Island Landcare Facebook page, and hard copies will also be available at both Elders and the Post Office, which you can draw on if you know of asparagus fern that we haven’t mapped yet (Please put your name next to your markings so we can follow up with you).

Alternatively, we can send out hard copies of maps, or email them to you on request, or you can come into the office and show us in person or come along to the field day and do it there.

We will prioritise areas for control and develop an action plan in conjunction with King Islander’s ínput.

The plan will contain information about how to control and what’s been achieved elsewhere, as well as references to further information, and flagging who is responsible for the activities.

Please let us know any thoughts and input you have on the management of asparagus fern on King Island. Contact Eve Woolmore, Landcare crew coordinator (relief). 0447805286. Email eve41013@gmail.com or drop into the office at KIRDO, George St, Currie.

Lions Club of King Island recent 54th Charter Anniversary/ChangeOver Dinner was one of recognition and celebration.

International Leo of the Year 2022 Leada Blackie was presented with a certificate and engraved medal from Lions Headquarters in Chicago.

King Island Hall of Fame Lions Steven Bishop and Rod McGarvie were inducted for giving over 25 years of exemplary service

Lion Linda Payne said Rod McGarvie has passed 28 years of service to the Lions Club of King Island and Steve has clocked up 48 years of service to Lions Australia starting in Victoria, then King Island and when living part of the year in NSW, he is an active member of the Narooma & District Lions Club.

Lion Steve is a past recipient of the Melville Jones Fellowship Award from Lions Clubs International.

This Fellowship Award is the highest form of recognition.

Lion Rod is a past recipient of a James D Richardson Award.

A King Island “OBE” (over bloody 80 and still volunteering) was presented to Hans Petersen, who turned 80 in June and Lion Jan Strickland received 90th birthday flowers.

Jan has been a lifelong member of Lions International, starting her involvement when women wished to become involved.

Jan is a past recipient of the James D Richardson Award, and her husband Richard (Dick) Strickland was inducted into the Lions Australia Hall of Fame and a recipient of a Melvin Jones Fellowship Award.

Lions is a Bishop family affair. Steve’s wife Ricci is president of the Narooma Lions, and the club received an Australia Day Award.

This was the culmination of two years’ work by Ricci and team, (including Steve), in building an independent food, water and power supply barbecue trailer with refrigeration and the erection of a new shed in which to garage it.

This was in response to the Black Summer 2020 bushfires in Narooma.

Thousands of Lions and Leos from all over the globe will descend on Melbourne for the Lions International Convention June 21-25, 2024 – the largest convention that Melbourne has hosted and estimated to deliver over $85 million to the Victorian economy.

King Island membership enquiries can be made to Bert and Larraine Nievaarts 0429 646210.

 ELDERS store owners Mandy and Fox (Phil) Mahoney, with the support of Elders and suppliers, held their 31st annual Elders Instore Information and Enquiry Day at their Currie store last weekend.

The event turned out to be a resounding success, drawing in residents, farmers, tradespeople, and the curious, despite not being listed on the island’s tourism event calendar.

More than 27 supplier companies made the journey to the island, seizing the opportunity to introduce their products, services, and innovations in a relaxed, social setting. Beyond its immediate impact, the event plays a significant role in King Island’s visitor economy. Attendees often extend their stays, resulting in increased car hires, dining, and other local spending, making it a substantial revenue generator year after year.

The event had evolved beyond mere sales; it had forged lifelong customer relationships and friendships. Chris Brown-Price from Waratah Fencing, attending for the 29th time, explained: “I don’t come because of sales. I come because it’s a fantastic way of meeting island people.”

The event had become a cherished tradition for many, and the sense of camaraderie was evident in the big back shed area.

The atmosphere was festive, akin to a giant family barbecue with local Brewhouse beverages, a lucky draw and presentations. Lucky draws featured an array of prizes donated by supplier businesses, including farming and non-farming products and local restaurant vouchers. There were store and supplier stands with discounts, buyer specials and deals.

As the day drew to a close, Mandy expressed her delight with the event’s success. Around the Elders store sheds, the playful yearly well-worn joke circulated: “This is King Island’s Agfest. All that’s missing are the machinery to climb into, but there’s plenty of brochures.” This year’s event once again was a remarkable and memorable occasion.