Smell the Island air - Ben Backhaus

Debbie and Josie speak with Ben Backhaus about his family business, Bush Pharmacy, where Ben distills essential oils grown and harvested on Flinders Island.  You can almost smell the aromas as Ben describes the range of oils. Ben attributes the unique properties of the oils to the geographic isolation of the Island created by the separation of the land bridge to the Australian mainland. Ben sees the support of the Island community as instrumental in allowing his business to develop and bloom.

Tourism has a future on the Island according to Ben, but he also recognises the strong ownership Islanders feel towards their home and their desire to share it with people who come to visit, who appreciate and respect the Island as much as locals do.

You can go to the beach, and there's no one going to be there for a few kilometres. You know, you have that isolation, you have that pureness and I think that, plays in a way, of the place thriving as well as people were considerate of this.

Ben's love for the Island is evident when he speaks of his return from an overseas trip and his exhillaration upon returning to the wild terrain, the isolation, the beaches and the smell of the ocean breeze. 

Show notes and links
Bush Pharmacy | http://www.bushpharmacy.com | @bush.pharmacy 
Kunzea ambigua | https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp8/kunz-amb.html
Melaleuca ericafolia | https://austplants.com.au/Melaleuca-ericifolia/
 Leptospermum scoparium| https://www.anbg.gov.au/leptospermum/leptospermum-scoparium.html
Smokey Tea Tree |  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospermum_glaucescens
Flinders Islannd Blue Gum | https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/179365
Separation of land bridge from mainland | https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/separation-of-tasmania
Furneaux Distillery | https://www.furneauxdistillery.com.au/flinders-island-single-malt-peated

This podcast is created for Designing Tourism by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major from GOOD Awaits. Audio Production is by Clarrie Macklin. Check out their podcast: https://www.good-travel.org/goodawaitspodcast
Music by Judy Jacques, The Mesmerist; Wybalenna Prayer  from Making Wings  © 2002 with kind permission of the artist.
Extract from the Islander Way read by Jana Monnone co-created by the local community with Brand Tasmania as part of the Flinders Island brand story.
Original photography by Sammi Gowthorp.
The Islander Way project is funded by the Tasmanian Government. We also acknowledge our partners, Flinders Council, Visit Northern Tasmania and The Tourism CoLab and the support of Flinders Island Business Inc.

If you'd like to provide feedback on this podcast, we'd welcome your comments at contact@islanderway.co

Transcript

SPEAKERS

Josie Major, Debbie Clarke, Ben Backhaus, Jana Monnone

Jana Monnone  

Welcome to Latitude 40: Redesigning tourism on a small island.

In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We acknowledge the palawa people of the trawulwai nation, and recognise their continuing connection to the land, waters and culture of the Islands. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. 

The first thing you will notice on Flinders and the Furneaux group of islands is the breathtaking scenery. In every direction, what you see is like nothing else in the world, it's deeper than quiet beaches and coastlines, mountains and mist. These islands have a rich and dark history, and an intensely passionate community that wants to reckon with its past and build the right future together. No one is here because it is the easiest place to live. Everyone is here because it's different. When something works on these islands, it tends to be small and special. As the rest of the world chases growth, we chase meaning. We have a complex relationship with change, because we understand what it can bring. It's different here. And we make different invitations to visitors for an unforgettable time on Flinders Island. Learn to be one of us for a few days a week, or the rest of your life. Slow down, listen, get lost, contribute. Don't try to change this place. Let this place change you.

Debbie Clarke and Josie Major  

I'm Debbie Clarke, and I'm Josie major. We're honoured to be your hosts for this Latitude 40 series sharing the stories of the Flinders Island community and the Islander Way regenerative tourism Living Lab.

Ben Backhaus  

Hello. I'm Ben Backhaus. I produce essential oils on Flinders Island.

Josie Major  

Could you start by telling us a bit about life on Flinders Island? What's unique about the island? And why do you live there? What do you love about it?

Ben Backhaus  

There's a lot of variables in this question. I've thought about it. And it will have to be obviously, the island. And there's a lot of contributing factors with that. And it goes with, you know, the, an eclectic bunch of people all the same, you know, love for the island. It's got to be, you know, how scenic it is here as well, you know, it's pretty untouched, and it is very, very much wild. And, and the wildlife as well.

Ben Backhaus  

It's something that I haven't seen so much of before. I think there's no real natural predators here. You know, we have Wedgetail eagles and that kind of thing. But just there's an immense nnative population of wildlife, whether that be the wallabies, lots of wombats, echidnas, blonde echidnas, you know, we even have wild turkeys that go through all the farmlands and just roam around, if you will, at free will. And you know, generally people are eating these, but you know, they're just getting around. There's lyrebirds, and as I said before the or the bird life as well as intense, you know, just array of birds and to see, you know, larger eagles or hawks flying around, it's, it's really something to see. there's plenty of snakes as well. And, but again, it's very safe here. And it's really, when you go for a walk, or a hike or whatever, you're bound to run into something and see something, see an animal or see a wallaby or get the chance to get up close and see some wildlife.

Debbie Clarke  

So tell us about your line of work. Tell us about Bush Pharmacy, and what that's all about. And we'd also love to hear your origin story.

Ben Backhaus 

It's a little bit different, I guess it plays in with the island and why people turn up here. My father once visited about 20 something years ago, and he really loved the place and growing up he always said that he's going to retire to this island and us boys were like, who? where? why? And he just fell in love with the place and I think a lot of people fall into the same trap. A lot of residents are, or were tourists or visitors. And so he did that, he semi retired and came to Flinders about 2013 to semi-retire. And our family business’ background is essential oils, mainly trading and exporting. And for about 25 years. So when we moved to the island, he saw that there was actually a potential to start an essential oil industry on the island just with the abundance of native species that grow pure in wild form. And undiluted. So there's a lot of opportunistic ones that the Flinders farmers have an ongoing war with a lot of pioneering species. So as I said before, they'll take over if that makes sense, and there's this constant battle of plants encroaching into farmland and the farmer trying to take back, if that makes sense. So there was a whole lot of pushing up of these plants or scrub or splashing or poisoning and my father saw an opportunity that, okay, let's take these plants and try and harvest and distil them and make a product. And so it really came from a place of him not being able to sit still. And, and his entrepreneurial nature of seeing an opportunity and, and trying to take it somewhere. And there was a lot of trial and error to begin with. And it did come from a place of being resourceful from a waste product, that really, you know, was it was open there, and it was available. And also to create something for the island as well, other than having the, you know, the just the traditional farming, you know, as other industries slowly die out and regional areas that we see everywhere, it really came from a place where we could actually do something for the island, and put Flinders Island on the map for a product. And again, one of those points was having, you know, essentials as a high value product, but a low volume. So that really helped with logistics of getting it off the island as well. So a lot of trial and error to get to this point, and then to become a viable business. And I'll always be grateful for the Flinders Island community for them opening up the farm gate if you will, and allowing those initial trials to happen. And I don't think that would happen anywhere else. It plays back to the island community and, and people encouraging or wanting to see people do well, or to see something different as well, and going rightio, if we can help, we will help. So basically, that's how things started. So that's how I ended up moving down here, I would come down to visit and I would come for two or three days, and it ended up always being a few extra weeks and when on the last time was about six weeks, and I just said okay, let's let's have a go of this, I'll move down and get my hands dirty as well. So we're still  - essentially, we go into the wild and we harvest plants and biomass. And we bring that back to the distillery near close to Whitemark, and we've got a facility there with a few with a few boilers and we we cook the plants and produce essential oils.  It's come from a place of being very small time and just seeing if it's a viable business is something that's actually contributing to the local economy and we're trying to bring more people on, and go forth. We're planting wild harvested stock now and propagating that on site hothouse and, and putting into plantation to further the industry and the products that we do. And as I said before, a lot of that is pioneering, you know, Flinders Island is pretty much at the forefront of, of native essential oil production in Tasmania, and creating a market for that too, which is really interesting and really good for the island as a whole. As I said, having such a high value but low volume of products, the reach of that is unfathomable, they, you know, some of our products end up all over the world. US, UK, all over Europe, in Asia. So it really has, you know, a little bit of oil can go a long way.

Debbie Clarke  

What are some of the oils like, if there are listeners around the world? What are some of the oils that you're selling that they might want to get their hands on?

Ben Backhaus  

It's always a hard one when I get this question because it's predominantly Australian natives. And as I said earlier, there is a lot of it is experimental to a degree or we’re the very first to do some of these and creating a market for that. So I'll list them out. Our main one is Kunzea ambigua. And this is the one that is our main focus in plantations. We do a Melaleuca ericifolia which is similar to a lavender tea tree oil. We do a coastal tea tree oil which as far as I'm aware, we're the only one in the country to do this. We also do a Leptospermum scoparium which is the Menuka plant and on Island we have a different aroma which is quite interesting. We do a smoky Tea Tree and we do Flinders Island Blue Gum, which again, is a Flinders Island, Tasmania blue gum, which no one really has done before either. And, I think being so isolated, and with the land bridge and whatnot, we really have the purest form of these plants and the strongest have survived with that gap. And plants haven't been able to, to hybridise, we've got our select plants of native species that are dominant here, and the best have survived, if that makes sense. So they've all taken their own little paths of aromas and context and things like that.

Josie Major  

That's awesome. I love hearing about those unique particular aromas to your place, I think there's something quite poetic about that.

Ben Backhaus  

It is to a degree. And it's, it's probably something to do with being so far south as well, a lot of native production of other oils are done when they've got grow season all year round, you know, part of Bush Pharmacy is still with our trading business that look after a lot of volume of oil for other farmers on on the Australian mainland. And, you know, they have tea tree that grows two metres tall within 12 months, you know, their winters only get down to 20 degrees, and that's cold for them. So they've got a growth cycle all year round. Where down here, we do have that, you know, obviously the definite seasons and things do slow down, and potentially that may have something but that has to do with the oil. And, and being on an island in the middle of nowhere, a bit of salt spray, and, you know, that kind of thing all plays its part no one can really put the finger on why. But yeah. Again, these genetic differences being you know, with that land break, and all that would all play a part as well.

Josie Major  

Yeah. You can't you can't manufacture that uniqueness. We want to ask you about sort of, looking forward and thinking about the future of the island and the community and perhaps the natural environment of the island as well, if you want to speak to that, but what is a thriving Flinders Island look like? What's your kind of vision for what Flinders could look like in the future?

Ben Backhaus  

It's a very, very good question. And I think there will be a lot of conflicting perspectives on this. So I'll speak from my, my thoughts. I think we need a little bit more of a population. I see that tourism as a way to obviously, that's how my father came here and me to a degree, and I know a lot of islanders have. So I understand that tourism plays a big part with exposing, and showcasing the island for people to want to move here. There is an issue with housing that needs to be addressed. And because a lot of people do want to move here or take the plunge, but they've got nowhere to live. And that is a bit of an issue. So I see that we're going to have to try and untie some of that red tape. I think a little bit of very appropriate, considered development could help with this. Whether that's in other industry, or trying to bring industry here or even having people. You know, a lot of people work from home these days, and they can live in a place like this, you know, we're all open to the internet now and things are becoming more reliable. I see, potentially, you know, being a bit more self sufficient to a degree. You know, having in two ways being on island you become very resourceful with what you've got. And there's a lot of people that have grown up on the island that are super resourceful and you know, they save every little bit of it and that will come in handy in the future and I really appreciate that. I think you see when, when you live here your impact of what you use, because you can't get away from it. So, if it's waste or whether, you know, how much would you use or this or that.  It starts to become obvious, because you have to move it yourself as well. So, you know, whether that's going to the tip and whatnot. So it's really measurable in that way, I'd love to see, you know, that the we going back to that being be more self sufficient, and maybe that's potentially  - I think there's conversations about food and, and whatnot, and having a bit more, you know, grocery aisle, greengrocer items, you know, there's a few that are doing market gardens, but they wouldn't be able to satisfy the population. So whether that gets streamlined to a degree, so, you know, that creates more jobs in that way. And, you know, less food miles and whatnot. You know, there's some promising things. The abattoir has just opened up. So those guys, you know, we'll be able to have more on Island meat now, which we haven't had for a couple of years. So I see, you know, obviously, it all plays a part, I believe, with a little bit of industry and, and people doing things to create employment, you know, because we need, you know, more children at the school for more teachers, and it all plays its part. 

Debbie Clarke  

That's great hearing that, from your perspective, there is a need for more people and more industries and thoughtful development that can contribute to the community.

Ben Backhaus  

Absolutely. I think that comes from a place that, you know, thriving Flinders Island, its people aren't against the tourism, I think it's the people want the people that come to visit to appreciate the island as much as they do. And I feel that since being here, there is some sort of ownership with the people that live here to the island, and not in a selfish way, but in a respectful way, as well that, you know, no one leaves that rubbish around, people want to see the island remain as it is. And that's why a lot of people live here because they love those natural aspects. You can go to the beach, and there's no one going to be there for a few kilometres. You know, you, you have that isolation, you have that pureness and I think that, you know, that plays in, in a way, of the place thriving as well as people were considerate of this.

Debbie Clarke  

Sounds like you all take your responsibility of stewardship very seriously.

Ben Backhaus  

I think so. I wouldn't label it like that. But if you have to, I think so. I think you've nailed that. Yes. I haven’t really thought about it like that. Yeah, it is. To a degree Yes. I do hear custodian of the land a lot in that kind of aspect. Yes.

Debbie Clarke  

So you've spoken a little bit already about the role that tourism can play in that. If you could say something to visitors, what would it be and what role would you like them to play in this caretaking of your place?

Ben Backhaus  

I think as I said before, about the just being respectful of the place of where you are and take note of that. This is what it is. It is wild. It is remote, you're going to have some issues of not having things like conveniences but if that's what you want, you're probably in the wrong place. Really enjoy but enjoy that for what it is as well. Does it really resonate with the isolation and that you are a little person on a little speck in the middle of Bass Strait in the middle of nowhere and smell that ocean breeze, and really appreciate where you are. And the reasons why a lot of the residents are here specifically for that as well.

Josie Major 

That’s just wonderful. I’m so glad we got to talk to you because I think it's a really valuable perspective so thank you for the time.

Ben Backhaus 

And as I said before, it's not, I don't like doing these things. I'm not very social. But I see that there's a place, obviously, anything to help the community, as I said, you know, with my father starting the business and whatnot, and if this helps in any way to the community, I feel that I need to do these kinds of things, you know, like they call up and, you know, to do interviews on ABC, and this and that. And I always say yes, because I feel like I should be contributing something from Flinders Island for a bit of payback, it that makes sense. I just think it helps us all to a degree. And anything I can do. You know, I will say yes, even though. Yeah, that's the best way of putting it. 

Ben Backhaus  

I think you possibly would have heard from the other islander, that there is a bit of contention with, you know, development and whatnot. And, you know, I'm very cautious how to pitch that, obviously, I don't want to see resorts here and whatnot, I think it needs to play as it is. But again, there needs to be, considered developments, and also, that help with industry, not just with tourism, but again, tourism employs a few people on the island. And, you know, and it showcases the island, which then helps with giving a face for products.  Just in the last couple of years us doing the essential oils here, now, we've got the actual whiskey distillery as well, and you know, so it's really good. I find that from a place where I see that is important, because that will help other people move here to create something on island, which will help us with more, you know, buying power or whatnot, and give a face to the island and really tell the story of the island as well, that people don't have to come here, they can have a bit of Flinders Island in a product that leaves the island, which, you know, it helps retain, you know, adds to the community and the associated business around that community.

Josie Major  

I think all people need to do is listen to one of you guys speak and they'll want to come to Flinders Island. Because Debbie and I are completely convinced that we need to come.

Ben Backhaus  

I don't know, I'm not going to say that I'm well travelled. But I have been a few places I've been lucky enough to have seen some nice places. My wife is actually Hungarian. So it's a weird contrast to I've been I've I was born in Sydney. I lived in Brisbane and in Hobart. I did a lot of growing up there and a little bit of my University there. I've also lived in the outback and did underground mining for five years. And I lived in Mount Isa, and I think that may have helped with the transition to moving to the island, that you can appreciate, okay, there's no traffic and congestion. And, you know, you can have a hard day of work, but you can be on the beach with the dogs within two minutes of knocking off, you know, so you get these kind of, you're able to reset all the time, and take the values of the island and being isolated, and just being able to go “wow”, you know, this is the reason that I live here. I'm not stuck in traffic. I can go fishing when I want or when the weather permits.  Yeah, you really get a sense of home. It was weird, I just recently went to Europe quickly for a quick business trip with off island business, sorry. And I just couldn't wait to get home. You know, I went to you know, just, I'm in Hamburg in Germany and Barcelona and Paris. All I wanted to do is just get back on the plane and come home. And it just felt so good to smell that Island air and get my feet on the ground. And it's funny, you know, you really appreciate a place for what it is when you have something else to compare it to. And yeah, I'm really grateful, you know, to have found, to live on the island to be honest.  It is challenging to live here, but it's so rewarding as well.