Beyond the Purple Swamphen: Creating is living - Mel Telfer

In this espisode, Josie and Debbie talk with Mel Telfer:  dental assistant, ambulance service volunteer, school teacher, truck driver, and a maker and the driving force behind The Purple Swamphen, the makers' co-op on Flinders Island.

To outsiders Mel's life might look daunting but for her, the multiple roles she fills provide opportunities to feel purpose,  structure and function in her life.  Mel talks about her connection to the Island community, and the honour she feels  to serve in her varied roles. 

Mel's need to create drives her to make and inspires others: "I feel like being creative is so much a huge part of being human."

Mel talks about the different makers who have embraced circular economy: salvaging found objects, creating new products and increasing their usefulness. 

"We've got a few different makers  ... one particularly works with plastics and ropes she finds on the beach, and she'll turn them into either artworks like a wall hanging and a lighthouse made out of different bits of plastic from the beach, or she'll make cards or key rings from the beach rope. So she's really starting to explore what she can do with all this kind of waste products that keeps washing up. Yeah, I've got another maker who will use baling twine from the hay bales to crochet baskets."

Show notes and links
The Purple Swamphen | https://thepurpleswamphen.com.au/about/
The Purple Swamphen instagram page | https://www.instagram.com/thepurpleswamphen/
Kangaroo Island | https://southaustralia.com/destinations/kangaroo-island

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, Mel Telfer

Jana Monnone  00:14

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.

Mel Telfer  

Hey, I'm Mel Telfer. I guess on Flinders Island I've got a few roles. One of them being running The Purple Swamphen which is a kind of handmade shop, featuring lots of local arts and crafts. I've got a few other roles as well. This year I'm teaching you 11, 12 Biology at the school. I am a dental assistant about one weekend in eight when the dentist comes over to Flinders or what so do we run a concrete business so I did the books for that and occasionally drive a concreting truck. And I volunteered for a few organisations, the ambulance being one and the local Hall committee. So yeah, between all of that and then trying to hang out at home with my horse and whatever rescue birds I've got and then actually create stuff. Yeah, I don't tend to have a lot of time but hey, that's Flinders. 

Debbie Clarke  

So that’s great to learn that that's pretty typical Mel that people have multiple roles on Flinders. So help us help us understand a little bit about Flinders Island or life on Flinders. What makes it so unique and especially what do you love about it? 

Mel Telfer

I think Flinders Island has a really beautiful, distant natural landscape and its climate. So it's a really stunning place to live. But I think what I love best about it is there's so many opportunities to get involved with the community and to kind of help the community become the place you want it to be. And so, yeah, there's that kind of balance between having this incredible natural wilderness that you want to get out and explore and have time to yourself but then you can dive right in and help run events or you know, with the ambulance, I can kind of help people you know, when they're having really tough time. So yeah, there's so many opportunities to, I guess, feel purpose and structure and function in your life. Yeah. Awesome.

Having been involved in organising a few different events and stuff like here and seeing other events on the island. I feel like they work best when they've come from the locals or with the locals at heart. So, for example, we've got a film festival that happens every second year. I could watch a three minute film. And it's usually a theme. And it's got really strong local support, I think because it's come from locals organising it and encouraging the locals to enter it. And then it can grow from there. And so in the last couple of years, they've had entries from all over the world because they opened up the portal to submit their films online. But they still, you know, they'll choose a few amazing films from internationally. But it's always focused on the locals. And they're always the films that do the best. I don't think a film from not Flinders Island has ever taken out the top Gong. Yeah, so I guess anything that's built from the ground up on the island, and seems to go really well and have good support. I've got a few events like that. The centre islands Festival, which is sort of our alternative to Anzac Day and Australia Day. So, yeah, instead of having quite a divisive Australia Day celebration, yeah, gosh, quite a few years ago. Now the local council and a few others decided that no, let's have a celebration of the different cultures on Flinders. It celebrates their music and the food and we shifted the dates just slightly. Well, and yeah, that has really grown strongly. Yeah. So events like that seem to work well.

Debbie Clarke  

Well, and that speaks to the community really valuing the community itself, definitely wanting to recognise who we are and what our unique identity is? And how do we create something around that?

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, that's it. Yeah. You know, visitors are always welcome at all these events, but it's not designed for them. It's designed for us. I feel like that's a key difference. Yeah.

Josie Major  

It's like choosing what you want to celebrate and saying this is what's important to us, as opposed to, like you were speaking to before it been, you know, we're a unique place, and we don't have to just do what, what the rest of Australia is doing, or you know, we can we can celebrate what's important to us.

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, that's it. 

Debbie Clarke  

It's just wonderful to listen to you talk about Flinders and just the warmth of the community, and just how strongly that's valued. comes through really resonates deeply when you speak.

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, no, it's, it is an amazing place. We all look after each other on the whole. Yeah. It's incredible.

Josie Major  

And all of the roles that you've got, you clearly got, you know, able to contribute to so many different parts of the island life like you say, like with the ambulance and then with the young people with the school and with your artists community. I think that's so wonderful. You get to be a part of so many different parts of the community.

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, it's funny lately, I've particularly been trying to work out if there's a German word for sort of like an honour to serve or something must be up because,  yeah, a few times with the ambulance, you know, people have said to me, I don't know how you do what you do with that, and it must be so confronting. But to me, it's like this humble honour,  and a kind of privilege. There's some kind of word around that. And I feel there must be a German one there that will work. But yeah, this place really allows you to kind of feel that I think that, yeah, you're not just there for yourself, you're there for others in your community.

Josie Major  

I love that. I love that. This generative type thinking that Debbie and I are really interested in that I know, that has been part of the conversation on Flinders recently. And this idea of being a part of an ecosystem, you know, and seeing yourself as a part of the community in that way. I think that's so beautiful, what you're speaking to there. Thanks. So tell us about the purple swamp pen, because I just think it's the most fabulous project. And so can you tell us about where that came from? And perhaps, what role does it play in the community? What do you see as the purple swamp pen’s role?

Mel Telfer  

Sure. So yeah, we started up. Gosh, it would be eight years ago now. I started getting into screen printing and kind of was all excited about printing shirts and things like that. And a friend of mine, Helen, just started roasting coffee. And she needed somewhere to have a coffee roaster. And I thought, oh, let's have somewhere to sell some shirts or something. And a little space became available in white marks. So we rented that and took that on and kind of grew out of there. A few years ago, Helen decided she wanted to focus on her family and her other roles. So she's a teacher as well, and, you know, a few other things. So I ended up taking it on solo with all of the, you know, I guess pressures and freedoms that come with that. Yeah, and I guess I feel, I really love that I can sort of encourage the local people in their creativity, and, you know, no matter what they're making, is to make something and bring it in. And I'll, you know, we'll see if we can find new homes for things. So that's kind of really exciting seeing people's skills develop over the years, I guess. Yeah. And giving them that confidence to keep creating, because I feel like being creative is so much a huge part of being human. Yeah.

Josie Major  

Could you tell us about one of one of the artists or the creators or a couple that really inspires you? Or?

Mel Telfer  

Oh, wow. 

Debbie Clarke  

Or maybe paint, paint a broad picture for anyone coming into a shop, what they would see and what would be sure.

Mel Telfer  

Makers are into all sorts of different things, whether it's knitting or lino printing, or watercolour, line drawing or leatherwork. There's a little bit of ceramic sculpture coming in, all sorts of things really, it's really diverse. And yeah, I know a few people who are in their first thing, they'd be really kind of apologetic. And I'm sorry, I'm not sure if this is any good. And I don't know if anyone wants to buy it. So it's always really such an awesome feeling to kind of connect that product with a customer who loves it as well. And yeah, it really boosts, yeah, the person who's made it just to think, yeah, it's not just me, there's other people out there who like what I'm doing.

Debbie Clarke  

And it's, I think some of the products that you're selling, or the artists are creating as repurposed items as well, right? So salvaging stuff that would otherwise go into landfill.

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, correct. I've got a few different makers who one particularly works with plastics and ropes she finds on the beach, and she'll turn them into either artworks like, you know, wall hanging as a lighthouse made out of different bits of plastic from the beach, or she'll make cards or key rings from the beach rope. So she's really starting to explore what she can do with all this kind of waste products that keeps washing up. Yeah, I've got another maker who will use baling twine from the hay bales to crochet baskets and yes, you play us around in that more three dimensional space. Yeah, with another waste product?

Debbie Clarke  

No, that's a great, right circular economy and actually, the waste is not right. If the waste is not designed at the design phase, you're making sure it's not going into land. 

Mel Telfer  

Finding a new purpose for it, hopefully at least giving it a bit longer of usefulness before we have to, I guess, find out what to do with it after that.

Debbie Clarke  

Nice. So you've given us a bit of a sense of what the islands like. And it sounds like a lot of people have multiple roles. And there's a real creative aspect to people on the island too, by the sounds of thinking about all these things and thinking about the island. What, what would a flourishing or a thriving Flinders look like to you? 

Mel Telfer  

I guess, I feel like there would be possibly a few more permanent residents. It just feels at the moment, like there's a lot of work around that not quite enough people to do it. So yeah, we're kind of hit a, I guess, a tricky balance, particularly. During that first, summer after COVID started, we had so many people wanting to visit here. But there weren't enough people to work in, in the cafes or other businesses to serve them all. And it was this really tricky thing of how do we make sure we can provide for the visitors and give them a good experience with what we have here, which, at this point, yeah, just didn't quite don't quite feel like enough residents to do those jobs. And it's not just I guess, in the tourism and service and hospitality industries, as well, like with our concrete thing, we're flat out with that my husband's working every weekend, and we've just taken on another guy, but there's not many people around available to work. So yeah, we could probably use it to take on another couple of workers. But yeah, just finding them is tricky. So I feel like a flourishing Flinders probably needs a good base of locals to do all those roles. Yeah, we come back to the housing issue, which is finding places for all these people to live, and I moved here to work. That's a tricky thing. And I guess a lot of places around Australia are finding that at the moment, particularly. So it's not a unique problem. But yeah, we have had that problem for several years now. But yeah, we'll get there. 

Mel Telfer  

I guess it'll all balance out somewhere, though. It'll happen. 

Josie Major  

What drives that hope for you Mel? Like, where does that come from? Where do you see kind of potential or, or hope in the direction that Flinders is heading?

Mel Telfer  

I'm not exactly sure, I guess I'm just naturally optimistic that people will generally, eventually, you know, come together and find a path that works for everyone. But I guess I feel like Flinders is in a spot right now where we could get to make some choices around that. And I guess try to work out, you know, what is the ideal visitor for the island? You know, we have in the past had visitors come here who are expecting a lot more than what the island can deliver. And so to be able to, at this point, move towards marketing the island to, you know, what are we delivering to them? How can we make sure their expectations match up with what we can deliver to them? And so, yeah, it's good to be able to make those decisions as a community. If I'm the solutions,

Josie Major  

Yeah, that's wonderful. And you're going through this whole sort of process of figuring that out as a community. What sort of, how do you kind of picture it like if you picture the future for tourism on the island, in a way that really serves your community? What does that look like to you?

Mel Telfer  

So thinking back to visitors I've seen in the past who really appreciated the island and loved it. They've come here not expecting, you know, they have come here with this open mind. You know, they're not expecting coffee on every corner, like every five minutes here. Yeah, they're here to go. Oh, yep, this landscape is incredible. These beaches are amazing. And oh, wow, 'there's a, you know, a cafe open today! That's awesome. I didn't expect that. Let's go and grab a bite to eat.' Yeah, so with that, I guess an appreciation for the limitations of the island, the rhythm of boat day and understanding that they're on a Monday there's not going to be heaps in the supermarket. But on Wednesday, it'd be fully stocked. And we've got such a good, really great supermarket. And I think if you come on the wrong day, you might not appreciate that. But yeah, that once a week boat does set a rhythm to the island. And so if visitors come here, aware of that, and prepared, then I think they have a much better time than if they come here expecting or the city mod cons.

Debbie Clarke  

Yeah. The importance of shaping those expectations, making sure that that message is sent out and that people really understand that, that they're going to somewhere that is completely different than what they used to.

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, and I think possibly because it's sort of easy to get here. It's only half an hour on the plane from Launceston and so it doesn't feel like you've gone that far. But I guess in that supply terms with the boat, then yeah, we're remote. We haven't got trucks rocking up to restock our shops. And every day or two, it's yeah, there are limitations and we are kind of remote even though on the map it doesn't look like we're that far from anywhere. And we can see the mainland on good days

Debbie Clarke  

So what are some of the best experiences you've had with visitors that you can recall? Like is there any experience you've had when visitors have come in and you've been like wow, that person really got us?

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, I actually met someone the other day who was here for her first trip to Flinders. Her partner had been here in the past and this was her first time here. And I was just chatting away with her and she's sort of mentioned that when she was a kid and she didn't grow up in Australia she grew up over in the US and she said when she was a cute she's alive lying on the floor and looking through atlases and maps and kind of finding all these fun little places in the world. And she remembers looking at this tiny little island near her head she called it Flanders Island consider your printouts things but and so then to find herself here buying some land you know like 30 years later she was just I don't know I felt like she kind of from a child I guess is looking for little places in the world that were interesting and yeah to find out so buying land on one is just really cool to see. So I think she yeah kind of tuned into remote out of the way places from a young age that

Josie Major  

I just love that image of her sort of laying on the floor finding it on the map and then reflecting on that when she came to the island. I think that's beautiful.   

Actually, that’s what we wanted to tell you is that we just realised that the purple swamp in it was like the Pukeko right from New Zealand. Yes that we have correct Yeah, that's so cool. It was the same bird but that was very good. I was looking at the picture going that's a pretty

Mel Telfer  

If it wasn't deliberate , I guess looking back on it, I feel like I actually really love that as an emblem because it's a bird. It's kind of like we find heaven here on Flinders, his hips, hilarious little birds, I really love them. But they're also not just endemic to here, you do find them in other places in the world. And I guess I love that broader outlook. So I didn't want to lock myself into only having things that were made on Flinders Island or to not encourage people to look kind of beyond our shores. And I guess yeah, having that, you know, kind of worldwide focus or Yeah, more broader focus. Seems really symbolic, though. At the time, we didn't think that was when I added fun little birds. Let's use that because coming up with a name for businesses is always hard. And you don't always get it. But yeah, I think I like the symbolism of the swamphen.

Josie Major  

Connecting you to something bigger than bigger than just yourself. Yeah,

Mel Telfer  

For sure. I think sometimes. If you live on Flinders for a long time, you can get a little bit insular and forget to look beyond the borders and go actually, no, we're doing pretty well here, or, Hey, these other places are doing these things. Can we try that? There's a balance, I guess, between, you know, looking beyond and going, oh, what everyone else is doing is what we have to do. And balancing that with? Well, hang on. No, we had. We have different circumstances. How can we make this work together? So yeah, remembering to look outwards, as well as looking after our inwards. 

Debbie Clarke  

Nice. Honouring the place. You're in. Right. The uniqueness?

Mel Telfer  

Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. But also recognising that yeah, there are other little places in the world that are probably trying to do the same thing that we are and how are they trying this out? How are they managing it.

Josie Major  

What's the message that you'd want to tell that to us or to people that are coming from away to visit Flinders? What do you want them to know about? About your island?

Mel Telfer 

I guess, come here and explore a beautiful island, there's so many different and secret, not secret little spots, but amazing little spots, that if you go and explore, you can find like a beach that's, you know, kilometres long, or you might find a beach that's five metres long, might find trees that are stunted by the wind and others that are, you know, really tall. Yeah, there's a lot of diversity here. There is an amazing mountain range down the middle. So you've got that natural landscape. Be open to getting out and looking at that. But also be ready to engage with the locals and just kind of listen to them and hear their stories and what brought them here. I guess most of us have chosen to live here for whatever reason, whether that's a family connection, or just loving the community and the island moving here. A lot of us, I guess, potentially gave up, you know, high paying jobs in cities just to have this in theory, slower pace, lifestyle here. Although I have found the smaller the place I live the busier I am so I'm not sure that really. Yeah, I guess there's still the same number of jobs that have to be done by a smaller number of people. Yeah, I guess, if you're visiting recognise that, yeah, the shops aren't open every day, most of us, you know, we'll have another job or at least try to protect those days off that we do get. So we're kind of not able to be tourists beck and call and answer every whim. You know, we're, yeah, it's all a balance. And I guess if people come here, knowing that then they're going to enjoy it a lot more and have much more positive engagement with the locals. But yeah, we're, a lot of people say that we're a really friendly Island. People come here and they're kind of not used to people waving at the minister drive past or just smiling at them down the street itself. Yeah, so having that kind of open mind open heart when they come. It's really important. 

Debbie Clarke  20:20

Well, you've just sold me just this just the spectacular beauty that you describe, and then that, that sense of community. I have this feeling that when a visitor arrives on Flinders, you can feel that the community is really strong, and really interwoven and interconnected.

Mel Telfer  

Yeah, I think it's of all the places I've lived. It's, I think, a healthy sense of community. You know, yeah, it's very protective of itself. But not at the detriment of it, discouraging new people. I've lived places where if you haven't lived there for 30 years, then you will never make friends. You know, your only friends are also people who've only just moved there. I've lived in places like that. And I don't think that's a good thing. Whereas here, it feels like people are curious about what brings people here. And yeah, so they'll sort of chat with someone in the shop. Like, Hey, what are you doing here? What brings you to Flinders? You know, rather than kind of instantly going, Oh, my God, it's a stranger. Let's not talk to them. It's a much more welcoming atmosphere.

Josie Major  

What brought you to the island?

Mel Telfer  

My husband. He grew up here. Yeah, so yeah, he always wanted to move home. He's got family here still. Yeah. And I grew up on Kangaroo Island. So I guess I never thought I'd move back to an island and hadn't really planned my life out that hard. But yeah, I guess. Yeah. It's not an unexpected feeling to be living on a remote island, or something. I guess in May that soccer. Yeah, I've done that before. It's cool. That I'm kind of happy wherever I am. Really, as long as I don't know. I've got people around me who are awesome, then I don't really mind where I am. But this is a pretty good spot to be living right now.