17 June 2025

Flinders Island Safe Haven: Through the lens of a stay at home mum.

A personal account by Pepita March ~

The last 3 months have been gruelling for our family business and personal lives.

Adelaide’s “Mad March” extended itself over to the island, with back to back bookings.
Peter and Nong were flat out hosting our guests to the island, while Jonas was often
transporting guests on the Golden Roughy. During this time, Tobin was busy diving for
our Eyrewoolf Abalone business and Carissa was doing all the important jobs to keep
our businesses afloat. Not to mention looking after her youngest daughter and multiple
trips to Adelaide for their 2 eldest children’s education. Jonas’ and my 3 kids and I were
doing the day to day, nappies, melt downs and kid chaos.

April was the time when the Flinders Island Safe Haven project stopped feeling like a
distant event on the horizon. The five shipping containers of bait pods arrived in Elliston from New Zealand and it was time to snap into action with transporting them across the sea.

Jonas’ preseason for the project was about to begin. And therefore, so was mine.

Life as a mum with 3 kids under 6 is busy.

It can be hard finding time to give each beautiful child the love and attention that they
deserve when there are 2 others needing that same amount (or more!), not to mention
all the house duties and business tasks. Top that oZ with big emotions from the kids
missing their dad. Our house was not ordered, calm or quiet, let’s put it that way…

However, the many weeks without Dad at home will be worth it for the long term benefit
of the legacy that Flinders Island will become for our children. All the hard work, the
additional grey hair, the moments of complete exhaustion and feeling like the tank was
empty, will be worth it for the incredible restoration of vegetation and the protection of
threatened species that the island will provide. I think I can speak for everyone on the
team, in this regard.

The Flinders Island Safe Haven project has made our very busy life, sky-rocket into
organised chaos. Whilst I was at home doing the school and kindy runs, covered in baby
dribble and smeared avocado, I was kept in the loop about the progress of the bait pod
deliveries, the stock removal, the helicopter bucket, customs delays – just to name a
few.

Thankfully our little family were able to visit the island and be with Jonas during the
school holidays and Easter. Although Jonas was working 12 hour days transporting the
bait pods from Elliston to the island, it meant that we were able to see him in between
drop oZs and wave to him from the shore, at least. Importantly, I was able to get an
understanding of the project whilst on the island, instead of just the theoretical
conversations during the meetings. And, being present for the final bait pod delivery, the
one-hundred and eighty-second 600 kilogram pod, was a monumental occasion. I felt
so proud of Jonas’ hard work and determination to complete the task.

However, as mentioned… April was just the preseason.

In May, the aerial baiting occurred. This was the busiest time for the project with over 20
people to manage (and feed – thank you Nong & team!) on island. The daily events consisted of helicopters spreading bait, people hand-baiting in caves and other crevices, setting up monitoring
stations, dismantling the ply wood bait pods, tracking and logging all the movements of
the operation – the list continues. The logistics of executing Flinders Island Safe Haven
project has been enormous and it has been an incredible honour to work with experts
and people who share the same vision.

Once again, my role settled back into home life to hold the fort for the kids. I am not
going to lie, I had serious FOMO (fear of missing out) whilst the action was occurring on
the island, I was doing the day-to-day wiping of bottoms and refereeing sibling feuds.
Although raising children is a privilege, I certainly was feeling a bit of an outsider as the
team worked on island for the project.

The kids and I did have the opportunity to visit the island for a day of baiting. This was
important because our children are one of our core motivations for the project. We want
Flinders Island to last for generations to come, we want our kids and grandkids, as well
as others, to enjoy it as it flourishes with native vegetation and animals. So having the
kids step foot onto the scene while the whole team was in action, will be an important
memory. This is their story too.

It was a surreal feeling coming onto the island during the project. The realisation that
there are no more sheep, no more cattle… it felt strange. While the new chapter is very
rewarding and a huge step in the right direction, it is noteworthy that this marks the end
of an era. Even my 6 year old seemed to be processing the fact and appeared sad that
there will not be any more shearing seasons on the island. After all, jumping in the bales
of wool is pretty fun!

If I am feeling nostalgic about the change, I can hardly imagine what Peter Woolford is
feeling. Peter’s 46 years on the island revolved around the sheep’s needs – managing
troughs, crutching, shearing, fencing. Whilst there is an excitement about the
abundance of life the island will provide, it is important to remember that change can
bring uncertainty and discomfort.

Since the second bait drop, the action has decreased dramatically, the cat monitoring
team have been on the island doing their job and the meetings for the next phase
continue.

Moving forward, our bio-security on the island will be essential to keep the island pest
free and protect the shorebirds, vegetation and eventually the native threatened
mammals which will call the island home. We thank the community and all visitors to
the island for working with us to maintain the island as a safe haven.

A sincere thank you to our wonderful Flinders Island Safe Haven team and to all who
have supported us along the way so far. Thank you to those who have shown patience at
the Anxious Bay boat ramp whilst Jonas and the team load pods and gear. Thank you to
everyone and anyone who has played a part in creating the Flinders Island Safe Haven.

We look forward to this next phase and chapter with anticipation.

Warm regards – from the desk of a stay at home mum, Pepita.