Ask a local

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01. Kim Steele Director of Business Development at Take a Break Holiday Rentals What is the best thing you have put in place to adapt to the COVID-19 stay at home order? We have had many people look to bunker down for longer stays and quiet family time by the beach. For our own family, it’s meant a chance to slow down. What have you done to adapt professionally? With regional travel having been on hold for a couple of months, we have been coming up with great ideas to offer to our guests to make their stay with us even more amazing, now that some travel has resumed. What do you hope stays the same? I hope the slower pace of life continues, with our appreciation of the simple things we were reminded to value in this time: family, friends, exercise, exploring nature, relaxing, and how good holidays really are! 02. Matt Grant General Manager Growth at Alexandrina Council What is the best thing you have put in place to adapt to the COVID-19 stay at home order? Concentrating on maintaining healthy choices, programming in some exercise each morning, making sure there aren’t too many snacks in the fridge, and not drinking too many beers at night! What has made you most proud regarding human behaviour amidst the crisis? People showing genuine care and empathy for each other’s personal situations, and looking after each other. What have you done to adapt professionally? Getting familiar with multiple teleconferencing platforms. Our workplace also set up an initiative, where each morning a message went to staff, asking them to take a break, and share a riddle or a song with the team. 03. Steven Reeves Owner / Manager at SR Construct What has made you most proud regarding human behaviour amidst the crisis? The amount of people out exercising with their families and enjoying outdoor activities. What have you done to adapt professionally? Pushed hard! I identified the parts of my business that I could see would be less affected, and spent three weeks looking for ways to expand in those areas. What are you most looking forward to when things go back to normal? Being able to catch up with all my friends in one place. What do you hope stays the same? Carbon levels. 04. Brioni Oliver Operations Manager at Oliver’s Taranga What is the best thing you have done to adapt to the COVID-19 stay at home order? We have an awesome little pine forest on the property where I have set up some playthings for the kids to dig and build cubbies. Catching up with friends on applications like House Party and, I don’t know if I should admit this but, doing TikTok dances – and after a few wines, even better! What has made you most proud regarding human behaviour amidst the crisis? People looking out for each other. It’s little acts of kindness that have made me think: yes, we are all in this together and we will all be ok! What have you done to adapt professionally? One tip I do have is, playing hide and seek is a great time to check emails on your phone! 05. Mark Taylor New Home Consultant at Sarah Homes What is the best thing you have done to adapt to the COVID-19 stay at home order? Live Chat has been created on our website, where we can interact with our clients, as well as Virtual Home Tours. What has made you most proud regarding human behaviour amidst the crisis? I feel the majority of our population has now become more understanding, respectful of everything around us, whilst showing compassion for each other. What are you most looking forward to when things go back to normal? I really look forward to taking my wife Tracey out for a meal. What do you hope stays the same? I hope we keep our focus on the important issues in life; thinking more about other people, not being too self-focused, and adapting to do things differently.

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06. Lori-Ellen Grant Co-owner of Deep Water Medicine What have you done to adapt professionally? We’ve set up online consultations, stocked up on our herbs and supplements, and we’ve studied together to consolidate and explore ideas. What are you most looking forward to when things go back to normal? Being out in the community, enjoying conversations, visiting friends, going on mini-adventures with my children. Hugs are nice, too. What do you hope stays the same? Dinners together as a family, where we make up stories about giant chickens, cockles, and Mary Poppins turning her umbrella into a surfboard. 07. Clay Sampson Sales & Marketing at Fleurieu Milk What is the best thing you have put in place to adapt to the COVID-19 stay at home order? 90% of our office staff are working from home, we’ve split the shifts in production, and isolated certain staff from each other. What has made you most proud regarding human behaviour amidst the crisis? The social distancing, although it is difficult, we are now so much more aware of how we can contract any sort of virus. What are you most looking forward to when things go back to normal? Being able to hug my parents and family, being able to shake someone’s hand when I greet them. 08. Michael Ebert Assistant Head of Middle School at Tatachilla Lutheran College What is the best thing you have done to adapt to the COVID-19 stay at home order? I crumbled at the family pressure to clean out our shed and create an exercise space. Our treadmill, that had become an expensive coat hanger, has finally been dusted off. What have you done to adapt professionally? As a teacher, we have had to make significant changes to the way we deliver content and care to our students. Teachers and students have experienced more change in delivery, than the teaching profession has seen since the Industrial Revolution. What do you hope stays the same? I hope my shed remains uncluttered and that the council comes to collect our hard rubbish before I see the value of the broken drill and drag it back into my possession. I also hope that my family can resist the urge to be dragged back into the busyness of life. 09. Belinda Delyster Head of Senior Students at Investigator College What have you done to adapt professionally? If anything, the desire to help young people reach their potential has intensified, and coming up with new ways to engage and support students has been at the forefront of my mind. What do you hope stays the same? Recognising that everyone is a contributor, and has a role to play within our communities. I hope that we remember we are more alike than different. How do you see children adapting? By and large I think children will cope with the changing world. We are often guilty of suggesting that the current generation lacks resilience, I think we may be surprised. 10. Jason Porter Creative Director at Fleurieu Living Magazine What has made you most proud regarding human behaviour amidst the crisis? As a small business owner I was pretty proud of the way people were quick to support any local business that was able to keep their doors open. What are you most looking forward to when things go back to normal? Hopefully the disappearance of catchphrases such as ‘the new normal’, ‘we’re all in this together’ and ‘stay at home’. What do you hope stays the same? The reduced impact on the environment would be a good start. I’ve seen photos of how much cleaner the canal waters of Venice are now that there’s no traffic on them. And bison have been seen roaming on the beach of Catalina Island in California. They’ve come down from the hills because there haven’t been any holidaymakers around.

Change is local . Story by Nina Keath.

Above: Nina Keath at a Fleurieu workshop about climate risk.

People are often surprised when I tell them I have hope about climate change. My hope is not blind. It’s true, our response has been slower than I’d like and sometimes I feel very worried and sad. But I’ve seen enormous progress over the past decade.

The change I’ve seen has been driven by largely invisible, compassionate and humble leaders. It’s a pity they’re invisible, because, just like coronavirus, behaviour is contagious. If everyone could see their success, like I do every day, I think we’d see progress at the rate that’s needed. We’d have a pandemic of climate action. To that end, this article is the first in a series that will shine a light on the unsung work of the many people working to combat climate change in our community.

I’ll start on my home turf. When I’m not writing for Fleurieu Living Magazine, I work for City of Onkaparinga supporting our region to build resilience to climate change. In other words, I’m a bureaucrat, which it turns out is not a popular term. So, this is something of a confessional piece. The prevailing narrative about inefficient and anti-innovation bureaucracies so uncomfortably (and hilariously) satirised in shows like Utopia, is only one small and bitter truth of working in government. It’s eclipsing a larger, better and sweeter truth about what our bureaucracies can achieve. COVID-19 has shown that when we adequately fund and expect the best from our bureaucrats and scientists, we can make well-informed decisions that protect our communities from terrible risks.

Since the 1990s, councils across Australia have been systematically reviewing the science about climate change, assessing the risks and responding. It’s not sexy. There are probably too many spreadsheets, fluoro vests and acronyms involved. But it’s working in a way I don’t think many people realise.

My work is channelled through South Australia’s Regional Climate Partnerships – a large multi-sector network spanning the entire state. One of the challenges in responding to climate change is that, much like coronavirus, it requires coordinated action by all people in all sectors at all levels of government, business and the community, everywhere, all the time. We’ve shown we’re capable of achieving this for COVID-19. The Regional Climate Partnerships are doing the same for climate change. Councils – and the people working within them – have been their engine room.

This is the first in a series of stories profiling community leaders from across the Fleurieu who are taking action on climate change

Above left: Mark Siebentritt of Edge Environment has worked with councils and businesses across Australia to support their climate change response. Above right: Donovan Burton of Climate Planning explaining to councils that climate change can no longer be considered a physical risk alone. It’s also a legal, financial and reputational risk.

So, what have we achieved?

To begin, we’ve recognised that our best way of reducing climate risk is to reduce emissions. Through renewable energy, smart building design, LED street lighting and reducing landfill, councils are leading the transition to a low carbon future. The City of Onkaparinga has saved money and reduced our corporate emissions by 42 percent since 2010-11 and we have no plans to stop there. Electric vehicle fleets will be next cab off the rank.

The business community are starting to follow suit. Mark Siebentritt, of consultancy Edge Environment, has worked with councils across the Fleurieu and says, ‘While councils have been the most consistent type of organisation responding to climate change in recent decades, businesses are becoming a powerful driver of change. This goes to the top of the ASX with the biggest companies in Australia, and the world, now deeply embedding climate change risk into how they run their companies … I think we’ll recognise the period from 2017 onwards as a time where the corporate world as a collective got serious about tackling climate change.’

I came to the same conclusion after attending a climate conference in 2018. A conspicuous new set of delegates – lawyers, insurers, bankers, and defence force personnel – were telling us they were worried. The defence force said they see climate change as one of the greatest threats to our national security. Insurers told us they’re haemorrhaging billions annually from escalating bushfires, storms and flooding. Lawyers said that if corporations and governments can’t show they’re managing climate risk, then shareholders and communities will make sure they do. This was confirmed by councils who’d been sued for approving developments that were later impacted by climate related events, and by banks who were sued by shareholders for not disclosing the exposure of their portfolio to climate risk. It became clear that the legal, financial and reputational costs of climate change were starting to bite.

To get on the front foot, councils involved in the Fleurieu’s Regional Climate Partnerships – Resilient South and Resilient Hills & Coasts – undertook an assessment of how well we’re managing our corporate climate risks. When compared against over 200 other Australian councils, City of Onkaparinga was ranked in the top five. The consultant who undertook the assessment, Donovan Burton of Climate Planning, told us he’d never seen such uniformly high achieving councils in a single cohort. In his view, that’s in large part because of the collaboration fostered by the Regional Climate Partnerships and our investment in shared learning. So much of what we’re trying is new, so shared learning is key. >

‘COVID-19 has shown that swift, transformational change is possible. We’ve flattened the curve of COVID-19 and if we all work together, we can flatten the curve of climate change too.’

Above left: Salvador Jurado, Coastal Asset Planner for the City of Onkaparinga. Right: Shen Mann, Principal Strategy and Policy Officer at Alexandrina Council.

One of many examples of this collaborative approach is the way in which the partnerships have tackled urban heat. Many people are unaware that heatwaves kill more people than cyclones, floods and bushfires combined – a worrying fact as heatwaves escalate. The partnerships have brought together diverse councils and state agencies to map heat exposure across Adelaide’s entire metropolitan region, and an interactive online Adelaide Urban Heat Map now allows residents to check their homes and streets.

The heat mapping revealed that water and vegetation have a cooling effect, prompting the partnerships to map vegetation too. Good data like this allows us to know when we’re on track and when we’re not. Right now, the mapping shows we’re falling short. In response, many practitioners are now working to green and cool our towns and suburbs, and I’ll introduce you to some of these people in the next issue.

Drier conditions mean we need to find alternative water sources, and Onkaparinga has responded by harvesting recycled water and stormwater for the irrigation of parks, reserves, schools and sports fields, as well as commercial demands. We’re also increasingly using green technologies such as wetlands, raingardens, grassed swales and permeable paving.

The importance of greening doesn’t stop at urban areas. Healthy native vegetation provides habitat for our native species, stores large amounts of carbon and cleanses air and water. Council is working closely with state government, the wine industry and community groups on bush regeneration and planting of native species. One area where plantings have been particularly important is our coastal zone, which relies on vegetation to protect our erodible softsedimentary cliffs and sandy beaches. Detailed 3D mapping allows us to monitor erosion in vulnerable areas, and citizen scientists help by photographing coastal storm impacts. Since 2007, we’ve been striving to help our organisations and communities understand the complex interactions between sea-level rise, storm surge, ecosystem health, human behaviour, and erosion. This is work with no easy answers requiring tough conversations about how to respond and who is responsible. As my colleague, Coastal Asset Planner, Salvador Jurado says, ‘Adapting to climate change impacts requires a holistic approach, not just engineering solutions. We need to question what we value and how we can reduce human impacts.’ Sal remains optimistic, using our recent response to COVID-19 to argue, ‘If we can make effective decisions around protecting human health, why not do the same for the health of the planet?’

In Alexandrina, tough conversations have yielded outcomes. Shen Mann is the Principal Strategy and Policy Officer at Alexandrina Council and she explains, ‘Our community was pushed to the brink of economic and ecological collapse during the millennium drought, and council worked hand-in-hand with community to push for end-of-system targets to be included in the Basin Plan. Healthy rivers flow to the sea, and environmental water recovered under the Basin Plan is helping to restore the health of the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth.’ She cautions there is still a way to go and decades of degradation can’t be undone in a few short years, particularly as climate change continues to reduce inflows.

But she maintains hope, saying, ‘COVID-19 has shown that swift, transformational change is possible. We’ve flattened the curve of COVID-19 and if we all work together, we can flatten the curve of climate change too. I think COVID-19 has also demonstrated the importance of local resilience – in food and economic systems, and community connections especially – and has refocused people’s attention on the things that really matter such as connection rather than consumerism.’

In a recent survey, 77% of Onkaparinga residents told us they’re concerned about climate change, and their number one priority is for us to foster a sustainable, connected and supportive community.

Above left: Artist Laura Wills who participated in the Resilient South Climate Arts Exchange. Above right: Jen St Jack sorting ‘how can we do better’ sticky notes from a Resilient South and Resilient Hills & Coasts workshop.

Our communities seem to agree. In a recent survey, 77 percent of Onkaparinga residents told us they’re concerned about climate change, and their number one priority is for us to foster a sustainable, connected and supportive community. Last year, thousands of people participated in Sustainable Onkaparinga and Resilient South events on topics such as energy and water efficiency, renewable energy, planting to cool your home, and passive solar design. The Climate Arts Exchange invites artists to interpret council’s climate data through their art and the resulting work has fostered rich community dialogue. One of my favourite partnerships was with artist, Neville Cichon, who distilled technical council studies into a series of compelling and humorous images about coastal erosion.

Our Climate Ready Schools program, a partnership with NRM Education, supports students to understand localised climate impacts and then design solutions for their schools. Their designs are practical, creative and making a genuine difference. One set of students recently saved their school thousands of dollars by revealing that the school’s solar panels were underperforming. Climate Ready Communities, a partnership with Red Cross, offers a similar program for adults in which Climate Ready Champions receive intensive training in how to support their communities. The consistent feedback is, ‘I had no idea so much work was already happening!’

Jen St Jack knows better than anyone what’s happening on the ground. She builds collaboration and coordinated projects across the eleven Regional Climate Partnerships and says, ‘I am constantly inspired by the extensive and effective work being delivered by the hundreds of climate practitioners I work with across the state … There is just so much happening to fight climate change in South Australia, and I am driven to share, encourage and support that however I can.’ One of Jen’s Fleurieu based projects is Where We Build What We Build, which aims to encourage more climate resilient development in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula. The project’s economic analysis shows that building and retrofitting houses to a climate resilient standard will realise huge economic savings – $72 million just by retrofitting existing vulnerable homes – and of course a far more resilient community. Jen says, ‘The Fleurieu has all the right ingredients, including one of the mildest climates in South Australia, to become a leader in climate-ready housing. As we see more climate refugees seeking a cooler and wetter climate, the Fleurieu will become even more attractive as a place to live, invest and visit. We have a real opportunity to make every decision a move towards a liveable, resilient and flourishing Fleurieu.’

This is just a tiny sample of the behind the scenes leaders I’m privileged to work with. But there are so many other people and projects making a difference.

We know from the social sciences that behaviour is contagious – both good and bad. One of the many challenges with climate change is that our media often presents peoples’ worst behaviours, focusing on the level of government taking the least action. We need to flip the balance and get better at showcasing the widespread positive action being taken by state and local government, in the community and businesses, and dare I say, behind the scenes at a federal level.

If we could all get better at sharing our stories, then I suspect the behaviour contagion might just kick in and help shift our collective fear and apathy into the level of hope and compassion-filled action that is required.

Stay tuned for more stories in future issues.

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If you’re experiencing a persistent itch in your feet or still feeling the after effects of isolation-related cabin fever, there are few places in the world you’ll find more effective relief than right here on the Fleurieu. A strong dose of crisp coastal air, or the soft thud of grass under foot may be just the tonic you seek. The best part is, such remedies may exist within your very own postcode.

Myponga Reservoir Reserve

Only opened for public recreation just over a year ago, you may not yet have had the chance to explore the natural beauty that surrounds this significant local water supply. Walk, run or cycle along the 3.3-kilometre loop trail, keeping an eye out for over 120 different species of native birds and various other wildlife who reside in the reserve. Share a picnic with friends, or – if you have a fishing permit – try your luck dropping a line in.

Gather up a picnic with something from the bakery or a takeaway from the Myponga General Store to enjoy at one of the designated picnic spots along the trail. Rehydrate with a well-deserved brew from Smiling Samoyed.

Page left: Myponga Reservoir. Photo by Laszlo Bilki. This page top: Just off the bike trail: Commodore Point. Photo by Jason Porter. Bottom: Encounter Bikeway pitstop – the beach! Photo by Heidi Lewis.

Encounter Bikeway (Victor Harbor to Goolwa trail)

The Encounter Bikeway is a thirty kilometre coastal thread connecting Victor Harbor, Port Elliot, Middleton and Goolwa. Whether you wish to take on the entire length or would prefer a short stroll along a smaller section, the flat, sealed, wheelchair-accessible path makes it suitable for all ages and fitness levels. Walk, cycle, skateboard – even rollerblade – your way along while breathing in the salty air. In winter you might catch a glimpse of a whale! There’s no doubt you’ll require at least one pit stop along the way. Get your legs moving with a quick caffeine hit from Yilki Store in Encounter Bay, grab some fish and chips by the water at Port Elliot, sneak in a sweet treat from Home Grain Bakery at Middleton, and finish off by grabbing a roadie from the Fleurieu Distillery at Goolwa’s Wharf Barrel Shed. >

Top: Granite Island’s Kaiki Walk features sculptures from national and international artists. Photo by Jason Porter. Bottom: In winter don’t forget to look out for whales! Photo courtesy of the South Australian Tourism Commission by Gary Riley.

Kaiki Walk, Granite Island circuit

Take a brief escape from the mainland and walk across the causeway from Victor Harbor to Granite Island. The easy 1.9-kilometre Kaiki Trail will give you panoramic views of Encounter Bay, The Bluff and surrounding islands, while showcasing an outdoor gallery of sculptures and granite boulders along the way. If you’re lucky, you might even spot some whales. For those with prams or wheelchairs, the path can be enjoyed in an anti-clockwise direction.

If you work up an appetite on your island odyssey, circle back to Nino’s Victor Harbor for a bite to eat.

Top and bottom: The Onkaparinga Gorge is full of surprises from native wildlife and birds to gorgeous lookouts with amazing geological features. Photos by

Jason Porter.

Onkaparinga Gorge

Tucked behind the hills and pockets of suburbia, the stunning Onkaparinga National Park often gets overlooked. Offering a number of different trails with varying degrees of difficulty, the spectacular views of the Onkaparinga Gorge can be enjoyed by many ability levels. Admire the river from above on leisurely lookout trails or immerse yourself in nature by trailing the waterways inside the gorge. Longer treks are possible in the summer months but be aware that some sections of the trail may become submerged after rainfall.

Finish off your descent to the bottom of the gorge with a quick drive to Port Noarlunga. Grab a takeaway at Port Burger or one of the many eateries nearby. >

Above: The Heysen Trail is as long as it is diverse. From dense vegetation to open coastal. Top image by Jason Porter. Bottom image courtesy of Heidi Lewis, procured from her new stock photo site: @heidiwho.com.

Heysen Trail

No other path flaunts the Fleurieu’s infinite natural assets quite like the well-trodden and widely loved Heysen Trail. Whether you crave an adventure scaling windswept cliffs alongside the untamed southern ocean, or an inland journey through farmland, scrub, pine forests and waterfalls, the Heysen Trail combines it all without ever having to step foot outside the region. If we have to stay put for a while, at least we’re stuck in a little piece of paradise.

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Fleurieu Classic: Christies to Hobart Sailing Challenge February 29 – March 1 On the leap day in February, the Christies Beach Sailing Club (CBSC) hosted their fourth annual Fleurieu Classic, otherwise known as the Christies to Hobart Sailing Challenge. The two-day event sets off from the club, down the southern coastline past ‘Hobart’ – the HMAS Hobart Memorial Lookout – to Wirrina Cove and back again.

Six clubs and over fifty participants in classes ranging from small trailer sailers to large keel boats took up the challenge. Sponsors for the 2020 event included Hugo Wines, Southern Vales Air Conditioning, Bennett Design and Boundary Solutions. hills of the Fleurieu hinterland. Less enjoyable were the challenging weather conditions on the Saturday, with light winds slowing the pace and only three boats finishing within the time limit. While Sunday looked like it may be a repeat, a front came through in the late afternoon putting wind in sails and smiles on faces as the fleet headed for home.

Craig McPhee, a participant from the Clayton Bay Boat Club, praised the Christies Beach Sailing Club and the many volunteers for running a well-organised event. While the sailing may be the main drawcard, it seems the catering isn’t far behind – sticky date puddings and pavs for dessert on the Saturday night ensured sailors were well fuelled for the coming day.

The Christies to Hobart will return again in 2021, with the fifth annual race scheduled for 27 and 28 February 2021. The club hopes to grow the event even more and looks forward to welcoming returning participants as well as sharing the beauty of the south coast with newcomers from South Australia and beyond.

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Deep Creek Only an hour’s drive south of Adelaide, but a world away, Ridgetop Retreats offer guests a true escape. Overlooking stringybark forest in the Deep Creek Conservation Park, these three award-winning and architecturallydesigned hideaways can accommodate up to four people in each retreat in stunning comfort. Relax in the open-plan living space with parquetry floors, stainless steel kitchen and leather sofas, while enjoying expansive views through the large windows and sliding doors that showcase the stunning location and abundant wildlife. Each retreat sleeps up to 4 guests – no pets. southernoceanretreats.com.au

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Myponga Lapito House is a pet-friendly country retreat nestled among the rolling hills of Myponga. The restored stone farmhouse sits on 116 acres of land and borders with the Myponga National Park and Heysen Trail. It’s the ideal place for couples, families and friends to relax, unwind and soak up the South Australian scenery. Sleeps up to 8 guests. lapitohouse.com

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