It is the experience of many people moving to small country towns in Tasmania that they feel unwelcome. This Blog describes our Branxholm small town welcome and tries to make sense of it.
Not your traditional country welcome?
When city residents think of country hospitality, they may imagine friendly smiles and neighbours offering cups of tea and plates of scones. But our small town welcome was not community scones!
Rather, our welcome consisted of acts of petty vandalism and malicious gossip, which over the years escalated to major criminal acts with traumatising psychological impact.
The chaos of moving house
If you have ever moved house, then you know it can be stressful and chaotic. And, to make matters worse, I had to be away for work when we were moving in to our new house and property. It was an extraordinary cold August in 2001 and Graham faced most of the unpacking on his own. In fact, over 24 years on, some of our cupboards have never really been organised!
Branxholm small-town welcome takes it to the next level
Almost immediately our feet hit the ground in Branxholm strange things started happening on our property. (I may be remembering these things in order of impact and creativity, rather than chronological order.)
The first two weeks
It was a freezing-cold winter. I remember the cold well, because all the firewood on our back verandah was stolen. The daily rain, made it difficult to find dry firewood for our fire-place in the house. So, the house remained cold and I still shiver at the thought!
The small rain water tank supplying our house was emptied. So we had to buy a pump to get water up from the river. We endured strict water rationing for many months. In the following years, access to water was to become a major weapon in the hands of those who wanted us to leave.
We coudn’t get our TV to work. Oh, of course — the attenna wires had been cut. (I’m surprised they didn’t cut our phone line while they were at it…)
Our flush toilet stopped working. Investigations revealed more vandalism. A box of washing powder had been poured into the toilet of an unlocked shed on the property. Of course, the result was almost complete destruction of our septic system.
Then, our neighbour’s dairy herd from across the river invited themselves into our paddocks and back yard. I imagined our neighbours standing on the hill across the river laughing themselves senseless watching us desperately trying to get the cows back over the river! Our fence along the river had been vandalised, with every second picket pulled out. The electric-fence unit had been broken open and badly damaged, too.
And that was just the first two weeks!
Other Branxholm experiences
In later years we learned of other newly arrived residents having similar experiences. Mostly they had road-kill thrown under their house or–in one case–thrown on their roof. They also received the cold-shoulder and general unfriendliness from the usual suspects. But a common theme in response to any complaints about these welcoming acts was, why don’t you leave, then?
The Traditional Branxholm Welcome
By a strange coincidence, we randomly met a retired policeman, when on holiday at Cradle Mountain. This gentleman, with a distinctive Welsh accent, had lived in Branxholm in the 1980’s. So this lead to a conversation about Branxholm. When I told him about the mysterious vandalism happening on our property, he laughed and told us this was the traditional Branxholm welcome! He seemed surprised that it was still happening. Apparently certain families (he named them) were involved. His wife had been so unhappy in Branxholm that they had moved away!
Traditional Branxholm Welcome verified
By yet another random coincidence, a beautiful friend, who was a home carer, phoned us over ten years ago. She described a strange conversation she had had with an unwell older woman from Branxholm. Apparently this older woman told our friend about one of her proudest moments. We got them! were her words–implying that she had been involved in the harm done to our family. Coincidentally the older woman was from the family mentioned above.
But we must be a failed project–because we are still here!
Other small-town welcome experiences – we are not Robinson Crusoe!
I guess it’s good to know that our experience is not unique.
A recent study into the experience of people moving into small towns revealed some disturbing trends.
Dr Saleena Ham (Adjunct Research Fellow in Rural Sociology at the University of Southern Queenlsand) said during an ABC radio interview:
I’m receiving emails from people across all of the states, crying out with deep loneliness, at the hostility they’ve experienced in small towns, they felt it was hard to fit in, even when they turned up to volunteer or attend community groups.
Do you remember the time you and your friends started a secret club and didn’t let anyone else join? Well, it’s kind of like that in some small rural communities.
First-hand accounts posted on social media in Tasmania
Although it is easy to find positive comments about moving to Tasmania, I found empathy with the following posts, because they mirror our experience.
Locals see you as an outsider
I’ve got a mixture of friends, international and Australian, but very few are Tasmanians. It’s not on purpose at all, it’s just naturally evolved that way. I’ve found Tasmanians to be very friendly, but they can be a bit reserved. They’ll welcome you and treat you kindly and with respect, but won’t necessarily see you as one of them, and won’t necessarily take the initiative to include you.
A ‘mainlander’ is someone the community doesn’t know. You move here, become active in the community and allow yourself to be welcomed, you become an outlier.
We moved down from Sydney in the mid-eighties to Cygnet. The locals were not very tolerant of these “fucking hippies” “taking over”. Needless to say, school particularly sucked.
Locals are friendly but you definitely aren’t “one of us”…you definitely aren’t in the secret squirrel society.
They are ok if you’re happy with having quick chats here and there when you’re out and about, but try to get too close to the social fabric and they’ll cut you out.
Difficult to make new friends
Been here a year. Really just know my housemate. Could have made a bigger effort to make friends up in Burnie, but I honestly don’t know where to start?
I found everyone to be friendly, and we have made a couple of friends through my partners work place. However, I have found the opportunities to meet people in our age range organically a bit limited.
Please tell me how to make friends here. Everyone talks about community. I see local Tas community with their families etc but I am not included.
I have had so many people help and support me in my journey in Tasmania. Most of the people I’ve met are kind, but there’s a lack of openness here too, probably due to everyone knowing everyone and a fear of gossip being spread. It’s difficult to make deep connections.
You might “join local sports clubs you will meet a lot of people”. Yeah right!!! if 3/4 of the members went to the same high school, they’d still give you the “look” who are you type thing. Bt I do have a few good friends, note: all of them either moved from the mainland/overseas or those locals that have travelled to many different countries.
Tight knit communities don’t always welcome newcomers
Traditionally, most people have viewed tight-knit communities as a positive force – but that is not always the case. In fact a tight knit community may be insular, stagnant in belief and not open to new people, who may be viewed as outsiders no matter how long they live there.
Perhaps there is a fear of change? We’ve always done it this way, and new people may threaten the status quo. We own the history here. There can be resentment when newcomers presume to interpret the region’s history. We have our families and friends, and we don’t need new people to join in.
Gossip is a deadly tool used to exclude newcomers
Small communities often rely of word-of-mouth, leading to quick judgment or rumours about new people before they have had a chance to integrate. Many rumours are based on partial truths, misinterpretations and lies. And, once gossip takes root, its effects can be devastating.
Perhaps bullying and gossip is one of the reasons why smart young people are one of our region’s major exports?
Our experience of toxic gossip
In our case gossip has lead to people we have never met, having a negative opinion of us. Tragically, this extended to our son being bullied and excluded at school and prevented him from joining sporting groups. Even after leaving school, one of his mates warned him not to volunteer (Firefighter or Emergency Services) because the same bullies would be after him.
Even new people arriving in Branxholm have apparently been warned to stear clear of us. It is remarkable how long-lived the toxic rumours are and how so many people seem to know more about us than we do! I can only speculate about the rumours, but they may go along the lines of:
They stole the town’s water. You need a gold pass to go up to their place. They stop children accessing the river. They create chaos in the community. Everyone in the town hates them.
But given the severity of our shunning, some rumours must be far worse!
A friendly neighbour who arrived in Branxholm more recently admitted that she had been warned about us. However, she wouldn’t say why or who told her! Fortunately she didn’t believe whatever it was…
But the gossip appears to be part of the secret squirrel society. So, we are bemused and left guessing.
The emotional toll from the Traditional Branxholm Welcome
The physical shunning and whispered rumours have isolated our family–leaving us generally angry with members of our community. We don’t know what the narative is, or how to change people’s perceptions.
Some of the consequences of the toxic gossip included:
- Local Tradies refused to work with us
- A few locals parked covertly at the top of our property to spy on us–apparently to catch us out in wrong-doings (recent admissions by a few people)
- Local residents stayed away from our Tourism business launch and still refuse to attend any functions held on our property
- and so many more petty acts that seem comical and childish now.
We have a constant fear of being judged or misunderstood. So it is easy to keep to ourselves, to not become invested in community events and to just enjoy the peace and beauty of where we live!
The Branxholm Welcome – a call for compassion and kindness
Fortunately small towns do evolve–including Branxholm! There has been a turnover of residents. New groups are forming. Although we are still deeply affected by what happened to us, we are noticing a better more positive dynamic in our town.
At least, the Traditional Branxholm Welcome is dead now!
Read more…
I found some good reads while I was writing this Blog, and you may enjoy them too:
- The toxicity of gossip within community settings, Jussica Sweazley (2024)
- Why do small rural communities often shun newcomers, even when they need them? Misha Ketchell (The Conversation, ed, 2023)
At Tin Dragon Cottages, last Saturday 29th April 2023, Christina Giudici demonstrated how easy it is to make biochar. She demonstrated the use of a low-tech low-cost method for making biochar in a pit kiln using prunings and fallen branches from around our property.
Because our Tin Dragon Team (Christine, Graham, James and Fraser-farm-dog) and five other local residents were keen to learn, we sponsored Christina Giudici for an instructional biochar field day.
What is Biochar?
If you are an avid gardener or simply love plants, you may have come across the term “biochar” at some point.
Christina explained that biochar is a type of charcoal produced by heating organic matter in a low-oxygen environment. The resulting highly porous charcoal is very stable and benificial for soil and plant heatlh.
Combating climate change
She also pointed out how making biochar is one of the ways we can combat climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognises biochar production as one of the key negative emissions technologies.
Converting waste plant material into a charcoal-like substance called biochar and burying it in soil can also be used to store carbon away from the atmosphere for decades to centuries.
IPCC FAQ Chapter 4
By the end of summer we usually have a collection of fallen branches and timber off-cuts (flitches). Like many farmers, we would be completely burning-off these piles to ashes. But, this year we have decided to turn these piles of waste fuel into biochar. This is a win for the environment and a win for us, because we are removing fallen branches from our paddocks, sending fewer emissions into the air and making a stable carbon product to benefit our soil!
How to Make Biochar on the Farm
Of course there are many ways to make biochar from large to small scale and from high- to low-cost options. We chose to use a simple pit kiln, because this method suits our limited budget and is well suited to removing waste fuel on our property.
The flame cap method
Prepare the pit and the fuel
Graham and James dug a 1.5m cone-shaped hole in our river-flat paddock. Our good old Fiat tractor with grader blade made this an easy task! We already had a pile of tree branches courtesy of summer storms and wind. So with the aid of a chain saw, James cut the timber into suitable lengths for the pit. We stored the timber under a canvas ready for the field day.
Keep the flame cap going
We had perfect weather for being outside. While we were stoking the fire, we chatted about all-things biochar, soil and farming. Christina told some stories of her early experiments with making charcoal in pit kilns–some not so successful!
Stuart explained how he uses feedchar to improve the health and productivity of his commercial dairy herd. The lush rich paddocks of his farm certainly appear as a testiment to the value of this biochar treatment. Apparently freshly made clean charcoal is suitable for animals to eat. But, of course–for commercial uses–the biochar needs to be certified as safe for consumption – i.e. it must be free of all potential contaminants. So we will be using our home-made charcoal in the garden, only!
Smaller tree branches and twigs were thrown on top of the heavier flitches to keep the fire cap high. This helps make charcoal deeper in the pit.
Time to douse the fire
After about three hours, the fire was at a stage where we were ready to quench the flames with water. Besides, we were also wanting to stop for lunch. So, although we could have stoked the fire with more feedstock, the team took to the buckets!
Care was needed to pour the water down the sides of the pit till the pit was fully flooded. After the dust and steam had settled, it looked like we had made about 400 L of charcoal.
Over lunch we exchanged ideas about gardening, soil and the uses for biochar. We had such an enjoyable day, that we suggested we should do it again! Graham, James, Fraser (farm dog) and I would certainly be pleased to host another biochar bon-fire. Perhaps each participant could take away a bucket of biochar in exchange for sharing lunch and helping with the fire?
Then discussion moved to a more important topic – food! We agreed it could be fun for Christina to come back to show us how to make pasta. Apparently biochar can be added to pasta… How about it Christina?
It’s a Wrap – how to make biochar
- Size the hole or trench or cone to suit your feedstock
- Prepare your feedstock – sized for your pit and keep it dry
- Choose good weather – not windy
- Keep the flame cap high till all the feedstock is used, or the pit is full
- Locate the pit near a source of water for dousing
- Flood quench carefully
How to use biochar in the garden
While clean biochar may be good to feed to animals – including our chooks – it is not so good to add it directly into garden soils. This is because biochar is really good at soaking up nutrients from the soil. In fact, fresh biochar may compete with plant roots for the available nutrients in the soil and cause a reduction in plant growth.
So, to prepare the biochar we will be using the “car-crush” method to break up the biochar from our pit. We then intend using the crushed biochar in our chook house, by layering it on top of the straw bedding. The biochar will be useful in eliminating odour and soaking up the nutrients from the chook poo! Then we can rake it up and store it away for at least several weeks/months to let it compost. The aged compost should be good for our garden!
You can read more about how to use your biochar on Christina’s webpage. I will add to this page to show you how we prepare and use the biochar on our property, too!
learn more about the effects of biochar on soil properties in this DPI article.
This is our story of Tin Dragon Cottages over the past two decades: We are tree-changers, passionate about North East Tasmania. We have jumped feet-first into tourism. You, our wonderful guests, are helping us to feel our way. What an adventure! Made a few mistakes, encountered some ugly resistance, but still having fun.
The Beginnings of Our Story
We first met while bushwalking on the West Coast of Tasmania in the late 90’s. Graham was leading an organised walk on the old Abt railway from Queenstown to Strahan. Because my Mum had just died, I had decided to take my elderly Dad on a father-daughter bonding walk.
Well, our friendship developed over the next year or so – till Graham decided to leave Hobart. In Hobart he had owned Building, and Spa and Sauna businesses. So, he moved North to join me in Scottsdale. At the time, I had employment with UTas and Defence Science as a researcher.
Together we developed a notion, to start a tourism business in the North East. Our vision was –and still is–for thoughtful hospitality with an emphasis on both local and natural history.
Establishing a new business is not easy!
Tourism professionals and even our bushwalking friends didn’t believe tourism could be successful in the North East. They kept saying “….but there’s nothing in the North East – just forestry and farms! “ “There are no iconic tourism attractions.”
It took us a year, but in 2001 we found our ideal property: 36 Acres on the Ringarooma River in Branxholm. Graham quickly commenced construction of five self-contained cottages. He harvested and milled timber onsite, including hardwood beams and macrocarpa pine for all the joinery. Stone was sourced from Mr Victoria for cottage construction and landscaping. Most of the work was done by Graham, with just a few trades people assisting.
Trouble in paradise
Unfortunately we quickly ran into problems with some Branxholm residents and then our Council, which cost us greatly in delays and money. It was a very stressful time! …And in the midst of this stress our son, James was born.
Problems accessing water
We had started construction without too much difficulty, but the Council had been refusing us a connection to the town water supply, despite our property being fully inside the town’s water district.
We had to find a water supply. So we established a water licence and forestry lease to collect water from a creek 3km away. Our water connection was about 1km downstream of the town’s water connection into the same creek.
Meanwhile we had been subjected to the traditional “Branxholm Welcome” – hopefully a practice that has died out now! This involved numerous acts of vandalism, such as pouring washing powder into our septic tank and damaging our electric fences to let our neighbour’s dairy herd onto our construction site!
The criminal vandalism culminated with the serious destruction of our 3 km water pipeline! Our Council then dried up the creek by illegally raising the level of the town weir. Three years later, after taking our Council to a Tribunal, the illegal weir was removed allowing water to flow back into the creek.
Meanwhile, we had to build new water infrastructure. This consisted of rain-water tanks, water pumps and a complicated network of underground pipes to collect rain water from every roof on our property. But we were back on track to open our business!
We opened in late 2008
On a bright sunny day in late 2008 the State Tourism Minister opened Tin Dragon Trail Cottages to about 120 guests. It was our great pleasure to have descendants of the Moy family present at the opening ceremony and to have Norman Moy give the opening address!
Our cottages—Ah Moy, Ah Ping, Chintock, Fon Hock and Ah Back, celebrate the hard-working Chinese families who mined for tin near Branxholm. We also developed a short sculpture walk through Henry Ah Pings tin-mining lease on our property. The walk features sculptures by Folko Kooper. At the start of the walk you can read posters describing Henry’s story.
Over time, Graham has planted numerous endemic native trees and grasses and we have been rewarded by the return of quolls, bandicoots, wombats and abundant other native animals and birds. An area that was a muddy cattle camp on the river bank is now a thriving wetland with burrowing crayfish and native hens and platypus.
After all the years of dispute, we still had our water licences and forestry lease in place. So Graham being a most resourceful person, took advantage of these permissions and the nearly 100m elevation of the creek above our property to construct a micro-hydro power system. He did this with minimal assistance—mostly just the help from our 70 year-old friend, Ron!
More recently Graham also installed solar PV with battery storage (Tesla power walls) so that our property generates up to 210 kWhr per day. We are carbon negative—meaning that we put more renewable power into the grid than we use!
Our story into the future
Our core business is short-stay self-contained accommodation. But we also have a workshop space for individuals and groups. This latter venture opened just before the Covid-10 border closures. However we have hosted a few groups including photographers and bushwalkers. We are now planning to host art retreats.
Our accommodation may not be considered “luxury”, but we have endeavoured to provide thoughtful hospitality. We aim to make our guests feel comfortable and “at home”. We see our property as a retreat into nature where guests can enjoy bushwalks, native wildlife, the river and our farm—chooks, alpacas and vegetable gardens. It is a place where romance and friendship can thrive!
In the early evening, just after a noisy thunder storm, Samantha gave birth to a white male cria. We named him Rumbles. He was wet and shivering, and possibly a couple of weeks premature.
Our Cria Died
At Tin Dragon Cottages we have a small herd of alpacas that are part of our family. We were heart-broken for this precious little cria that was lost. The saga played out over two days and three nights.
If you are interested in learning more about alpaca births and crias, you can read a longer blog post on our alpaca shop site.
Tin Dragon Cottages Winter
My greatest pleasure of the day is a morning walk with Graham and Rusty. Rusty nearly wags her hips off with excitement with the mention of Rusty! Come for a walk! If you have a dog you’ll recognise this enthusiasm. So, we head off down our front road alongside the Ringarooma River in Branxholm.
Frosty winter morning 
Stepping it Out 
Rusty keeping up the pace
Sometimes we see a rabbit and more rarely–a platypus in our dam. But lately we have been accompanied by our herd of alpacas.
Follow the leader 
Look at me!
Occasionally Rusty meets up with other dogs taking their owners for a morning walk on our road.
…and most mornings we meet our Branxholm neighbours and their goats.
Always attentive 
Have you still got that pesky camera pointing at me? 
Caring for the land
Greeting our neighbour 
Betty and Frank 
I can see you!
After the walk it’s time for a well-earned rest…
Intimate moment 
Almost home again
Exhausting! 
Time for a rest
This photo essay was first published 13th August 2016 by Christine Booth. Originally published on Blogger, it has been re-posted to the Tin Dragon Cottages blog. Sadly, Rusty the Kelpie died in late 2017. She was about 16 years-old.