Meet the Team ~ Lunch ~ owner and tour guide
Your role within Australian Coastal Safaris and your background
I'm the ‘Grand Poobah’ at Australian Coastal Safaris.
Others might say - owner and tour guide.
My background;
For 26 years I was an Eyre Peninsula grain farmer, and seasonally over 10 years - a sheep shearer and aquatics instructor. Then I decided to diversify from farming into tourism - long story there...
Why do you guide?
It gets me out of the office and I really enjoy it - meeting new people from all walks of life, from all over the world! It’s great to be able to showcase our backyard, what we do best, and go around to all of the beautiful places on the Eyre Peninsula.
How did you get from farming to tour guiding?
By pure chance really. It’s a long story but I had a friend visiting on the Eyre Peninsula from New York, he was only going to spend 2 weeks here and ended up staying 3 months, he just loved it - the coastline, the activities we did, the remoteness, and the people (a big thing to love down here!). When I visited him back in New York he encouraged me to delve into tourism because no one else was doing that sort of thing down here. So this is his fault.
When you’re not guiding tours, what are you doing?
I’d love to be able to say that you can find me on the back of a fishing boat doing one of my other favourite past times, but usually you can find me in the office doing all the backend stuff (finances, bills etc.). So I am stuck in the office a lot, even though I’d love to be out on the road more. But when I’m in the office I’m working hard to fine tune everything so we can keep making these experiences the very best for our guests.
What’s your favourite place to go on the Lower Eyre Peninsula?
Oooh there’s many favourite places, but I do have to say Bucks Beach is one of them.
Good luck finding that on your own.
Top tip for travellers visiting this region
Be organised and book yourself in early to avoid disappointment!
Join Lunch on a tour
You can join Lunch on any tour, just take your pick (except the Wellness tours, that one's for Sarah).
Gift vouchers and private beach front accommodation options are available.