Roo Lagoon Studio: Ron takes in some of the Kangaroo Island region of South Australia

Travel through the western end of KI and you're dwarfed by the giant stringy barks and sugar gums that once covered much of this island. And along the northern cliffs that fall away into Investigator Strait walking trails weave their way through the endless procession of casuarinas that hug one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in the State.

Many of the casuarinas, sugar and swamp gums and stringybarks that remain do so because of an historical accident. They grew in locations the local farmers found too hard to get at or in soil that held little appeal for the Soldier Settlers who were given quotas of land to clear.

But at least some of what they cleared remains in abandoned piles left to weather on remote properties that wood turner Jonny Gloyne returns to year in year out. The selection process goes a step further when Jonny turns his eye to the little quirks and foibles of nature like the ripples in the wood known as fiddleback.

"Fiddleback is where the grain has gone up and down," said Jonny. "The tree has leaned over a little bit whilst growing and it's crimped a little bit. It's a bit like the skin on your arm - when you bend your elbow.

When you cut through the wood where the grain goes up and down you get wavy colour and textures."

And it's that texture and fiddleback which Jonny conjures up from thick slabs of roughly sawn timber in his Roo Lagoon studio in the centre of Kangaroo Island.

As the chips from this block of ancient KI swamp gum fly thick and fast Jonny breathes new life into a piece of timber which the early soldier settlers cleared to make way for new farms and new families.

"They used a lot of it for fence posts because they were rather large and easy to work with. Thousands of tonnes of this timber was burnt back then which is a bit of shame. But that's history now.

"I think some of the timber would probably be around 100-120 years old"

Many of the trees would still have been standing when hunters based themselves in the old cottage, next door to Jonny's wood working studio. Today it's a comfortable B&B but back in the 1930s it was home to those who trapped the island's Tamar Wallabies and shipped their skins from the treacherous anchorage at Harvey's Return. The Roo Lagoon Cottage was also a vital staging post for those who serviced the isolated Cape Borda Lighthouse at the remote western end of the island.

Now Roo Lagoon Cottage is a great base from which to explore this part of the island and marvel at the artistry of wood turner Jonny Gloyne. The cottage and studio are on the Playford Highway twenty-three kilometres west of Parndana. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au

Roo Lagoon Studio & Gallery
Playford Highway
Gosse
10 ks west of Parndana
Open 10am - 4pm Mon - Sat

Published 19th November 2006