Wildhaven is a wildlife sanctuary that was completely destroyed by the catastrophic 2009 Black Saturday Victorian bushfires. Gianna Dalla-Vecchia recently spoke with owner Stella Reid to discuss her passion for wildlife, the rebuilding process and her vision for the future.
We all remember Black Saturday, when Victoria was put to the test as the world witnessed the overwhelming power of nature. On February 8 2009, 173 people perished and 2029 homes were destroyed, as Victoria experienced its worst ever bushfire. Despite many livelihoods being burnt to the ground, one thing that remained was the sense of hope. Hope for the future.
Now two years on, many survivors have made a fresh, new start, however, there are still others trying to get back on their feet.
Wildhaven, a 100 acre property devoted to caring for Australia's injured native wildlife, was completely destroyed on Black Saturday, killing all its resident wildlife as it burnt everything to the ground.
Determined to rebuild her once beloved sanctuary, Stella Reid, owner of Wildhaven, has been slowly restoring her property, as her dream is to re-establish a safe haven for her adored wildlife.
I recently caught up with Stella Reid at Wildhaven, where she shared her traumatic experience on Black Saturday, the rebuilding process and her thoughts and hopes for the future.
Upon interviewing Stella, I came to realise that she is a visionary who dares to dream. Despite the devastation and challenges caused by the catastrophic Black Saturday bushfires, she continues to possess a positive outlook; hence making her a true inspiration.
We all remember Black Saturday, when Victoria was put to the test as the world witnessed the overwhelming power of nature. On February 8 2009, 173 people perished and 2029 homes were destroyed, as Victoria experienced its worst ever bushfire. Despite many livelihoods being burnt to the ground, one thing that remained was the sense of hope. Hope for the future.
Now two years on, many survivors have made a fresh, new start, however, there are still others trying to get back on their feet.
Wildhaven, a 100 acre property devoted to caring for Australia's injured native wildlife, was completely destroyed on Black Saturday, killing all its resident wildlife as it burnt everything to the ground.
Determined to rebuild her once beloved sanctuary, Stella Reid, owner of Wildhaven, has been slowly restoring her property, as her dream is to re-establish a safe haven for her adored wildlife.
I recently caught up with Stella Reid at Wildhaven, where she shared her traumatic experience on Black Saturday, the rebuilding process and her thoughts and hopes for the future.
Upon interviewing Stella, I came to realise that she is a visionary who dares to dream. Despite the devastation and challenges caused by the catastrophic Black Saturday bushfires, she continues to possess a positive outlook; hence making her a true inspiration.
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| Teenagers holding little joey, Buttercup at Wildhaven (Photo Copyright © 2011, Gianna Dalla-Vecchia) |
Prior to the bushfires, how long did you maintain this sanctuary for?
We began sheltering native animals 19 years before the bushfires. As of 2011, we have been saving Australian animals for 22 years. We have been here in St. Andrews for 13 years and prior to that, we were in Warrandyte, sitting on a tiny two acres, compared to this block, as it is over 100 acres.
How has your life changed since the 2009 Victorian bushfires? Has your outlook on life been affected?
My mother who had Alzheimer’s came to live with us two years before the bushfires. She ended up passing away on this property six months before the Black Saturday bushfires.
Leading up to the bushfires, we were so happy for we had just finished building all our enclosures. It had taken us over 15 years to get where we wanted and in a blink of an eye-lid it was all gone. Until this day, I still cannot comprehend what happened, that everything we had built had been completely destroyed.
Although I guess that’s the way life is. We will eventually die and the emptiness will be there for those left behind.
I thought rebuilding would be easier. However, we started from scratch. We had a completely blank canvas. It was scary. Sometimes, you just want to go back to the way everything was before, but the fires took it all away, therefore this time we decided that we wanted to make it safer, stronger and better.
Unlike before, we simply haven’t got another 15 years to rebuild for we are getting too old, we just do not have the time. My husband Alan does most of the re-building on his own as I look after the wildlife.
The Australian government gave all those affected by the bushfires $50,000 and Human Services gave us around $10,000. Everybody received the same amount. Most people had never seen that kind of money before, so they bought a computer or updated their car or went on a big holiday, but that was not what the money was meant for. The money was meant to help us rebuild. Most people saw themselves as needing that money due to the trauma they had been through. However, what Alan and I did was we went to see our bank manager and we invested it. We now call that account ‘The Wildhaven Trust’. We put the money given to us into this account and used it along with our insurance allowance to rebuild this sanctuary. We made good of what the government gave us. We didn’t take one single holiday. We chose to stay and rebuild.
We have no regrets whatsoever. It’s not my dream to go on a holiday and lie on a beach. If I did, I would be looking out for any wildlife and there wouldn’t be any for humans are there.
Sometimes, you will be living in a world of your dreams and you just don’t see it. This is not uncommon. If you look around where you live, it could be something very special. And if it isn’t, then you make it special for it is your home at this present moment. It might not be special to somebody else, but it just might mean something special to you.
If somebody approached us right now and offered us a grand holiday, we would immediately decline. We wouldn’t even think about it. This is our life and our home and we simply couldn’t live without the wildlife.
You are truly an optimistic person who loves caring for native Australian animals. How did the bushfires affect your dream to make a positive difference?
When the fires came, we were in shock but we had so much to do. We knew we had to rebuild, for there was nowhere for the big kangaroos to go. We were one of the biggest shelters around and still are. We had to make a home for them.
For us, a whole lot of our little animals had gone. Healsville had contacted us saying that they had animal shelters which had shut down, so their wombats had to be out before a certain date. That put a lot of pressure on us to re-build an animal enclosure, therefore it was the first thing we did. We started building it literally two weeks after the fires.
Bill Watson from the Ferntree Gully CFA organised 50 men and machines to come here. The wombat enclosure was the first thing we built. Virtually 24 hours after we built it, the wombats turned up, because they were too little to release. They were only little guys weighing eight or 10 kilos, still drinking from bottles and we also had another two which weighed around 20 kilos. We couldn’t release any of them into the wild as we there was no grass.
After we finished building the wombat enclosure, we immediately began working on the little joeys enclosures and then the possum enclosure.
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| Stella Reid holding one of her two wombats (Photo Copyright © 2011, Gianna Dalla-Vecchia) |
You seem to speak a lot about dreaming. What advice can give to assist those who desire to live a harmonious and fulfilling life?
You should only worry about the things you can change. Don’t let the things you can’t change bother you. Ignore it. There is simply too much to think about. If you start thinking about it too much, it can destroy you.
In the end what you do throughout your life is not your mother’s choice, it’s your choice. Make the most of what you have. Continue to strive to complete all things to the best of your ability. If you do, I guarantee you will have no regrets.
For me, when I go to bed at night, I make plans. It’s called ‘moving forward’. It’s goals in a way but it’s also a dream to makes things better for the wildlife and for ourselves too.
To live in harmony, that’s a dream. I often watch things that are on TV that are strange to me. I watch people at big functions, at dinners with lots of lights. I find that intimidating. It’s not a dream that I ever wish to be a part of.
I am not a great gardener, however I love planting trees. I love walking in and amongst wildlife. If I see any injured animal along the road, I look after them, like our little joey, Buttercup. The first thing on my mind in the morning is ‘Buttercup’. In actual fact, if kangaroos do not want to live, they will simply shut down and die. So, I just hope that everyday when I get up, she is still alive.
Soon after the bushfires, the local council came to visit us to explain all the things we weren’t allowed to do. We ended up telling them to come back another day. We know as human beings what we can and cannot do. I wanted to know what I could do to move forward.
So if you have a dream, you need to know what you can do to achieve that dream. Take yourself into that space. That would bring a smile to your face. It will.
What are your views surrounding the world in which we live? Do you believe civilisation is moving forward for the better?
When we were living in a site office after the fires, somebody said to me, “Isn’t it squashy?” The truth is, what makes it squashy is not the two people, it’s your material possessions. All my husband, Alan and I had was a green shopping bag that contained underwear and toothbrushes, nothing else. So for us, it wasn’t squashy at all.
Years and years ago, after World War One, swagmen would move from property to property, working on different sites to make money and all they would carry was a rucksack. These days, we could never do what they did. We cannot live without our computer, our mobile phones, shoes and clothes. We have become so materialistic.
There is no way we could ever live like swagmen, for we would never be able to fit all our material possessions into a rucksack.
The world has definitely changed.
What can you see yourself doing in the future?
What is great is that little joey, Buttercup will grow up with lots of other little friends on our property.
We normally house five to six kangaroos and four to six wombats. They all get bottles during the day. Buttercup gets a bottle every four hours for she is still a baby. So we are constantly getting bottles for them.
We want to make this place work for the wildlife, so it’s a safe and easy place for us to release them. If it works for them, it works for us. I see us growing old here.
A truly inspirational story. I believe that Stella Reid’s passion for saving injured Australian wildlife and her desire to make a difference is truly commendable. I thank Stella Reid whole heartedly for allowing me to hear her promenade.
To find out more about Wildhaven and the great work that Stella Reid does, visit her website, http://www.wildhavenstandrews.com.au/
I would love to hear your thoughts on Stella Reid's story. Or alternatively, you can send me your own promenade to:
Cheers!
Gianna :)
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