If you want to find a passionate local, today is your day! What a pleasure and learning experience it was having a chat to Mark. He's a little cheeky and controversial, loves a good Willunga Footy Club Burger, loves his footy and lives for history, story telling and passing on knowledge of our region.

You are ‘Kool Tours'. Please tell us what you do and what Kool Tours is all about.

We are an authentic tourism business that focuses on delivering an Aboriginal product from the traditional owners for the Fleurieu

I run private cross cultural awareness training and public cultural sessions on country. Also, a lot of school groups whereby they learn about country and what it was like prior to colonisation. I then go back into schools and teach what is it like now, by looking at truth telling about the trauma our of our people have faced and then seek what is the way forward for all of us in society?

Is this something you have always done, or was there a business before Kool Tours?

I've always been a part of it on different levels. I've been a school teacher and educator. I've worked in health and welfare. Education right across many fields and I suppose what I do now is more about putting it together as a tourism product.

How long has Kool Tours been around?

I’ve really been involved in advocating through learning and re-learning for the majority of my life. The business has been going for about two years.

Is the Fleurieu home to you?

Yes, definitely. It’s Ngarrindjeri Country. I’m a Ramindjeri and Warki traditional owner of the Fleurieu. I’m also connected to the other groups throughout the Ngarrindjeri nation.

What is it that makes you proud of the place you live and work?

I think it's about sharing home. It's about sharing country. It's about bringing people together show that that the Fleurieu belongs to everybody and we get an understanding about the Fleurieu. We've got an amazing product within the Fleurieu and even Sunday just gone I was conducting a tour and some of the places that we visited, you could be anywhere in the world. Lots of people don't realise the beauty that we have within the Fleurieu. So, for me, sharing the past history of how we believe landscapes and waterways are Ngartji or totems were formed by Nurrunderi we are sharing understanding so that everyone gets an appreciation of why the Fleurieu is so special.

On a more personal note, tell us a little about Mark and what you love to do out of work?

Out of work I’m a Fremantle Dockers supporter and I'm a big, big supporter of the Meningie Football Club. I also call live streaming footy with Bruce at Murraylands Football and Netball Results.

Bruce and I were once sparring partners on the footy oval, but then the product that Bruce has produced has brought us together. Once we stepped over the footy white line, we become really good mates. We bring footy to local country people who quite often can't get to the footy. You know, we love those really wet, cold days where we can bring the local footy into people’s lounge rooms while they are sitting next to the fire. That’s what makes what Bruce and I do so special. 

Being involved and sharing through the Fleurieu App Live Sport button has increased our viewers and enabled us to bring footy from the Great Southern Football League into our streaming services.

What is something many locals would not know about you (that you are willing to share!)

Within the River Murray football league I’m known as the King. I was given that by the previous Secretary of the RMFL, Peter Dalwood, because he thinks I'm very opinionated! I talk like I’m the king of the world.

I have five children, two grandchildren.

Most people that have listened in on the Murraylands or been on one of my tours, they know I'm passionate about what I do.

Anything else you would like to share?

I hope that people get an understanding that I’m out there. Lots of people are not even aware that there is an indigenous tourism business operating in the Fleurieu. We have an authentic tourism business that everybody could get something from. Including us, we learn from the maritime heritage and the built heritage and the rail heritage of our Fleurieu. It's very unique, places like Goolwa, Victor Harbor and Port Elliott. We Ngarrindjeri love learning about heritage in general. It's not just about our product. We live right across the Fleurieu and you know it's so unique. It's got all heritage all in one. You don't get that anywhere else.

Certainly, one of the best things I've ever eaten at the footy is a burger from the Willunga Football Club. When streaming footy for Great Southern I’d get excited when we were calling from Willunga because I knew I could get a burger!

Most defiantly ensuring all our people realise that within our Fleurieu we have lots of opportunities for us all to learn about the Fleurieu. We don't have to travel outside the region. The locals can get a fantastic experience by looking within. This is something that is very unique. We've got some great products that people know of, but we've got a huge amount of knowledge within the Fleurieu amongst us all, and we just need to keep promoting it.

YOUR TOP TIPS for the Fleurieu Peninsula / Kangaroo Island:

Best place to....

Go for a dip – Horseshoe Bay Port Elliot, and they have magnificent food there as well!

Explore nature – I have a passion for re-wilding the Fleurieu. Bringing back a whole lot of species from plants, to birds to fish to animals. Making the Fleurieu a very special place, getting back to nature

Thinking about the Flying Fish and Port Elliot….

The young guy who eventually went out to save people from “The Flying Fish”. He learned to swim from Ramindjeri men, and one of them was my great uncle. Incredible thing is I've got a large painting in my house on the wall of the gentleman that taught the young man to swim. Without being taught to swim he would not have been able to save those people.

For our readers: Today Horseshoe Bay has a popular foreshore restaurant named The Flying Fish, and the local surf lifesaving club has rescue boats also named Flying Fish. Both are namesakes of the two masted schooner lost in Port Elliot in December 1860.Again a vicious storm was responsible, turning the Flying Fish onto one side overnight, and pushing the schooner into the sand above the high water mark. Swimmers today can still feel the hull underfoot. Source: abc.net.au

When I’m on the Fleurieu and/or KI, I…

I feel.... at home, I feel strengthened, I feel enlightened. It strengthens me being across the Fleurieu and KI. As a Ngarrindjeri that's the whole formation, the soul of us to know the stories and to feel comforted by Country.

Always make sure I visit.... On KI I like to visit Snelling Beach. There's a large dreaming story that goes through there. And you know……. when I’m coming home from a tour some days if the footy is on I call into Willunga Football to grab a burger!

Stock up on..... Bush food. Especially Muntries because you are able to freeze them. By stocking up on them and freezing them, I can create dishes throughout the year.

Weirdest thing that’s happened to me here.

I suppose one of the things that might be a bit weird is that just recently there was a film crew that followed me through the Fleurieu and every time we went to film it was absolutely perfect weather. The wind had died down. At Ratalang the water had gone out – and this is part of the Nurrunderi story is when he is throwing the grass trees into the water so that he could create pools of water so he can get fish to eat. Quite often that doesn't happen, but when we went to film there on Saturday, the water had gone right out, so I was able to tell that story and then the others on the tour group could actually physically see what I was talking about. Sunday, we went out on the Big Duck and the water was as calm as anything. I was just so very uncanny that wherever we went, the Fleurieu turned on the weather for us. That’s probably something for the weirdest thing that's happened. Saying that, as a traditional owner it really wasn't weird, it was just our ancestors turning it on for me, making sure that the film that we were producing was the best that we could share.

The film was about what is caring for country? Quite often people use the phrase caring for country or looking after country, but they don’t look into it in depth. They don't think that we've got to care for the environment, the animals, the plants, the water, the cosmology. So that is definitely something weird that the weather was absolutely perfect to help tell our story. A few months ago, we booked these three or four days so who knew we would pull off perfect weather!

Best memory on the Fleurieu?

I think it's yet to come. That work the DEW is doing on Granite Island leading from the great work DIT and Ngarrindjeri artists done of The Causeway and the promotion of Ngarrinderi Leader in the late Uncle Henry Rankine welcoming people, we're going see the stone that many don’t know that’s he’s there because he's covered up in bushes. You know, his face was carved out of granite rock. So, probably the best thing is about to come. The Causeway will have the longest piece of Aboriginal artwork in Australia. I think that is very unique to promote Ngarrindjeri culture. So I think my best memories are yet to come.

Most interesting character I’ve run into.

Probably Michael Simmons from the Victor Times and local footy. I like having a conversation with him about footy and life. He's a very interesting guy, but he doesn’t give much away when I’m being controversial and I enjoy watching him squirm hahaha.

My best piece of advice for anyone heading to the Fleurieu / KI region: 

The late C S Hayes said “The future belongs to those who plan for it” my favourite quote.

If we all work together to plan for what we want to show on the Fleurieu and then people will see the best that the Fleurieu has to offer.

Find out more about Kool Tours HERE