That moment when you make a life changing decision is one that usually sticks in your memory forever...we often reminisce about when we sold the business in Adelaide and moved to the island. Our plan was to have a year off with the girls and then look for an investment opportunity on the island. The IT Nerd would joke that his only goal for that first year would be to become the town drunk ...as it turns out, this goal was achieved within the first 3 months!
Helping to contribute to this achievement was a constant stream of visitors coming to stay with us on Kangaroo Island plus the IT Nerd's 40th birthday, which was a major event with celebrations that went for about a week during July of that year. Friends from everywhere came with swags in hand and our new Island friends lit a bonfire that I am sure would have been seen from Adelaide!
We started looking at a few aquaculture ventures that were up for sale. Primarily Marron farming but there were also a couple of oyster farms on the market at that time too. Marron farming needed land with lots of water and we weren't in a position to invest in anymore land and most of it was down the western end of the island while our new home was on the east end.
I remember the afternoon, sitting on the end of our bed, The IT Nerd was pacing the room like a caged lion weighing up the pros and cons of buying an oyster farm. I had just two criteria; the first was that whatever project we chose, we worked on it together. Most of our working life we had worked together, but I left work to care for the girls it felt like we were worlds apart and I didn't want that anymore. The second was that it allowed at least one of us to work from home so that we could be with the girls until they went to school. This was something that was important to both of us and either one of us could have been the stay-at-home parent but as it turns out I took that job. The IT Nerd wanted an environmentally sustainable venture and that it would give back to the world.
We often wonder what path our lives would have taken if the oyster farm was not chosen. The IT Nerd, and newly appointed Town Drunk, had also wanted to open a brewery on KI and, 12 years ago, he would have been onto a good thing. However, we would have had to have built something from scratch. Literally build buildings, as well as build a business, along with the learning curve of a new industry which, with two young children in tow seemed like biting off more than we could chew. The oyster farm was already operational, so with only the learning curve of how to farm oysters as our major challenge....oyster farming it was!
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