As a 15-year old, Peter Meyer’s imagination was captured by Out of Africa, the Hollywood adaptation of Karen Blixen’s tale of colonial Kenya. In particular, he was inspired by the portrayal of the safari-leading big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton. It may seem like a rather tenuous connection to draw, but Meyer couldn’t help thinking of Hatton when he set out on his own real life adventure in 1996, swapping life in Brisbane for a job as an eco-ranger at the Kingfi sher Bay Resort on Queensland’s worldheritage- listed Fraser Island.

Having graduated from Griffi th University in 1995 with degrees in ecology and biochemistry, Peter had until then been a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. He helped out with his father’s engineering business, worked at a delicatessen and also dabbled in roof installation. Nothing felt quite right. But when somebody told him about the work of the eco-rangers at Kingfi sher Bay, something clicked. “Straight away I thought ‘that’s what I want to do’,” Peter recalls. “I didn’t actually realise there were jobs like that in the world. I liked the idea of teaching people about the environment and I felt that this was certainly the best way I could do it.”

While his initial overtures to the rangers department were fruitless, persistence paid off . By the start of 1996, a part-time opportunity allowed Peter to work his way into a full-time role. His life on Fraser Island involved escorting visitors on guided tours showcasing the Island’s beauty. With about 1,500 kilometres of….

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For more about Peter Meyer’s photography, visit: www.livinggallery.com.au

www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au