Max's Island

Gaj was into hip hop and rap when growing up in Sri Lanka. At 16 years of age, and heavily influenced by the New York hip hop and rap scene, Gaj and his brother set up their “Urban Sounds” outfit to entertain crowds at clubs and live events… and then through studio recorded releases.

As typical teenagers, they were actually really anxious about performing live and were more comfortable in the studio. This changed once they began to get a following.

After coming to Australia and with the birth initially of his daughter and then his son, the desire to keep creating music in this genre was still strong but he realised a need to create “kid friendly’ content. From this thought, The Cuddly Koalas was born and the creation of hip hop/rap music with clean lyrics that have important social and personal messages …specifically for children. Using lyrics created by his acclaimed song writing wife, Anjana, and supporting vocals from their children, The Cuddly Koalas sound is catchy and highly relatable to their audience.

They have had great impact since releasing their initial album “Happy Families”. With world-wide involvement of children to make this music … this translated to international appeal once it was released. Consequently, they were discovered by an international network and this opened more doors to the world wide scene and a new growing audience.

Their latest single ‘Help’ was released earlier in 2025 and will be part of a second album that is being planned.

The future is exciting for Gaj and his family, as they strive for more positive social impact from their music and taking The Cuddly Koalas toward more success on the international stage.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/05rc1X0D0a090zEHNu2wEB?si=FukWhtZsSd69nxJ89khPfA

https://www.instagram.com/thecuddlykoalas/#

Michael Ward faced a definitive moment during a dark time in his life. He admitted that he couldn’t see a way out. He was just ‘stuck’ ... he couldn’t find happiness or any purpose to his life. But a revelation that he should ‘try a little harder’ and make real change was the catalyst to ‘writing a list’ of what was needed to recover.

He became diligent in adopting new disciplines of looking after himself … sleep, food, water, exercise and being with the right people were the primary drivers to achieving a different life…PLUS there was a desire to be creative.  

He had to believe in himself … a version of the classic Max’s Island value of ‘Believe in Everyone’.

Music had always been a creative part of his life and now learning to sing became a dedicated focus … it was an obsession … a way for him to fully express himself.

This creative expression became part of every aspect of his life … not just his music.

He now has an energetic expressive life playing many, many gigs every month with his band … or just doing it solo. This is not only in Perth but throughout WA and at festivals across Australia.

Life these days looks and feels different for Michael. He has a positive view for the future and has set no limits to what he can achieve.  

Since the introduction of legislation into the WA parliament, in 2021, the practice of Voluntary Assisted Dying (Commonly referred to as VAD) … has been accessed by many West Australians.

The opportunity for patient autonomy and compassion in end-of-life care … and the relief from intolerable suffering, has seen a year-on-year increase in the number of people making a first request for VAD and the number of VAD deaths recorded.

Michael McBride’s father was described as a ‘larger than life’ character who had given a career to the protection of others. Once his cancer prognosis was clearly defined and the medical options for recovery lessened, he chose to explore the option of VAD.

He entered the very detailed and strictly managed process defined by the legislation. Having to meet specific standards and general requirements was important, but the real benefits came as during the process he became more in control of his destiny.

Working with close family, his GP and other trained professionals, a plan was developed and ultimately, he was able to end his life under his own conditions, with family alongside him.

The dignity and personal agency witnessed by Michael and his siblings was highly visible and helped them manage the emotions created by their fathers’ decision.

When we align this to the Max’s Island value to just “call it” an incredible sense of gratitude and compassion is reflected in this story. Please think and reflect after listening to this amazing recollection from Michael of his brave father’s decision.

As a teenager, Monique Power was exposed to the death of a friend’s father and this became an early catalyst for her to realise “Life is Short”. She felt there was a need to do things.

In her early 20’s, this took her to Ghana, Africa on volunteer work … Quickly, she realised her passion was not necessarily being on the ground, so to speak, but it was in influencing policy to make change … and using her ability and privilege to leverage.

She also discovered that “Passion is well received” by others and used this thought for motivation to pursue a higher education in Political Science and International relations on her return to Australia.

But just as the degree was being completed, her life changed with the conception of her first child.

She was diagnosed prenatally with a very rare disability.

The pregnancy was highly challenging and the medical professionals painted a dire picture for her chances of survival at birth. But Monique relied on her ‘passion’ and used this to influence her intuitive beliefs and decision making to guide her, not only during the pregnancy, but also following her daughter’s birth.

From this point, Monique acknowledges that her daughter had given her life a new purpose. And using her drive for systemic change through her knowledge of how to influence policy, she made it her life’s mission to change the policy narrative for children with significant disabilities.

To facilitate this journey, with a co-founder, Monique established an organisation called Ripple Ability. This has now become her life.

So, as a big believer in progress … and doing better … Monique continues to break new ground, be a driver for change and implement initiatives that will help many others into the future. This has seen the next stage of her life with the establishment of a Not for Profit organisation called RAFI – RippleAbility Family Incorporated …designed to prevent families of children with complex and pro-found disability being excluded from essential “care environments” before they are ready for school.

 Her story is compelling and is important to hear … I am sure you’ll be inspired to continue to follow her journey.

In this final instalment of Deany Jaghdour’s visit to Max’s Island, we begin to learn a little more of her personal discovery of how she thinks and acts in stressful situations. The importance of professional mental health support is highlighted and Deany really learnt more about herself by reflecting on her early childhood memories.

But, whilst she was managing her own mental health recovery pathway, the family life was not settled by any means. And in fact, it became more chaotic as they traversed the globe during a short period of time … This included living in Bali on 3 separate times, living in France on two other occasions and in between, staying in Melbourne and actually buying a ‘family” home in Perth. 

The reasons for these changes were mixed … and included multiple redundancies, taking work out of necessity and also by just “following their whim” that seemed to be the right thing at the time. And whilst all of this was happening, Deany gave birth to a second child … and embraced a real passion piece … where she self published a book for children,  explaining the menstrual cycle in mothers.

Get the book here:-

https://sexedrescue.com/in-mummys-belly-a-garden-grows-by-deany-jaghdour/

So join us now for the final chapter in the story of Deany and her family … and discover how and why they have again settled in Bali … well…for at least the time being.

In the first chapter of this story, Deany Jaghdour met a man, Nabil … moved to Jakarta … married him and started a family. It was a whirlwind decision … and meant a new life, away from Australia.

They then moved to Bali to open their dream restaurant … unfortunately it was just as Covid hit. These challenges were being faced by many other businesses in Bali … but since Deany still had her job in Jakarta  … they thought they would be able to ride it out and come out the other side.

That was until a motorbike accident left Nabil in a critical condition in ICU @ a Bali hospital … who were demanding large amounts of money before commencing treatment … Treatment to keep him alive and then to operate on his critical head injuries.

The stress on Deany was immense. She had to look after her son, keep working in Jakarta, try to salvage their failing restaurant business … all at the time of single handedly dealing with the medical team trying to keep her husband alive.

Finally … after a long and protracted recovery period where Nabil began to get better … the stress of it all finally got to Deany … the magnitude of the situation became a reality … and this changed her approach to caring for herself.

Deany Jaghdour’s visit to Max’s Island was a long one … she stayed longer than most guests … But there is a good reason why… she has a story that has many parts.

So, it is split into 3 chapters … each will be released separately.

They are individual experiences in their own right … but all form part of a bigger story from a time in her life that has certainly opened her to exciting opportunities, personal and business challenges and confronting emotional highs and lows.

These interconnected stories begin with Chapter One, where she meets a man…and moves to Jakarta to be with him … on an impulsive hunch that seemed to be the right thing to do at that time. This all happened within a couple of days of meeting him.

Ultimately, they met, they married and started a family within a short space of time.

Convincing her friends, family and her current work colleagues at the time … that her decision to move to Jakarta to live with this new man in her life was difficult, but that didn’t stop Deany from believing her intuition.

As their new life was being shaped as a growing family … a new restaurant business opportunity in Bali materialised. But their dreams were immediately interrupted by Covid. Within weeks of launching the restaurant … borders were closed … travel became restricted … and as with many other customer and tourist related industries during those times … their business was ruined, almost instantly.

This is only part one of Deany’s rollercoaster world with her growing family … and on the next episode, we’ll hear how their lives were thrown into disruption from something totally unexpected.

As a returning visitor to Max’s Island, Justin Davies was keen to share the latest story of how he has embraced the creative passion of creating, playing and recording music for all the world to hear.

As an acoustic singer-songwriter, he’s known for his lyrical honesty, dry wit, and ability to connect through the strings of his guitar and the stories in his songs. They’re all rooted in real life — drawing from personal experience, observations, and a sharp sense of the world around him.

On his last visit to the island, Justin explained how a chance meeting with someone, he initially didn’t know, heavily influenced the trajectory of his career.

But on this episode, we’ll learn that his evolution into music has been a much longer and more determined process.

Importantly, he has recently reached a huge milestone, with the release of his first original music. First it was Cloudy Thinking and recently he’s follow up with “Come to my way of Thinking”. You’ll hear parts of these songs in this episode.

Justin is truly appreciative of how these songs have been received and resonated across the globe — he says that Cloudy Thinking has been down-loaded and played by over 1300 radio stations in many countries … and notably, the song has also been picked up in both Tamworth and Nashville, two of the world’s most iconic homes of country music. He’s hoping for a similar response to his new release as well.

On Max’s Island, we value “Believing in Everyone” … for Justin, his belief in himself and all the hard work is starting to pay off … as he is accelerating toward releasing more new music in the near future … and continuing to play ‘live’ around Perth and regional WA.

Find Justin Davies at:-

https://justindavies.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/justindaviesmusic

Elena Brand chose to embrace the Japanese concept of Ikigai to inspire a career ‘shift’ … This was not going to be a full blown change … but more of a re-framing of her existing passions to guide her life’s vision.

However, it was not until she began to have vagal faints that her actions became more deliberate. Especially after she fainted into someone’s lap, on a train journey home from work.

So, during one of her regular ‘future self meditations’ … an annual course correction … used to inform her thinking for the year ahead and to adopt a very much forward looking lens … things became more obvious. Additional clarity followed with the strong influence of her mentor, who was a leader in nature sustainability.

He challenged her with the saying … “If not you … who! If not now … when?”

This has continued to motivate her to use a grounding focus of being directly influenced by seasonal and personal cycles … Ultimately, Elena states … “The way that I connect to my Ikigai is through following nature … above me and within me.”

So, listen to her wisdom for keeping on track with her passions … It may work for you.

Follow Elena @ https://www.aristaios.com.au/ and subscribe to her eco-psychology podcast “The Great Green Escape by Aristaios”

When Dylan Lamb last visited the Island, he described an experience he encountered in Queensland Aust, as a “spiritual emergency”. It was mentally challenging and probably influenced by something sinister … or it may have been influenced by his state of mind at the time … or it might have been influenced by deep mental health characteristics. Who knows"?

But since then, things have really changed in his life.

Now living in Osaka, Japan with his partner, Dylan is teaching English to young Japanese students and helping them to develop the language skills to enhance their career opportunities. …and, doing this without any formal teaching qualifications.

But that’s not all … he spends his leisure time organising, hosting and performing English spoken, “stand up comedy”. This is not necessarily unique in Osaka, but it is different, especially taking into account the Japanese cultural influences that inform the audiences.

This is certainly an example of how on Max’s Island … everyone has many, varied stories in their life, and this shapes who they are. Dylan’s latest chapter of his life is significantly different to his recent past. So, when you embrace the Max’s Island value of “Believing in Everyone” you can certainly do anything you want to do.