Amy’s childhood home was a converted aircraft hangar. Now she’s taking over a remote island paradise

The Sydney Morning Herald · Nina Karnikowski · 2026-11-05 00:00 UTC

For 21 years, Peter Gash has been the custodian of Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef. His daughter, Amy, is continuing his conservation efforts.

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For 21 years, pilot and aircraft engineer Peter Gash, 67, has been the custodian of Lady Elliot Island, a 45-hectare coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef. Now his daughter, Amy, 34, also works on the island and is determined to continue his conservation efforts.

PETER: Amy was born two-and-a-half months premature in July 1992. She was so beautiful, so tiny in my hands. I only got to hold her for a few minutes before she had to go into a humidity crib. After 28 days, we brought her home, which was, and still is, a converted aircraft hangar on the Gold Coast [Peter and his wife, Julie, own Seair Pacific, an aviation charter company that has operated all flights to Lady Elliot and other islands for 30 years]. She hit the rush of our lives and, before we knew it, she was sitting in an airplane with us wearing a headset. At night, I’d lie in bed and read her stories, and we’d both fall asleep. Julie would wake me and I’d sneak downstairs to work on the planes.

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