Beyond extraction: Stories from a Western Australian distillery By Lisa Day
Pg. 88-94 - 6-minute read
Every essential oil tells a story of landscape, curiosity, perseverance, and the people who choose to work with nature. In Western Australia, where aromatic plants grow slowly and endure poor soils, dry summers, and occasional bushfires, distillation is more than a manufacturing process. It is an exercise in patience, observation, and respect for the seasons. Our family's journey began almost thirty years ago when my parents, John and Peta Day, established The Paperbark Co. to cultivate and distil tea tree oil. What started with one familiar species soon grew into a journey of experimentation and discovery, driven by their curiosity about the unique aromas hidden within the landscape.
Some of our most distinctive oils were born from simple moments of discovery. Honey Myrtle emerged when my parents crushed the leaves of a native Melaleuca and encountered its remarkable lemon-like, citral-rich aroma. Fragonia followed a different path, discovered by a local botanist and eventually developed into commercial production through our family's trial plantings. Our journey also led us to Australian sandalwood, where my father pioneered steam distillation as an alternative to solvent extraction, making The Paperbark Co. the first producer to bring steam-distilled Australian sandalwood oil to market. Each discovery reinforced our belief that exceptional oils come from curiosity, craftsmanship, and a willingness to explore what nature offers.
Today, our plantations cover more than 20 hectares, cultivating Tea Tree, Honey Myrtle, Fragonia, Rosalina, Manuka, and both Australian and Indian sandalwood. Each species expresses its own aromatic and chemical character, offering distinctive applications in aromatherapy, perfumery, cosmetics, and skincare. Yet producing beautiful oils is only part of our responsibility. We must also understand the ecology of these plants, respect their cultural significance, protect native vegetation and wetlands, and ensure sustainable cultivation. Our experience with bushfire in 2016, which destroyed two decades of plantation work, reminded us that working with nature means accepting its unpredictability and having the perseverance to begin again.
What began as my parents' curiosity has become my responsibility: to continue caring for these remarkable plants and the stories they carry. Over the years, I have come to understand that behind every bottle lies countless hours of observation, experimentation, and patience. Whether working with leafy botanicals or slow-growing sandalwood trees, our role as distillers is not simply to produce exceptional essential oils, but to honour their origins, care for the landscapes that sustain them, and preserve these precious resources for generations to come.
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