When we arrived, we stayed with our good mate Rachel. The plan was for a month while we figured ourselves out. We both got a start working... then Covid happened. The jobs disappeared, the state went into lockdown, and things weren't looking too bright. Despite the situation, we continued looking for a rental to call our own, and Burnie yielded knock-back after knock-back. We then broadened our rental applications to stretch across the state. Due to this, we ended up getting a lease for a quirky little house in a town called Bicheno.
Now, we had been to Bicheno before. Sure. We drove through it between visiting the Bay of Fires and Freycinet National Park back in 2018. Our memory of the place was minimal. What we did remember, however, was how awesome the coastline north and south of the place was. At time of writing, we've lived here for almost 5 months, and I honestly feel like we are living in paradise.
We initially started travelling around Australia in search of that perfect place to call home. While the actual concept of the perfect place has certainly changed over the years (2013 Cameron would not have been able to accept living nowhere near a good dropzone!), we both often randomly announce how much we love living here. We have ocean views from our lounge room, less than an hour from Freycinet National Park (which I adore), I love exploring the coastline—to both the north and south—for amazing locations, and I have caught many super-tasty fish spearfishing within a kilometre of the house we rent, and many of the locations I'm discovering.
Yep, spearfishing. That has become my passion this year. I'd been out with my good mate Dane many times in NSW, just snorkelling on nice days while he shot a few fish. I'd taken a few shots, but none that landed. That was until the 28th of December 2019, when I shot a holed up blackfish. It was an easy shot that anyone could have taken, but it felt super good. It was also the 30th anniversary of my pop's passing, a man whom I never got a chance to know, but was quite the avid hunter, fisher, and spearfisher.
After moving to Bicheno, I had to get in the water. It's crystal clear here. But, oddly enough, bloody cold in winter. I ended up getting a wetsuit, then some spearfishing gear, and have been constantly improving my abilities to provide a top feed of fish and abalone. Anyways, I do intend to go into my journey as a beginner spearo in another post! Oh, I also got an old Rav4 to be my spearfishing transport. Again, not quite a troopy, but it's not a bad little buzzbox!
While the state had its borders up, I completed a Graduate Certificate in Tourism, Environment and Cultural Heritage, a semester-long course with University of Tasmania. And now have a casual bar gig to keep me honest between shooting fish.
Not much travelling happening now, which I'm perfectly ok with given the world's issues, but I am super-happy with how 2020 has panned out for myself, and I know that Jeni feels the same!
On another note, the Tasmanian borders have recently opened. I must confess, I do have a slight fear of another outbreak, however, it is good that others are getting a chance to enjoy this island that has been Covid free while most other places have not. Will be amazing if tourism can boot back up and the state remains clear. Throughout the year, I've been coming up with ideas for tourism businesses. Perhaps I'll start one up sooner than later?
